Texas Longhorns scholarship chart: Tight ends

As the Texas Longhorns prepare for the 2013 football season, it's worth assessing the entire scholarship chart to take a deeper look into the immediate and distant future for the program at each position.

(Italics indicate a player who is committed but not yet signed.)

TE	2013	2014	2015	2016
1	Geoff Swaim	Geoff Swaim	MJ McFarland	A
2	Greg Daniels	Greg Daniels	John Thomas	whole
3	MJ McFarland	MJ McFarland		lotta
4	Miles Onyegbule	Miles Onyegbule		nothing
5		John Thomas

So, yeah, there are some potential problems forming in the future for the Longhorns -- like the current projection of not having any tight ends on the roster in 2016. Of course, it's a long ways away, but the inability to land a high school tight end in the 2013 and 2014 classes is clearly going to be a problem at some point. Texas needs to find someone who can play in 2015, but it would have to be a freshman or someone added to the 2014 class at a late moment with no prospects really on the radar at the moment.

It also means that Texas really has to find two 2015 tight ends or hope that someone like Garrett Gray can at least grow into the flex position (which he doesn't really want to happen). The early returns on that aren't especially promising with top prospect Jordan Davis committed to the Aggies and Bobby Evans committed to the Sooners. The Horns would probably be well advised to start targeting national prospects there.

The position is one that has been de-emphasized by Major Applewhite, but it's disappointing that the increased use of blockers never translated into any recruiting success. And how nice would it be to have Durham Smythe on campus and penciled in for the future?

At least there is reasonable depth for the next two seasons, though an injury to Swaim either of the next two seasons would probably be problematic.

Want to know more about why the Texas defense fell apart last season and how Manny Diaz can fix it? What about insight into Major Applewhite's influences and how they will impact the new Texas offense? Or why you should believe in David Ash making the jump this season? Get all the answers in 2013 In the Huddle: Texas.