Why Texas Needs to Give Freshman Colin Simmons the Starting Role

After yet another dominant performance off the edge, Texas Longhorns freshman phenom should be at the top of the depth chart from here on out

Texas Longhorns linebacker Colin Simmons (11) exits the field at halftime as the Texas Longhorns take on Mississippi State at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. / Mikala Compton/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Texas no longer has a secret weapon on their defense, because it's no longer a secret how good Colin Simmons is.

After five weeks, the true freshman has electrified the college football world, making the case for the best true freshman on the defensive side of the ball in the entire nation. Simmons had another dominant performance this week against Mississippi State, where the Duncanville product tied the team lead in solo tackles as well as registering two sacks and three TFLs, both leading the team.

Simmons now stands alone at the top of the team's full-season stats in both sacks and tackles for loss with six and four, respectively. In fact, after Week 5, Simmons needs just two more sacks to pass last year's sack leader, Ethan Burke, who had just 5.5 all season. Simmons is also tied for second on the team in solo tackles, only trailing David Gbenda, showing his ability to impact both the run and pass game.

Just four players in the entire SEC have more sacks on the year, and only five have more tackles for loss. Simmons is not just playing well in terms of the rest of his team, he's playing just as well, if not better, than some of the best veteran edge rushers in the SEC.

All of this stellar play begs the question, why is Simmons not starting yet?

According to the official Texas Football website, Simmons has yet to register a start. Unlike other newcomers -- like safety Andrew Mukuba for example -- Simmons' bio says he has only "appeared" in games instead of "started."

Texas knew that it had a fantastic rotation of edge rushers heading into the season. With returners like Burke and senior Barryn Sorrell, a key transfer acquisition in Trey Moore, and Simmons on the two-deep, defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski had a lot of fun tools to utilize in a rotation as the year commenced.

But with five games of play already behind us, it's time for the defensive coordinator to make a change in his lineup. While Sorrell has massively succeeded in the 'Jack' role of the defensive line, a position best filled by a long, athletic defensive end, Moore has not played up to his potential as the starting pure edge rusher on the team.

Moore has yet to even record a tackle for loss on the year, standing at the bottom of the group with zero sacks and only registering nine total tackles on the year. The 2023 American Conference Defensive Player of the Year had a strong showing against Michigan earlier in the year, but otherwise has been a ghost on the edge.

Simmons has simply been the better player in a smaller role, and that needs to change as Texas enters the bye week. The Longhorns need to make some set-in-stone decisions by the end of this week's break, whether it's in the backfield or on the defensive side of the ball. While head coach Steve Sarkisian will be contemplating who will be the lead rusher against Oklahoma and Georgia, Kwiatkowski needs to make a firm decision on who will be the leading players off the edge.

In a perfect world, Simmons and Sorrell are able to play the majority of the snaps. The duo is the best combo you can have in the run game, as Simmons showed with his four tackles on rushing plays five yards and under. Burke is the next best edge rusher of the group, usually subbing in for Sorrell or being used in 3rd-and-short situations where his length can allow him to interrupt a run or disrupt a pass attempt.

Moore's role definitely becomes diminished in this type of scenario, but Kwiatkowski can still use him as one of the main pass-down options. Moore may just need a more specified role to be able to get back into form, and utilize the NASCAR package with him, Simmons and Sorrell to be able to wreak havoc on obvious passing downs.

Texas is entering its most important three-week stretch of the season, one that starts with a much-needed bye week after a far-from-comfortable win against Mississippi State. With Oklahoma and Georgia on the horizon, Sarkisian and Kwiatkowski need to revisit the depth chart and who will dominate the team's snaps, and Simmons has to be given the elevated role from here on out.