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Greg McElroy Explains Why He Excluded Texas' CJ Baxter From RB Rankings

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Grant Bricker | Last updated May 13, 2025 10:00 AM ET

Texas Longhorns running back CJ Baxter finished second on the team with 659 rushing yards in 2023 and was due for a big year in 2024.

However, things did not pan out that way, as an LCL and PCL tear ended Baxter's season before the Longhorns' first game.

Greg McElroy released his running back rankings on a recent episode of "Always College Football." McElroy kept Baxter out and explained the decision by explaining how the Texas running back will pair with Tre Wisner in 2025.

After Baxter's injury, Wisner stepped in and led the Longhorns with 1,064 rushing yards and five touchdowns. McElroy put Wisner at No. 7 in the rankings.

“Coming into the 24 season, the expectations were sky high, because if you look at what he did as a true freshman the year before, he was pretty effective,” McElroy said. “But he got more effective as the season went along. CJ Baxter maybe took a little time, had to take a bit of a back seat to Jonathan Brooks, who went on to have an amazing season for Texas two years ago."

McElroy further discussed how, before the injury, it finally felt like it would be Baxter's time ahead of the 2024 season.

“So Baxter was kind of lost there in the shuffle," McElroy said. "… But you felt like last year it was finally going to be his show. It was finally going to be an opportunity for Baxter to show ‘Hey, I’m the five-star phenom that everyone expected me to be when I arrived at Texas a couple years back.’ However, pre season injury to his ACL and LCL required surgery shut him down the entire season, but he now is going to be back in the mix to compliment and already emerged Tre Wisner.”

Without Baxter, Texas reached the SEC Championship Game semifinal of the College Football Playoff. However, the Ohio State Buckeyes ended the Longhorns' season with a 28-14 loss.

Baxter was a former five-star prospect and the No. 1 running back in the 2023 class, via the On3 Industry Rankings. Baxter and the Longhorns open the 2025 season with Ohio State on Aug. 30.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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