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Texas’ 2025 Opponents: Ranking The Top 5 Defensive Lines That The Horns Face

A retooled Texas offensive line will take on several quality defensive lines this year. Who are the best that Texas will face in the regular season?

Right now, it looks to be:

Oklahoma
Georgia
Florida
Ohio State
Texas A&M

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is deep, talented, and some young coveted recruits are starting to grow up. Sophomore defensive tackle Jayden Jackson flashed last season as a true freshman and he will be much more consistent this year. Damonic Williams was overblown as a portal asset, but the senior will stop the run at a plus level and he has 39 college starts under his belt. Gracen Halton is the unsung hero of the interior defensive line. The undersized DT led all Sooner interior players in pressures (29) and sacks (4). He actually leads all returning interior defensive linemen in college football in pressure rate. 5 star recruit David Stone briefly entered the portal, but was money whipped back.

Outside, R Mason Thomas is a fine pass rusher who had 9 sacks, 13.5 tackles for loss and 35 pressures last year on the way to 2nd Team All-SEC honors. Marvin Jones Jr will battle Adepoju Adebawore (a former 5 star recruit) and Danny Okoye for the right to start opposite Thomas. The former 5 star recruit Jones is on his third school now (Georgia, Florida State previously) and he’s been an under performer. Okie State transfer Kendal Daniels (former safety, now 250) could be another pass rushing option.

Georgia

The Bulldogs are here solely out of respect for their development and unproven raw talent, but they have a lot of work to do. Losing two first round edges in the NFL Draft, Damon Wilson to the portal, and several other veteran stalwarts (Chambliss, Brinson, Stackhouse) will leave a mark.

Defensive tackles Christen Miller and Jordan Hall should take a step forward. Miller was really good in his rotational snaps last year and a breakout is probable, if not nearly assured. He’s really strong against the run and he’s starting to grow into his own as a pass rusher. Jordan Hall is talented, but hasn’t gotten it done yet.

The biggest difference this year is outside. Gabe Harris and Elo Modozie will get first crack at edge, but they have several big time youngsters waiting to make their mark. The transfer Modozie was a breakout performer at Army and one can clearly see the raw attributes required to make a high level SEC pass rusher. He will need to put on weight, but his quickness is a differentiator. As always, expect Georgia to rotate to keep everyone fresh and identify potential breakout candidates who can supplant more veteran starters over the course of the season. Learn the name of true freshman edge Isaiah Gibson.

Florida

The Gators boast two defensive linemen who will be as big a problem as anyone Texas will face, but their overall depth could limit upside. Tyreak Sapp is a Top 5 SEC edge player and the 6-2, 270 pound pass rusher has a strong first step paired with power. He had 8 sacks last year.

Inside, the light finally turned on for 6-6, 330 pound Caleb Banks. He led the Gators in pressures with 29 despite only playing 422 snaps. He’s immensely powerful and twitchy. George Gumbs is opposite Sapp and he’s appropriately named – the bendy edge had 5 sacks last year but he’s also good off-of-the-ball or dropping into zone coverages.

Their core guys are good but depth is questionable. If Kamran James and sophomore 5 star LJ McCray hit at edge, the Gators could be the best DL that Texas will face. The fact that the Gators didn’t try to keep TJ Searcy from going to A&M or Jack Pyburn to LSU tells you that they they like their edge room.

Ohio State

The Buckeyes lost all four starting DL to the NFL draft (1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th rounds).

Eddrick Houston is a bulked up former defensive end and he brings some pass rushing chops at the 3 tech. Kayden McDonald is their space eater nose tackle. Depth inside is poor. They can thank Texas for that in part. Texas took Hero Kanu from them and then won two other head-to-heads on portal prospects that Ohio State wanted. In the Buckeye Spring game, the 2nd and 3rd team interior defense was pushed around.

North Carolina transfer Beau Atkinson will hold down one edge. He was one of the more sought after players in the portal and he had 7.5 sacks last year for the Tar Heels. The other side should feature Kenyatta Jackson, a rotation player for the last three years. Both edges stand 6’6” so Texas’ offensive tackles need to prevent them from extending and batting balls at the line of scrimmage. Potentially promising backup pass rushers in CJ Hicks, Caden Curry, and Idaho State transfer Logan George round out the unit. If Jackson isn’t cutting it as a pass rusher, they will go with the smaller speed pass rushing specialists like Hicks and George.

Texas A&M

The Aggies will be solid across the front and the loss of their three big DL are overdone. Scourton and Stewart both played 25-30 pounds too heavy last year at DE.

Albert Regis is an experienced replacement at defensive tackle who grades well against the run and has a knack for batted balls (8 last year), and they brought in Tyler Onyedim from Iowa State to do some of the dirty work. Bowling Green transfer Cashius Howell played well last year (4 sacks, an outstanding 34 pressures in 485 snaps) but he may just be getting started. He was just a few finished plays away from a 8-10 sack season and he should be one of the best ten edges in the league.

At the other edge spot, the Aggies are vulnerable unless Florida transfer TJ Searcy (2.5 career sacks in Gainesville) steps up his game. Searcy was a coveted recruit and he looks the part, but he never put it together at Florida. Their total unit upside may rest on the degree to which defensive tackles DJ Hicks and Dealyn Evans can provide great snaps in relief of Onyedim and Regis.