Texas freshman LB De’Gabriel Floyd expected to miss 2019 season with spinal stenosis

An already thin Texas Longhorns linebacker room has now suffered a considerable loss for the 2019 season, as early enrollee De’Gabriel Floyd is now expected to miss his freshman campaign after being diagnosed with spinal stenosis, Tom Herman told the media on Saturday.

Floyd will be re-evaluated next January, as first reported by Trent Daeschner of the Dallas Morning News.

The news that Floyd is expected to miss his entire freshman season comes just days after Herman announced that the former high school All-American would remain sidelined throughout spring practice.

Spinal stenosis, as defined by mayoclinic.org, is “a narrowing of the spaces within your spine, which can put pressure on the nerves that travel through the spine.” Symptoms can include pain, tingling, numbness and muscle weakness. Common causes for spinal stenosis include overgrowth of bone, herniated disks, thickened ligaments, tumors, and spinal injuries, though the condition most often impacts those over the age of 50, per mayoclinic.org.

The condition has largely kept Floyd sidelined this spring and unable to to participate in full-contact drills with what the Texas staff initially considered to be continuing effects of stinger issues dating back to Floyd’s high school playing days. In hopes of reaching the root of the lingering injury, Floyd has undergone a bone scan and an MRI in recent weeks.

A headliner of the Longhorns’ 2019 class, Floyd arrived in Austin this spring ranked as the nation’s No. 67 player and No. 3 inside linebacker, per the 247Sports Composite, and his on-field impact justified those rankings, as Floyd amassed 120 tackles and six sacks as a senior.

Upon his arrival in Austin, it was expected that the 6’2, 240-pound Floyd would push redshirt freshman and fellow former high school All-American Ayodele Adeoye for reps at Mac linebacker, where the Longhorns are looking to replace Anthony Wheeler.