The Texas Longhorns offense Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

$40 million college football roster takes substantial hit in fall camp

Originally posted on NIL on SI | By JC Shelton | Last updated Aug 4, 2025 6:31 PM ET

As the Texas enters a new offensive era behind the arm of quarterback phenom Arch Manning, the Longhorns will reportedly be one player short up front after an injury was sustained during fall camp.

Head coach Steve Sarkisian's Longhorns rank first in blue-chip ratio for the 2025 college football season after making back-to-back College Football Playoff appearances and playing for an SEC championship last season.

An uber-talented roster – reportedly costing the program around $40 million this year – combined with the hype around Manning has Texas at the top of the national championship conversation entering the season.

Unfortunately for the Longhorns, the injury bug has claimed its first key victim in offensive lineman Andre Cojoe. The 6-foot-6, 335-pound sophomore was competing for the starting right tackle spot before going down with a season-ending knee injury in practice, according to OnTexasFootball and confirmed by multiple outlets.

BREAKING: According to sources, Texas OL Andre Cojoe is OUT for the season with a knee injury pic.twitter.com/joOucseEKJ
— OnTexasFootball (@ontexasfootball) August 4, 2025

Texas lost offensive tackles Kevin Banks Jr. and Cameron Williams to this year's NFL Draft, leaving some key questions for Sarkisian and Co. entering this season. The right tackle spot was reportedly down to Cojoe and sophomore Brandon Baker before the injury news broke.

This slates Baker as the obvious favorite to earn the starting nod. The 6-foot-4, 308-pound lineman has appeared in eight career games after signing with Texas as one of the top tackles in the 2024 class.

Losing a contributor like Cojoe while searching for answers along the offensive line is certainly an unwanted situation for the Longhhorns, who open the season at defending national champion Ohio State.

Texas will need to lean on its recruiting success and development strategy to get the most out of the group this season.

The playoff semifinal rematch against the Buckeyes will take place on Aug. 30 at noon ET (Fox).

This article first appeared on NIL on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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