The arrival of the 2025 recruiting class for the Texas Longhorns represents something of a paradox for head coach Steve Sarkisian and his staff in their fifth season on the Forty Acres — the Longhorns have built quality program depth over that time, sending the 25 high school signees into a mature program as the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class.
So despite the amount of talent in the class, the competition for playing time is now difficult enough that getting onto the field across multiple non-conference
games as a true freshman represents a significant achievement, especially for the four players who saw playing time in the season opener against Ohio State in Columbus.
Unsurprisingly, those four players — wide receiver Daylan McCutcheon, tight end Nick Townsend, defensive end Lance Jackson, and nickel back Graceson Littleton — have appeared in all four games and are set to burn their redshirts in the SEC opener against Florida in Gainesville next Saturday barring practice injuries.
Here’s the participation chart through the first four games:
McCutcheon represents one the biggest surprises in the class — of the four wide receiver signees in the class, the Lucas Lovejoy product was the only one ranked outside the top-100 nationally in the 247Sports Composite rankings. But so far he’s ahead of those other wide receivers, taking advantage of the injury to junior wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr. to play 32 snaps against UTEP and 66 total snaps through four games while recording three catches for 26 yards.
The question for McCutcheon is whether he can emerge as an impact player this season rather than just a rotation player.
As a sniffer on zone slice plays, Townsend has quickly found a role for Texas in Jeff Banks’ position room as a physical blocker. The three-phase standout at Spring Dekaney is already drawing buzz as possessing the potential to be the best all-around tight end in school history, but that feels premature because Townsend is yet to record his first catch for the Longhorns, even though he certainly has the ceiling to achieve that level of success.
Jackson has already played more than redshirt sophomore defensive end Colton Vasek and only one snap less than junior edge Brad Spence, recording four tackles overall and a sack against Sam Houston while creating five pressures. Pro Football Focus grades Jackson out as a solid defender over his 63 snaps and an above-average run defender. As the No. 21 player and the No. 2 edge in the 2025 class, Jackson is on track to become an impact player for the Horns sooner rather than later.
The biggest surprise in the class is nickel back Graceson Littleton, the team’s starter at Star against 10 or 11 personnel. Littleton’s stock rose quickly throughout preseason camp after he received first-team reps in the opening practice and he’s backed those opportunities by excelling on the field with eight tackles, one tackle for loss, one interception, and one pass broken up through four games.
On a defense with strong coverage at safety and a lockdown corner in junior Manny Muhammad, Littleton has been tested early, especially against San Jose State — the Spartans targeted Littleton on 15 passes, 35.7 percent of the team’s total attempts, but only producing 71 yards on 7.9 yards per reception. Overall, Littleton has only allowed 88 yards on 24 targets and 6.3 yards per reception. Although Littleton did miss two tackles against the Spartans, he’s been consistent getting opponents to the ground so far, a testament to his physicality.
Running back James Simon didn’t make his debut until the UTEP game, showing promise with 26 carries for 117 yards over the last two games. Like the rest of the Texas running game, Simon hasn’t been able to produce a big, explosive play on the ground, but he’s shown some quickness, feet, and vision that set him apart from redshirt freshman Christian Clark and sophomore Jerrick Gibson and speaks to his long-term upside.
The freshman to watch moving forward is safety Jonah Williams, who made his debut against Sam Houston after battling a hamstring injury sustained during baseball season. While the inability to participate in football practice and subsequent injury has put Williams behind his classmates in pure practice reps, his pure talent and football intelligence could shine through quickly.
A path towards more playing time in SEC play won’t be easy with redshirt freshman Xavier Filsaime returning from his shoulder injury and the likelihood that junior Derek Williams gets closer to full health as he approaches the one-year anniversary of his season-ending knee injury.
The same applies to cornerback Kade Phillips, who has been good in coverage in his 51 snaps this season after drawing buzz throughout the offseason — sophomore Kobe Black and junior Warren Roberson both missed the win over Sam Houston, but should return against Florida.
Among the important ascensions on the depth chart, quarterback KJ Lacey’s ability to beat out redshirt freshman Trey Owens is a positive sign for Lacey’s trajectory and could impact next year’s position room if Owens remains in the fourth-string role.
If there’s a mild disappointment, it’s the tweener status of defensive lineman Justus Terry, the No. 12 prospect and the No. 2 defensive lineman in the 2025 class. At 6’5, 268 pounds, Terry has played his 17 snaps in the B gap so far, but it’s not clear where his best fit is moving forward.
