Let’s talk about the 2026 Texas Longhorns Football team.
Oh, the embers from Friday’s win over Texas A&M might still be burning. Still, there’s no time like the present to look ahead to next season, especially if a playoff spot is almost certainly more unlikely to happen at this point than otherwise. It kind of is what it is.
What I want to do is place every projected starting position on the squad into three categories:
Green: Unlikely to find a better option in the Portal/Borderline Elite or Elite
Yellow: Solid to very good player, but improvement could be made and needs to occur.
Red: Get help. ASAP.
Let’s walk our way tier by tier through both sides of the ball.
Texas Offense
The will likely return a lot of quality experience. They won’t be returning a lot of first- and second-day NFL Draft type talent. Obviously, the coaches aren’t going to look to improve on every single yellow-rated player on the roster, but improvement must be made by any means needed, so if a player was targeted in the Portal, you could certainly understand the desire to seek marginal to sizable gains.
It feels like a couple of offensive linemen and a couple of high-end skill guys are needed from the Portal at a minimum for Longhorns football.
Texas Defense
It’s very similar to the offense. Most of the yellow-rated players are very good talents/players, but not yet at the top of the class among their peers. These positions need better play in 2026. If it happens through in-house development … wonderful. If it requires help from the Portal … that works, too.
As well as the Longhorns have recruited in the secondary for the last few years, it’s crazy to think the most help might be needed in the back end of the defense, but here we are … and it feels that way. If Jelani McDonald turns pro following the season, the entire secondary feels like a big question mark.
Note: If you’re wondering about the special teams, yes, the Longhorns Football must find a place-kicker and punter. They can’t just assume one of the incoming freshmen is ready to be plus-players, no back-up plans required.
