The Texas Football recruiting units that shape the 2025 Longhorns

Every recruiting cycle, teams with the pedigree of the Texas Longhorns find specific units to target, and resources and time to build the backbone of their class.

[Sign up for Inside Texas TODAY and get the BEST Longhorns coverage!]

In 2025, Texas went all out on the boundaries. The best WR class in the nation featured five-star Kaliq Lockett as well as three other top-20 receivers in the nation. In the 2026 class, Texas has put all hands on deck to shore up the trenches: top-50 recruits Richard Wesley and James Johnson on defense, elite tackle John Turntine on offense, with more expected commits and flips on the way.

Since Steve Sarkisian’s first major class in 2022, Texas has had an identity that has carried each one, and those personalities are beginning to take shape over the starting lineup as Sarkisian enters his fifth season in Austin.

Class of ’23 Backfield

Texas’ 2023 class was Sark’s first top-three group in Austin and was headlined by one name: Arch Manning. But if there was a second major recruiting win that marked Sark’s recruiting dominance, it was walking into Central Florida and grabbing the No. 1 running back in the nation in CJ Baxter.

While Baxter spent the 2024 season on the sideline, another ’23 running back emerged. Quintrevion Wisner ran for over 1,000 yards in 2024 and is the only returning back in the SEC to do so. Now, Texas’ backfield features the most hyped quarterback in the nation finally in command of his team as well as a duo of RB1s, all from the same class three cycles ago.

Class of ’24 Pass Catchers

While the class of ’24 is still in its infancy, one position group stands out as being ahead of schedule. Texas struck gold in this class with the recruitment of Ryan Wingo out of Missouri, a player who looked bound for stardom as early as his week-two reverse against Michigan last season.

But even in a receiver class seen as a step behind entering college, Texas has gotten fantastic returns from Parker Livingstone in his second year in the program. He’s assured to be a key part of the receiver rotation and may even start for the Longhorns as a vertical threat opposite Wingo.

Alongside the two standouts, Aaron Butler is expected to be one of the top-choice backups on the outside, and Jordan Washington is likely the No. 2 tight end on the depth chart. You’ll see plenty of him in 2025.

Class of ’22 Interior Offensive Linemen

Sark and his staff had one priority in the ’22 class: build up the offensive line to be a championship-caliber unit. Texas added an unprecedented seven offensive linemen in the group, with multiple hits in the group. Kelvin Banks has already played a full career and gone on to the NFL, as has Cam Williams at RT. Even with Malik Agbo transferring to West Virginia this offseason, Texas still features four interior guys entering their fourth season in Austin.

DJ Campbell is the leader of the pack and told the local media that he has a very close relationship with new starter Neto Umeozulu at LG. He and Umeozulu have been working on the same lines since their freshman year, and now-center Cole Hutson has accompanied them for most of that time. Hutson started as a freshman, Campbell as a sophomore and junior at RG. Now, all three are expected to back a strong run game in a new-look offensive line. You also can’t forget Connor Robertson, the backup center who would play in case of an injury in the group.

Class of ’23 Linebackers

Speaking of players with great relationships in their group, you won’t find a tighter duo than Anthony Hill and Liona Lefau. Even while Hill was making a name for himself as early as week two of his freshman year, the two have played at the same level of the defense their entire career—backups as freshmen, starters as sophomores, and now, entering their junior years, potentially leading the best linebacker unit in the nation.

Hill was the highest-ranked recruit after Manning in the ’23 class and is an expected first-round pick, while Lefau is expected to be a key starter for the defense over the next two years.

Class of ’23 Defensive Backs

If you’re starting to see a pattern, it’s for a reason. This is the most talented crop of third-year players Texas has had in the last 15 years. You could practically make an entire 11-man unit just from players in the 2023 class, which was only topped by Alabama—who saw many of those players already transfer—and Georgia.

Specifically in the defensive backfield, Texas expects to start three players from the class as well as occupy one of the key cornerback spots in a quartet entering the year. The most notable name is Malik Muhammad, a former high-four-star who has been starting games for Texas since his freshman year. When asked about the rest of the ’23 class, this is what he had to say:

“That’s what we take pride in, loving each other, being vulnerable towards each other, being able to tell each other what’s going on outside the field, what’s going on on the field. We stay tight. We have a really close connection in our DB room. And we take pride (in that).”

Muhammad is joined in the cornerback room by Warren Roberson, a special teamer who is now getting his shot as the backup boundary corner in 2025. Working your way back, Texas features two of its most athletic players on the team with safeties Jelani McDonald and Derek Williams.

[Want to be the most informed Texas Longhorns football fan? Order the 2025 edition of Thinking Texas Football today!]

In a year where Williams is healthy, McDonald is starting, and Roberson is expected to play a role, it seems like it’s all coming together for this group looking to put the CFB world on notice.