Jack (Hybrid DE/LB)
Griffin McVeigh: Ray Thornton
When Joesph Ossai announced he was leaving for the NFL draft, filling the JACK role was going to be the biggest defensive question of the offseason. Texas took on two transfers in LSU‘s Ray Thornton and Notre Dame‘s Ovie Oghoufo. Since Thornton is going to be on campus sooner than Oghoufo, I will give the slight edge to the former Tiger. He never got to start during his time in Baton Rouge, but was a solid role player throughout. In Austin, Thornton has the opportunity to become a breakout star.
Cami Griffin: Ray Thornton
Joseph Ossai was incredibly successful at the JACK role last season. This will be one of new defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski’s biggest vacancies to fill this offseason. I have to believe that LSU transfer Ray Thornton chose Texas knowing that he had the ability to start right away. In limited playing time, he still finished last season with the fourth-most sacks for the Tigers.
Shane Carter: Ray Thornton
In 2020, Thornton played in nine games and recorded two sacks and two tackles for loss. He was mostly used in pass-rush situations as a rotational player, but was able to rack up the fourth-most sacks on the LSU Tigers in limited playing time.
Now that his position is up for grabs, it’s reasonable to think how well he could thrive with a more expanded role. New Longhorns defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski loves to incorporate different blitz packages and that is where Thornton thrives.