Every RB to carry the ball for Texas this season is now a co-starter

The Monday depth chart released by the Texas Longhorns featured a remarkable entry at the running back position — four co-starters for the ‘Horns, which amounts to every running back to carry the football this season in burnt orange and white.

Sophomore Kyle Porter is still listed first, followed by junior Chris Warren III, then freshman Toneil Carter, then freshman Daniel Young. There are only two other scholarship running backs on the team — junior Kirk Johnson, who has spent most of his career injured, and sophomore Tristian Houston, who practices on the scout team.

Despite starting for much of the season, Porter’s role has decreased in recent weeks since carrying the ball 17 times against Iowa State. In fact, he’s only received 10 carries in the last four games, though he did miss the Oklahoma State game due to an ankle injury. However, he still didn’t receive a carry in his return against Baylor.

Warren is the team’s leader in rushing yards and touchdowns, but also saw his role diminish against the Bears — he carried the ball twice and only has 98 yards on his last 43 carries, an average of 2.3 yards per attempt.

In recent weeks, head coach Tom Herman has talked about giving bigger roles to Carter and Young, but it hadn’t quite happened until Saturday.

Carter had 15 carries, with a significant number coming out of the Wildcat package that offensive coordinator Tim Beck unveiled with little success. In the second half, the offensive line started opening some holes for the Louisiana native and it paid off in Carter producing multiple explosive plays, including the second touchdown run of his career.

On Monday, Herman praised the vision and tackle-breaking ability of both running backs, as Young also added an impressive touchdown run that showed off those attributes. He finished with seven carries for 60 yards.

The number of co-starters is worth poking some fun at, but the bottom line is that Carter and Young seem to provide the biggest boost to the running game, so expect them to continue playing more.

And hope that Carter is healthy enough to do so in Fort Worth this weekend.