Kyle Flood came into the 2021 season with, to no fault of his own, an under-developed offensive line. That offensive line struggled mightily for most of the season, specifically in pass protection. The Texas offensive line in 2022 looks to return three out of those five starters. They will also return two other offensive linemen who had over 100 snaps for the Longhorns in 2021.
Kyle Flood has now had a full year with these five players plus other depth pieces such as Logan Parr, Jaylen Garth, and Max Merril. Although Flood didn’t recruit these players, he absolutely must show he has developed them.
Projecting the Starting Five
As mentioned earlier, five offensive linemen have a fair-share of experience heading into 2022. These five offensive linemen will most likely be the starters against Louisiana-Monroe week one.
Left Tackle: Andrej Karic
Andrej Karic was not a starter in 2021. However, he played 272 snaps according to Pro Football Focus and earned a 62.6 overall grade. He was the Longhorns first offensive lineman off the bench and played both left tackle and right tackle. He played with an incredible mean-streak and was a solid run blocker.
Karic must show improvement in pass protection to lock down the starting left tackle position, but for now he seems to be Texas’ best proven option.
Left Guard: Junior Angilau
Junior Angilau was a starter last season. Playing the first six games of the season at right guard before playing the last six games of the season at left guard. He will prove to be a solid starter at left guard this season. Pro Football Focus gave him a 70.7 overall grade.
Angilau showed off he can be a great run blocker last year, especially if he continues to develop. Barring injury, Junior Angilau will be a starter at either left or right guard this season.
Center: Jake Majors
Jake Majors was a revelation at center in 2020. After Derek Kerstetter was injured, Majors was pushed into a starting role and excelled. Majors kept the job in 2021 and resumed as the starting center for the Longhorns. He played all 792 of his snaps at center last season and was somewhat under-whelming. PFF agrees as they gave him a 65.6 grade for the season.
Majors did not take that next step in 2021 to become an elite player along the offensive line. If he wants to get to the next level, he must take that step in 2022. He will have plenty of opportunities to show improvement because his starting job is in no danger this season.
Right Guard: Hayden Connor
Hayden Connor is the other player of these five who has very limited experience, the least of these projected starters. Connor had only 110 snaps last season, playing 86 of them at left guard and the other 24 at right guard. He got most of his opportunity when Angilau was injured in the last game of the season.
Connor struggled mightily in pass protection in his limited snaps. Missing blocking assignments and delayed blitzers. However, he showed impressive skills as a run blocker. His strength at the point of attack is exactly what Kyle Flood looks for in his offensive linemen, especially in the interior. Connor has to improve mightily in pass protection to earn the job at right guard.
Right Tackle: Christian Jones
Christian Jones is the last returning starter on this Texas 2022 offensive line. He played all 688 of his snaps at left tackle last season. Jones struggled for most of the season as a pass protector and as a run blocker.
As of now, Jones seems to be the closest of all five of these players we’ve named to losing a starting role. He will have to take major strides in both pass protection and as a run blocker to fend off these players we will talk about next.
Other Texas 2022 Offensive Line Options
Along with the aforementioned five players, there are a handful of other interesting options for Kyle Flood and Steve Sarkisian. These players have a solid chance to make a contribution to this Texas 2022 offensive line, either as starters or as depth pieces incase of injuries to the starters.
The True Freshmen
DJ Campbell and Kelvin Banks are two five-star offensive linemen who can make an immediate impact. Neto Umeozulu is another highly talented offensive lineman who will compete early for playing time or a depth role. Cole Hutson was the only early enrollee along the offensive line for Texas and because of injuries during spring training, he saw snaps as a starting right guard already.
Other true freshman Malik Agbo, Cameron Williams, and Connor Robertson might push for playing time, but might be closer to redshirting or being third string options in 2022.
DJ Campbell is the highest rated offensive lineman Texas has recruited since 2000 (when recruiting rankings began). Campbell looks to be heading for the interior offensive line, although he is capable of playing along the outside as well. His pure talent will demand a chance at playing time.
Kelvin Banks is the other five-star offensive lineman from the 2022 recruiting class. Banks looks to be the prototypical offensive tackle. With left tackle and right tackle both being question marks heading into the season, Banks will have a solid chance to earn a starting spot throughout the season.
Conclusion
Overall, this Texas 2022 offensive line has plenty of options. Although these players are all young, Kyle Flood has shown in the past he can develop talent. Until we see him fail to do so, Texas fans must trust that players like Andrej Karic and Hayden Connor can round-out their skillset to become more complete players. If they don’t, Kelvin Banks and DJ Campbell have the natural talent to usurp them mid-season.
This Texas offense as all of the talent it needs at the skill positions. Wide receivers Xavier Worthy, Jordan Whittington, Isaiah Neyor, and Agiye Hall are all incredibly talented. Running backs Bijan Robinson, Roschon Johnson, Keilan Robinson, and Johnathan Brooks also are in a backfield over-filled with talent.
The offensive line and the quarterback position will be the two areas that will make or break this Texas Longhorns offense in 2022. If both of these units live up to their potential, Steve Sarkisian’s offense could push for the number one scoring offense in the nation.
Thank you all for reading our article on Texas’ 2022 offensive line outlook! Feel free to give us your thoughts by tagging us on Twitter: @TexasTalk_
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