Texas appears to be playing musical chairs with their running backs this offseason.
The Longhorns have now completed their second scrimmage of fall camp. There’s been a few injuries pop up throughout practices, but overall Texas seems to be trending in a positive direction.
Their third scrimmage is scheduled to take place on August 29. This will be an important showing for backups and young players hoping to solidify a role on the roster.
Horns247 recently released a two-deep depth chart based on the rumblings of multiple team sources. This must be taken with a grain of salt due to the likelihood of injuries playing a role as well as the timeframe of still being two weeks out from the start of the season.
However, it’s a great way to get an inside look of who is outperforming others throughout camp thus far. One of the most eye opening portions of this two-deep list is at the running back position. Sophomore Roschon Johnson is listed as the starter ahead of Keaontay Ingram and Bijan Robinson.
Yes, you read that correctly.
Many expected Ingram to enter the season as the penciled in starter at the position. It’s still a bit early for true freshman Robinson to claim the top spot, but he’s still likely to receive a significant amount of carries.
Ingram has been in and out of availability due to nagging injuries, but Johnson has been the most impressive back at camp regardless.
“Johnson has had the best camp, by far, of the running backs, and not just because he’s been healthy and made every practice while Ingram (hamstring, upper respiratory infection) and freshman Bijan Robinson (tight groin) have missed time. At 6-foot-2 and 227 pounds, Johnson takes care of the details well, including blitz pickup.
It was during a blitz pickup drill that Johnson got under the pads of middle linebacker Ayodele Adeoye, who landed awkwardly on his shoulder, resulting in an injury that will likely keep Adeoye out until the opener against UTEP on Sept. 12.