"At this point, to try to go in the portal and find a tackle, I might as well go to the Co-Op," Sarkisian said. "I might have a better shot over there. No, I'm not going to try to do that."
With Steve Sarkisian confirming Inside Texas reporting on Tuesday that offensive tackle Andre Cojoe is out for the season, Sarkisian was asked if it was possible to add an offensive tackle out of the transfer portal similar to how the program added Velton Gardner in camp last year after preseason injuries to CJ Baxter and Christian Clark.
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“At this point, to try to go in the portal and find a tackle, I might as well go to the Co-Op,” Sarkisian said. “I might have a better shot over there. No, I’m not going to try to do that.”
Sark probably has a better chance of finding an offensive lineman among the burnt orange hats, T-shirts, and off-brand Arch Manning jerseys. A look at On3’s best available transfer portal offensive tackles doesn’t show anyone worth pursuing. The best prospect is Ferris State’s Tim Anderson, who has offers from lower level Group of Five schools UConn, New Mexico State, and Western Kentucky on his X profile.
There’s also the whole 85 scholarship limit. Texas had one to work with until yesterday, when fifth-year senior linebacker Marshall Landwehrwas put on scholarship. His removal from the walk-on ranks puts Texas at the 85-man limit, meaning there’s no room to add a scholarship O-lineman.
While the Longhorns could finagle some NIL to cover the cost of attendance for a possible addition, their talent pool would likely be players who entered the portal in the summer as “designated student-athletes.” But these players, who were given the chance to search for another home if their previous institution cut their spots in anticipation of House v. NCAA restrictions, are likely of walk-on quality and not impact depth.
That’s all to say, the Longhorns have what they have at this point.
Cojoe was repping at right tackle and participating in what offensive line coach Kyle Flood described as a “camp battle” with Brandon Baker for the position. When asked on Tuesday if the spot was all Baker’s now, Sarkisian wouldn’t go that far.
“We’re looking at different options and different people,” Sarkisian said. “Brandon’s a heck of a player and we’re excited about him. But we’ve moved Brandon around some too. We’ve never tried to be just a one-dimensional group, especially early on in the first couple weeks of training camp. We’re always mixing people around because I don’t know what might happen in week four of the season, or week eight, or week 12, or week 15.”
Left tackle has no intrigue. Trevor Goosby is stepping in for Kelvin Banks and is primed for a strong 2025 season after making high-quality contributions versus Texas A&M, Georgia, Clemson, and Arizona State last season.
Tackle depth at both spots? There are plenty of questions there.
Flood said a player like Jaydon Chatman provides a lot of position flexibility to the Texas O-line. In addition, Nick Brooks was one of the stories of the spring. At least when it comes to on-field matters, he was a player often highlighted by coaches, teammates, and even recruits who saw him practice against Texas EDGEs. What Brooks’ punishment was for his off-the-field missteps has not been revealed, though some sort of brief suspension seems likely.
And along those lines Chatman, Brooks, and Baker have put together solid performances in recent days, namely on Monday.
Getting through the rest of training camp in-tact is key for every part of the Texas football roster, but especially so at the offensive tackle spots. Sark can’t go shopping for new players at this juncture. Not only is there limited talent available, the idea of adding a player, getting him up to speed on the offense, integrating him in with the culture of the team, and dropping him into a room with a lot of bodies in it makes a last-second import impractical.
Without Cojoe, Texas has to make sure what it has in Goosby, Baker, Brooks, and Chatman are ready for whatever may come in the 2025 season.
“We’ve got to keep developing our people,” Sarkisian said. “We’ve got plenty of good people in that room, and we’ll be okay.”
Category: General Sports
