The Texas Longhorns will be one of the favorites for the 2025 college football season. With Spring practice being a week old, the Longhorns have many storylines worth paying attention to. Of course, most casual observers are interested in the development of quarterback Arch Manning. He has a lot to live up to. One of the important storylines will be the Texas Longhorns running back competition. What is the best friend of a quarterback? A consistent running game to keep opposing defenses guessing.
Texas Longhorns Running Back Competition
Returning From Injury
While they will be limited during practice, CJ Baxter and Christian Clark are returning after missing the entire 2024 season due to injury. Baxter was expected to be the featured back after playing well as the number two back behind Jonathan Brooks in 2023. For the 2023 season, Baxter rushed for 659 yards and five touchdowns. He suffered a knee injury before the season.
Clark was also lost during training camp last season due to a torn Achilles. He was preparing to have an important role for the Longhorns for his freshman season. 247Sports rated Clark as a four-star recruit before he signed with Texas out of Phoenix, Arizona. They had him ranked as the sixth-best player in the state. In 2023, he rushed for 801 yards and six touchdowns. During his junior season, he rushed for 11 touchdowns.
Leading rusher returns
With the injury to Baxter, another running back had to step in to take pressure off quarterback Quinn Ewers and the Longhorns’ passing attack. Quintrevion Wisner returns after leading the team in rushing with 1,064 yards and five touchdowns. He closed out the regular season against Kentucky and Texas A&M by rushing for a combined 344 yards and one touchdown. He was given a heavy workload with 59 carries in those two victories averaging 5.8 yards per carry. Wisner rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns versus Clemson in the first round of the College Football Playoff.
The next leading rusher returning is Jerrick Gibson. As a freshman Gibson rushed for 377 yards and four touchdowns. He had a breakout performance in a 49-17 win over the Florida Gators. In that game, he rushed for 100 yards and scored one touchdown. With Baxter and Clark having limited participation in Spring practice, Gibson should get plenty of opportunities for development.
Incoming Freshmen
The Longhorns welcome two solid freshmen running backs to the team. James Simon is from Shreveport, Louisiana where he played high school football at Calvary Baptist Academy. 247Sports ranked Simon as the ninth-best running back in the 2025 class and ninth-best prospect in Louisiana. In his senior season, Simon rushed for 1,280 yards and 16 touchdowns.
Joining him is three-star prospect Rickey Stewart, Jr. out of Tyler, Texas. He played for Chapel Hill in high school and rushed for 1,650 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2024. Both Simon and Stewart should not factor into the Texas Longhorns running back competition unless the injury bug hits the Longhorns running back room again.
Who’s Gone?
Missing from the 2024 running back room is Jaydon Blue. Last season, Blue was second on the team with 730 rushing yards and led the team with eight touchdowns. Blue and Wisner created an effective one-two punch in the backfield. In the first-round College Football Playoff win, Blue had 146 yards and two touchdowns. He had a solid performance against Kentucky with 96 yards and one touchdown. Texas fans can look forward to seeing Blue in the NFL this fall.
Main Photo: Tim Heitman-Imagn Images
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