The way-too-early Texas depth chart for 2019

The Sugar Bowl win over the Georgia Bulldogs capped the first ten-win season for the Texas Longhorns since 2009, but head coach Tom Herman and his staff will have some significant challenges on their hands heading into next season.

The departure of a large senior class that helped restore the program to national relevancy included eight starters on defense and three starters along the offensive line.

Early in January, the staff got some good news, as junior wide receiver Collin Johnson announced that he will return for his senior season in 2019, bolstering a talented wide receiver corps that broke through in 2018.

Junior safety Brandon Jones made the same decision, but the one early defection for the Longhorns is junior wide receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey.

Texas will also add another talented recruiting class that should once again provide several instant-impact contributors, particularly at linebacker. There are still a handful of spots left in the class, too, with National Signing Day looming in early February, but as January progresses, it becomes increasingly apparent that Texas may only add one or two prospects to the signing class.

So here’s a look at how the depth chart could come together next fall.

There are some moving pieces, certainly, particularly along the offensive line and with an incoming wide receiver like Jordan Whittington, who could play inside or outside.

Defensive coordinator Todd Orlando will also have to decide how he wants to organize his secondary — for instance will BJ Foster play nickel back as a sophomore to allow Josh Thompson to slide over to cornerback? That was my guess original here, but plenty can change between now and the season opener against Louisiana Tech in a little less than nine months.

And, in fact, after Brandon Jones named sophomore cornerbacks Anthony Cook and Jalen Green as his breakout defenders in late February, I moved both into starting positions and moved junior Josh Thompson back to nickel, where he played last season.

Additionally, offensive lineman Patrick Hudson has not practiced since his heat-related issues this fall and left the team after the fall semester. Linebacker Demarco Boyd has not been with the team as his aggravated assault case moves through the court system.