Greg McElroy Has a Different Opinion of Texas Than Everyone Else

Throughout the offseason, the Texas Longhorns have stolen the attention of nearly every college football analyst and fan because with the rise of quarterback Arch Manning, they've positioned themselves as serious national championship contenders.

On Monday, the preseason coaches poll was released, and at the top sat the Longhorns, receiving 28 of 67 first-place votes, even hovering over the reigning national champion Ohio State Buckeyes.

However, ESPN's Greg McElroy shared a contrasting opinion of Texas in his preseason top-10 rankings, placing them down at No. 4, behind the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (No. 3), the Penn State Nittany Lions (No. 2) and the Clemson Tigers (No. 1).

Offensive Line Worries McElroy

The Longhorns were left with several holes on the offensive line after offensive tackles Kelvin Banks Jr., Cameron Williams and Hayden Connor were selected in the 2025 NFL Draft. Center Jake Majors also signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent.

McElroy highlighted that Trevor Goosby will likely be great at left tackle, while also revealing he's not worried about right guard with DJ Campbell manning the position. But the other three spots leave question marks.

"At center, they have a guy in Cole Hutson, who was kind of their sixth man last year," McElroy said. "A guy that would fill in at any spot if a guy got banged up. He's played in 38 career games; he's got 13 career starts; he's played in 1,251 career snaps. The problem with those 1,251 career snaps, they've all been at guard. He's taken zero snaps at center. ... Still got to figure out what's going on at left guard, still got to figure out what's going on at left tackle.

"I think all in all, the talent is there, but will they have the cohesiveness necessary to make a run and become an outstanding offensive line by season's end. That is the question mark right now for the Texas Longhorns."