10 Texas Longhorns to know for the 2023 football season

Texas football has recruited phenomenally the past two years, with both the 2022 and 2023 freshman classes ranking top five in the nation.

But if the Longhorns are to go where they surely want to go this season — that means a Big 12 crown and contending for, if not securing a place in the College Football Playoff — the team’s talented veteran core will need to take the next step.

Here are 10 players whose individual success will be critical if Texas is to reach its 2023 ambitions as a team.

Quinn Ewers

Sophomore QB / 6-2, 195 pounds

2022 stats: 58.1% cmp., 2,177 yards, 15 touchdowns, 6 interceptions

Arch Manning’s time is coming. But as far as this season goes, Ewers holds the keys to the Ferrari — at least to start.

The Southlake Carroll product is bursting with breakout potential for this 2023 campaign. Coach Steve Sarkisian spoke of the 20-year-old’s surging confidence Monday.

It only makes sense would feel as such given more time to meld with his receiving group, which got a boost this offseason thanks to the arrivals of AD Mitchell and Johntay Cook II, among others.

Most critically, Ewers’ familiarity with the offense has never been stronger.

“This time last year, I was still trying to pick up the offense and certain checks and whatnot,” Ewers said in August. “This year, I can kind of just be more me and play more freely.”

Like Manning, Ewers is a former No. 1 quarterback recruit. While the team played to a less-than-stellar 6-4 record in his 10 appearances last season, Ewers assembled a 4:1 TD:INT ratio over his final five games while leading the team to November wins over Baylor and eventual Big 12 champion Kansas State. In the Alamo Bowl loss to Washington, the now-redshirt sophomore stacked up a career-high 369 yards passing.

Jonathon Brooks

Sophomore RB / 6-0, 207 pounds

2022 stats: 30 carries, 197 yards, 6 total touchdowns

Brooks didn’t see many snaps last year playing behind Roschon Johnson and a generational talent in Bijan Robinson, one of only six running backs selected in the top 10 picks of the NFL Draft over the past decade.

Brooks capitalized on the opportunities he did get, establishing a 6.6 yards-per-carry average over 30 attempts while totaling five touchdowns on the ground.

Much of that scoring production came at the end of last season. Brooks had both a receiving and a rushing touchdown in the bowl loss to Washington, and five of his six total touchdowns came over his final four games played.

During a 55-14 drubbing of Kansas on Nov. 19, Brooks showed what he’s capable of doing with a larger workload — albeit not against the 2000 Baltimore Ravens defense — rushing for 108 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries.

Jahdae Barron

Senior DB / 5-11, 192 pounds

2022 stats: 78 total tackles (43 solo), 11.5 tackles for loss

Barron was a beast last year. Suiting up in every game for the first time in his collegiate career, he finished fourth on the team in tackles and first in tackles for loss, adding a sack, three pass deflections, a fumble recovery, two interceptions and two of the team’s three defensive touchdowns.

Barron makes plays, period. All over the field.

Kelvin Banks Jr.

Sophomore OT / 6-4, 324 pounds

2022 stats: 13 starts, 2 sacks allowed

The titanic tackle hailing from Humble was dominant during his freshman season on the 40 Acres, surrendering two sacks over 456 pass block snaps in 2022, per Pro Football Focus.

An honorable mention for Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year, Banks will be responsible for guarding Ewers’ blind side once again in 2023. That will be of particular importance Week 2 in facing a Crimson Tide defense that has finished fifth, third and 15th in the nation in sacks over the past three seasons.

Byron Murphy II

Junior DL / 6-1, 308 pounds

2022 stats: 26 total tackles (9 solo), 3 tackles for loss, sack

Texas’ defense placed second in the Big 12 last year in rush defense and points allowed per game (21.6), finishing behind Iowa State in each of those categories.

What’s perhaps most scary for opposing offenses is the fact that Coach Sarkisian made a point Monday of noting how dominant the interior defensive line has been throughout the summer. Murphy is right at the center of that, and personnel evaluators outside the building are noticing.

Pro Football Focus ranks Murphy as one of the top 10 interior defensive linemen returning for the 2023 college football season. The junior was also recently named to Bruce Feldman of The Athletic’s “Freaks List.”

Isaiah Neyor

Senior WR / 6-3, 215 pounds

2022 stats: did not play (knee-ACL)

Texas knows what to expect from Xavier Worthy, who comes into this season third in program history with 21 receiving touchdowns.

Neyor has sneaky potential to push this receiving corps to a new level.

He progressed from a two-star prospect out of Arlington Lamar to a four-star transfer by January 2022. That transformation came, in part, via a 44-catch, 878-yard, 13-touchdown 2021 campaign with Wyoming.

He’s been back at practice since March after suffering a torn ACL before the start of the 2022 season, and Ewers sounds optimistic about his potential to contribute.

“Neyor’s back, which is awesome,” the quarterback said. “To have a guy like him to just go up and grab the ball whenever.”

Xavier Worthy

Junior WR / 6-1, 160 pounds

2022 stats: 60 receptions, 760 yards, 9 touchdowns

Okay, admitted. Worthy has to make the list as well.

We may know what to expect from the star wideout, but that doesn’t mean he’s not essential to Texas’ New Year’s Six dreams.

Worthy is a potential first-round NFL draft choice who can impact the outcome of a game as a punt returner as well as, of course, as a receiver.

The Fresno, Calif., native needs 17 touchdown catches to pass Jordan Shipley (33) and Roy Williams (36) for the all-time program record.

You’ve heard of Super Mario? Texas may need a Super Worthy to get where it really wants to go. As in, 17 touchdowns super.

Jaylan Ford

Senior LB / 6-3, 242 pounds

2022 stats: 119 tackles (61 solo), 10 tackles for loss, 2 sacks

Asked in August about his primary motivation heading into this 2023 season, Ford said: “My motivation … As humble as I can be, is just telling myself everyday that I wake up, ‘I’m the best linebacker in the country.’”

He’s in the conversation, if for no reason other than he provides elite production across the board.

Ford racked up 119 tackles last season, good for 19th in the nation. Not a single player who finished first through 18th on that same list had more than half as many interceptions as Ford’s four. His three forced fumbles were tied for eighth in the country in 2022.

Ja’Tavion Sanders

Junior TE / 6-4, 243 pounds

2022 stats: 54 receptions, 613 yards, 5 touchdowns

Sanders joins teammates Worthy and Banks on the preseason All-Big 12 offense. The tight end also earned his way onto the 2023 John Mackey Award watch list.

Though he did not score a touchdown over the Longhorns’ final seven games of the season, Sanders remained a relatively high-volume target, closing 2022 with eight performances of five or more receptions.

Sanders’ 6-4 frame maintains him as a legitimate red zone threat, and a candidate for double-digit touchdowns in 2023, despite his current scoring slump.

Anthony Hill Jr.

Freshman LB / 6-3, 234 pounds

2022 stats: did not play (high school senior)

“I think Ant has a natural ability to just go get the ball,” Ford said of his fellow linebacker, the five-star freshman Hill. “He has raw strength, raw talent.”

That the 18-year-old does, in spades, as evidenced by his selection to several preseason true freshman All-American teams.

If defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski and this experienced Longhorns linebacking group can get Hill up to speed sooner rather than later, it will benefit the unit as a whole.

Hill fits the bill as a potential freshman X-factor. Texas’ defense could use the bump, especially with DeMarvion Overshown graduating to the Cowboys.