There’s a bit of a tightrope being walked as it relates to the Texas Longhorns and what they bring to the table heading into the 2026 season.
On one hand, the Longhorns are chock-full of talent. In the recently released preseason AP All-America team, Texas led the way with four first-team players.
Those players are offensive lineman Trevor Goosby (who was recently injured in fall camp), wide receiver Cam Coleman, defensive lineman Colin Simmons and linebacker Rasheem Biles.
Quarterback Arch Manning is arguably the most well-known of all the players on Steve Sarkisian‘s roster, and he may have the most superstar upside. The Longhorns lead the way with All-Americans, and Manning is not even on the list.
At quarterback, Dante Moore of the Oregon Ducks was named a preseason first-team All-American, and Trinidad Chambliss of the Ole Miss Rebels is on the second team.
The fact that Manning isn’t even included and yet the Longhorns still have four first-teamers just goes to show how deep and talented this team is.
Yet, there is a stark dichotomy between the preseason All-America list and Texas’ spot on the AP preseason Top 25.
Texas Longhorns have four preseason All-American players
The Longhorns have the most superstar players in the country (again, not even including Manning). Still, they’re behind the Ohio State Buckeyes, Oregon Ducks, Georgia Bulldogs and Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the rankings.
Texas is the preseason No. 5 team in the country, but a case can be made that it should be No. 1.
Perhaps that’s why Sarkisian doesn’t seem too worried about the rankings. Perhaps he knows his team has the goods to prove them wrong.
It’s also worth noting that his team was ranked No. 1 in the preseason poll last year and immediately dropped a game to Ohio State in Week 1.
Sarkisian found out firsthand that preseason rankings don’t mean anything when the games are being played for real, and you can bet he’ll remind his Longhorns of that in Week 2 of this season when they play host to the Buckeyes in a rematch game.
