Texas Longhorns in the NFL: Making the roster

I wish I had good news to give you after our horrendous loss to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Unfortunately that's not the case, as eight former Texas Longhorns were released by their respective NFL teams when the period for the final round of cuts came to an end on Saturday. None of them were claimed off waivers.

As for now, and according to nfltraderumor.com, Michael Huey and Adrian Phillips have been signed to the San Diego Chargers' practice squad. There are now 13 Longhorns in free agency, but that number could change in the next hours as the teams try to sign the players they want to their practice squads.

Despite having a good preseason, offensive UDFA rookies Jaxon Shipley and Malcolm Brown are no longer on the Cardinals and Rams rosters. Both quickly signed with the practice squads for Arizona and St. Louis.

As we could all see last night in South Bend, the offensive line situation is far from ideal on the Forty Acres, which has been a long-term issue for the Longhorns. We can consider the situation with the offensive linemen in the NFL as a mirror. With Donald Hawkins and Trey Hopkins joining Tony Hills in free agency and Huey not able to make the Chargers' final roster, Lyle Sendlein is the only former Longhorn offensive lineman on an NFL roster, and he is now the back-up center for the Cardinals.

DBU alums Carrington Byndom and Chykie Brown complete the list of the Longhorns released this weekend. Byndom quickly landed on the Carolina Panthers' practice squad, but since Brown came to an injury settlement with the New York Giants, he's unlikely to find a new landing spot until he's healthy again.

As expected, Colt McCoy is among the Longhorns who made a roster, even though his depth chart status with the Washington Redskins is unclear. According to NFL Network reporter Albert Breer, Colt will be the backup QB behind Cousins in the season opener due to RGIII's health problems. No decision has been made yet beyond that point. Colt's teammate, Jackson Jeffcoat completed the preseason with his fourth sack in as many games and is on the roster as the backup ROLB.

The good news came with Geoff Swaim, Fozzy Whittaker and Tarell Brown, whose spots were not certain, but they made the final rosters for the Dallas Cowboys, Carolina Panthers and New England Patriots, respectively. NFL action will begin this coming Thursday with the matchup between New England and Pittsburgh.

Let's hope our beloved Longhorns in the NFL will give us some happiness on Sundays, since it now appears we're going to have some uncomfortable Saturdays from now through November.

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