Texas LB Cameron Townsend moving to RB

As Texas Longhorns running backs continue to struggle with fumble issues in practice, head coach Tom Herman has moved junior linebacker Cameron Townsend to the position as part of “open tryouts” at that spot.

“We fumbled the ball way too many times today on offense,” Herman said on Tuesday following a rainy practice that was eventually moved to the indoor practice facility. “We’ve got to do a job getting our guys right and protecting the football. Again, as I’ve told you guys many times, there are two demands in this program and that’s effort and ball security. We’ve got to figure out a way to do a better job protecting the football. We will.”

So Herman clearly isn’t happy with any of the players currently on campus, a group that includes junior Tristian Houston and sophomores Daniel Young and Toneil Carter. Young and Carter combined for three fumbles last season, while Houston hasn’t been a factor since arriving as a member of the 2015 recruiting class.

Like Houston, Townsend has always been buried on the depth chart since his arrival in Austin. A consensus four-star prospect in the 2015 recruiting class, the 6’0, 215-pounder played in 10 games on special teams in 2016, recording two tackles, before seeing action against San Jose State and Oklahoma last season.

Now Townsend will have a chance at a new position, though it’s not clear that he played running back at any point past middle school.