{"id":382902,"date":"2026-07-22T21:06:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T21:06:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/382902\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T21:06:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T21:06:17","slug":"projecting-the-texas-longhorns-week-1-starting-lineup-before-fall-camp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/382902\/","title":{"rendered":"Projecting the Texas Longhorns&#8217; Week 1 Starting Lineup Before Fall Camp"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6c\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/texas\/football\/a-star-sec-rb-nearly-made-the-move-to-join-texas-this-offseason\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Texas Longhorns<\/a> are coming into the 2026 season with arguably <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/texas\/football\/texas-hasnt-had-this-much-nfl-talent-since-vince-young-era\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">the best roster in all of college football. <\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6f\">Thanks to a masterful transfer portal haul by Steve Sarkisian and his staff, the Longhorns have been able to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/texas\/football\/this-texas-longhorns-player-could-quietly-decide-the-2026-season\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">fill multiple massive gaps <\/a>across their starting unit on a team that could have as many as 10 new starters from the portal across offense, defense, and special teams. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6i\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/texas\/football\/ranking-texas-football-10-most-important-players-for-the-2026-season\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Texas also returns some serious talent<\/a> as well, including some of the best players in the entire country, regardless of position, in Arch Manning, Trevor Goosby, and Colin Simmons.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6l\">With so much talent, it is difficult to project who exactly will be lining up where on the first snaps of the 2026 season. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6o\">Fortunately, with fall camp just days away, there will be plenty of opportunities to make those decisions. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6r\">So without further ado, let&#8217;s project the Longhorns Week 1 starting lineup before the start of fall camp later this month. <\/p>\n<p>Offensive Starter Projections<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/01ky5h508q4r4grky04q.jpg\" alt=\"Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning\" title=\"Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning\" width=\"360\" height=\"240\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"74\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning runs with the ball past Michigan Wolverines defensive back Jordan Younh | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n<p>Quarterback: Arch Manning | RS Jr. (6&#8242; 4, 222)Running Back: Hollywood Smothers | RS Jr. (5&#8242; 11, 193) OR Raleek Brown, Sr. (5&#8242; 9, 193)Wide Receiver (X): Cam Coleman | Jr. (6&#8217;3, 204)Wide Receiver (Z): Ryan Wingo | Jr. (6&#8217;2, 214)Wide Receiver (H): Emmett Mosely V | Jr. (6&#8217;2, 199)Tight End (Y): Michael Masunas | Sr. (6&#8217;5, 259)Tight End (H): Nick Townsend | Soph. (6&#8217;3, 250)Left Tackle: Trevor Goosby | RS Jr. (6&#8217;7, 325)Left Guard: Laurence Seymore | RS Sr. ( 6&#8217;2, 316)Center: Connor Robertson | RS Sr. (6&#8217;4, 316)Right Guard: Brandon Baker | Jr. (6&#8217;4, 315)Right Tackle: Melvin Siani | RS Jr. (6&#8217;6, 317)Defensive Starter Projections<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/01ky5h644t228zdvdh4h.jpg\" alt=\"Texas Longhorns defensive end Colin Simmons\" title=\"Texas Longhorns defensive end Colin Simmons\" width=\"360\" height=\"240\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"8i\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Texas Longhorns defensive end Colin Simmons celebrates with the golden hat following the Red River Rivalry | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n<p>Defensive End: Lance Jackson | Soph. (6&#8217;5, 274)Nose Tackle: Ian Geffrard | RS Jr. (6&#8217;5, 275)Defensive Tackle: Hero Kanu | Sr. (6&#8217;5, 309)Defensive Tackle: Alex January | Jr. (6&#8217;5, 308)JACK: Colin Simmons | Jr. (6&#8217;3, 246)WILL: Rasheem Biles | Sr. (6&#8217;1, 222)MIKE: Ty&#8217;Anthony Smith | Jr. (6&#8217;1, 214)SAM: Brad Spence | Sr. (6&#8217;2, 249)Nickel: Graceson Littleton | Soph. (6&#8217;0, 182)Cornerback: Bo Mascoe | Sr. (5&#8217;11, 199)Cornerback: Kade Phillips | Soph. (6&#8217;0, 191)Free Safety: Jelani McDonald | Sr. (6&#8217;2, 201)Strong Safety: Derek Williams | RS Jr. (6&#8217;2, 199)Specialist Projections<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/01ky5hswb5y9zqegphzr.jpg\" alt=\"Texas Longhorns wide receiver\/running back Ryan Niblett\" title=\"Texas Longhorns wide receiver\/running back Ryan Niblett\" width=\"360\" height=\"203\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"9z\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Texas Longhorns wide receiver\/running back Ryan Niblett runs the ball on a punt return touchdown | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n<p>Kicker: Gianni Spetic | Sr. (6&#8217;3, 221)Punter: Mac Chuimento | RS Sr. (6&#8217;4, 228)Punt Return: Ryan Niblett | RS Jr. (5&#8242; 10, 189)Kick Return: Raleek Brown | RS Sr.  (5&#8242; 9, 193) AND Ryan Niblett | RS Jr. (5&#8242; 10, 189)<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-41\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"af\">Sign up to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/texas\/newsletter\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">our free newsletter<\/a> and follow us on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TexasLonghornsOnSI\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/LonghornsOnSI\" rel=\"nofollow\">X<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/texaslonghornsonsi\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Instagram<\/a> for the latest news.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\">Follow<\/a><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Texas Longhorns are coming into the 2026 season with arguably the best roster in all of college&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":382903,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-382902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/382903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}