AUSTIN, Texas — Over the last year, Ryan Niblett has pinged around positions for the Texas Longhorns with the speed of someone who ran a 10.58 100-meter dash in high school.
Preseason camp injuries at running back necessitated Niblett’s move from wide receiver to running back as a redshirt freshman, a move that filled a need but only resulted in 33 total snaps on offense that produced 11 touches for 47 yards and a rushing touchdown against Louisiana-Monroe.
For spring practice, Niblett moved to defensive
back.
“Right now he’s working at Star for us and you see the skill set of kind of what I’d hope it would look like,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said during the spring.
But after the spring vacation on defense, Niblett is back at wide receiver, earning mention from offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Kyle Flood on Tuesday as an exciting player behind junior DeAndre Moore Jr. and sophomore Ryan Wingo.
“Ryan Niblett’s got a tremendous skill set and he’s really a selfless player, that’s played out over the first couple of years, great teammate, and I’m really excited about Ryan,” Flood said.
The unselfishness of Niblett certainly isn’t in question, evidenced by the team-wide celebration with him after scoring against the Warhawks as a running back.
“He just did it without any questions and then just to see him go score after all this work he’s put in to learn the position in such a short amount of time, like, that’s the stuff we celebrate, because that’s someone who’s bought into the culture, someone who’s bought in and wants to be a part of this team,” former center Jake Majors said last fall.
“We celebrate stuff like that. So it was awesome to see him score that touchdown and just let everybody know how excited he was.”
Now the question is whether the 5’10, 187-pounder can turn his speed and team-first attitude into a spot in the wide receiver rotation despite the type of small frame that has often limited dynamic Texas speedsters to extremely niche roles.
Remember Desean Hales?
If not, it’s because the nation’s top all-purpose back by Rivals in the 2008 class only managed to produce 13 catches for 87 yards in his Texas career.
What about DJ Monroe?
The Angleton product produced a school-record three kickoff return touchdowns from 2008 to 2012, but the 5’9, 175-pounder always felt underutilized on offense on his way to racking up 826 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns in his career.
Daje Johnson?
The Pflugerville Hendrickson product was a big-play threat on offense for Texas from 2012 to 2015, recording four touchdowns of 54 yards or more on offense, including an 84-yard touchdown run against Baylor in 2015, as well as dual 84-yard punt return touchdowns against Oklahoma in 2013 and Rice in 2015.
Given the amount of wide receiver talent on the Longhorns roster and the lost reps for Niblett at the position over the last year, a Daje Johnson-like impact for Texas is something close to an absolutely respectable ceiling for Niblett.
The floor is as a continued core special teams contributor, a significant value that Niblett provides after playing 231 snaps in that phase in 2024 with roles on kick coverage and punt return while serving as a gunner on punt coverage, recording four tackles and two assists, according to Pro Football Focus.
On Tuesday, special teams coordinator Jeff Banks described Niblett as a “phenomenal” and “dynamic” player for the Horns in the third phase last year who is one of three players competing on kickoff and punt returns this year with Moore and junior running back Quintrevion Wisner because of how much Banks trusts him.
Given Niblett’s speed, it’s possible he could impact the return game the same way that Monroe and Johnson did, increasing the potential impact the Aldine Eisenhower product could have on special teams and illustrating the importance of keeping him in the program after spring practice.
But what about wide receiver?
Texas is trending towards bigger bodies like the 6’2, 214-pound Wingo and the 6’4, 191-pound redshirt freshman Parker Livingstone who can provide the speed that Sarkisian craves at the position combined with the physicality to block effectively on the perimeter, a weakness for the Longhorns during Sarkisian’s tenure.
Moore doesn’t have the same physical stature as Wingo or Livingstone, but has enough edge as a former high school defensive back to function well as a blocker.
And sophomore transfer wide receiver Emmett Mosley also has the mass at between 210 and 215 pounds to help create explosive plays with his blocking.
Again, the wide-angle perspective indicates that Niblett could be forced into the niche role predicated to some extent by his size, although wide receivers coach Chris Jackson spoke highly of his development on Tuesday as well.
Although Niblett lost repetitions at wide receiver last year, he learned the offense “backwards and forwards” by playing the H position in 20 and 21 personnel groupings.
Because of how Sarkisian structures his offense, that H position is the same classification whether it’s occupied by the second running back, the second tight end, or the third wide receiver, prompting Jackson to call Niblett a “Swiss Army knife.”
“Wherever he’s needed is where he’s going to play, but the great thing is, he has the flexibility and ability to play in multiple positions.”
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