AUSTIN, Texas — For Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian, discussions of developmental timelines for young players typically sounds the same.
“I think we live in a society of like instant gratification — a guy’s a five star, and they’re supposed to show up and every guy’s supposed to be a freshman all-American. It really doesn’t work like that. There’s a developmental aspect to a player in our program,” Sarkisian said on Wednesday in an echo of past comments.
It’s a maxim that has particular
application to offensive and defensive lineman, positions where physical maturity and technical proficiency are at a premium.
So it was unsurprising when defensive lineman Justus Terry, a late — and extremely expensive — coup for Texas in the 2025 recruiting class as the No. 13 prospect nationally and the No. 2 defensive lineman in the 247Sports Composite rankings, only played 73 snaps as a true freshman.
In a vacuum, for the developmental reasons alluded to by Sarkisian, the limited playing time for Terry wasn’t necessarily a cause for concern, which heightened when the Georgia product underwent shoulder surgery that caused him to miss most of spring practice, critical reps for a young player.
But now Terry is back on the field for the start of preseason camp more than 20 pounds heavier than he was as a freshman and facing heightened expectations from his head coach, who included the 6’5, 289-pounder on a short list of second-year players poised to take a huge step forward for the Longhorns.
“This is a big moment for them to see where they’ve gotten from year one to year two, and we need them, right?” Sarkisian said. “As we tried to get older as a team, we’re still relatively young. I think we’re like the fourth youngest team in the country. It’s crazy, I go to the portal and I’m still young, so we’re going to be counting on those guys to contribute for us.”
On Thursday, senior defensive tackle Hero Kanu increased the expectations put on Terry.
“He’s doing well. One of the guys I’m probably most impressed with — he’s definitely a generational talent,” Kanu said. “I’d say really, really good guy. Obviously, he’s got to stay healthy and everything, and he’s got to make sure he’s doing his job, coming along, following the lead, and he’s gonna be just fine.”
Early physical development gave Terry the power and play strength to win at the point of attack along the defensive line, complemented by heavy hands. Those attributes combined with his quick-twitch athleticism and prototypical size, Terry became one of the nation’s most coveted prospects thanks to a ceiling that could make him a future first-round pick if he fulfills his potential.
“When you talk about size and athletic ability, at the end of the day you can have all the talent in the world, but it can only get you so far. So you’ve got to be out there making plays and gotta put your potential to use, but I’ve got high expectations for him,” Kanu said.
Two major developments point towards Terry become an impact contributor in a deep defensive line group for Texas this season — the weight gain that allowed him to go from an oversized defensive end to a credible weight for a defensive tackle and the hire of Will Muschamp at defensive coordinator.
Kanu couldn’t disclose the variety of defensive line packages the Horns will employ in 2026, but Muschamp’s aggressive, penetrating style fits Terry’s athleticism and the need to frequently rotate players means plenty of available snaps rather heavy reliance on a few front-line players.
By late last season, Terry had already started to flash, making four tackles in seven snaps against Georgia and getting quick pressure on Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed to produce the game-sealing interception by Michael Taaffe late in the fourth quarter.
Call that a glimpse into a generational talent.
