With the Texas Longhorns back on the practice field after spring break, head coach Steve Sarkisian provided two significant injury updates on Tuesday — redshirt freshman wide receiver Kaliq Lockett and early enrollee offensive lineman Kaden Scherer both suffered lower leg injuries that required surgery.
Lockett is expected back for summer workouts, but Scherer’s anticipated return is for preseason camp.
Scherer was not expected to compete for a spot on the two-deep depth chart in 2026 after signing
with Texas out of Georgetown as a flip from Stanford as a consensus three-star prospect ranked outside the top 1,000 players nationally in the 247Sports Composite rankings.
The surgery for Lockett, a 6’2, 186-pounder who flashed with a contested 30-yard touchdown catch in the Citrus Bowl win over Michigan, is a significant one a young player who only say 43 snaps over five games last season, recording five catches for 47 yards on seven targets. A consensus five-star prospect in the 2025 recruiting class ranked as the No. 2 wide receiver, Lockett is a critical longterm piece for the Longhorns at the position, especially after the departure of heralded classmate Jaime Ffrench after one season on the Forty Acres.
Lockett’s injury future depletes a position currently without juniors Ryan Wingo and Emmett Mosley following their own offseason surgeries. Wingo is farther along than Mosley, though he’s not yet a full participant in practice.
Those setbacks are compounded by the offseason foot surgery that redshirt junior quarterback Arch Manning underwent after the Citrus Bowl, although Manning is throwing in practice.
“The progress has been… on par with where he should be. He was throwing the ball today. He threw it really well,” Sarkisian said.
With Manning limited, redshirt freshman KJ Lacy and early enrollee Dia Bell have benefitted from the extra reps at the quarterback position.
Redshirt junior left tackle Trevor Goosby (shoulder), junior linebacker Ty’Anthony Smith (shoulder), and redshirt sophomore safety Xavier Filsaime (shoulder) are also rehabilitating after offseason surgeries.
