Texas Longhorns Freshman RB Already Earning Rave Reviews Early in Fall Camp

The Texas Longhorns wrapped up their first practice of fall camp on Wednesday, as Longhorn coaches and fans received a renewed look at their Texas squad that heads into the 2025 season with championship aspirations.

One noteworthy position after the first day of practice was running back, especially the players who are returning from injury. CJ Baxter is already impressing as he returns to the field after missing his second year due to a knee injury. The other Texas running back returning from injury is redshirt freshman Christian Clark, who missed his true freshman season due to an achilles injury. Clark has looked promising coming off the season-ending injury, Steve Sarkisian noted after Wednesday's practice.

"Science is amazing," Sarkisian said. "For this guy to be playing football a year later and running, cutting, and playing with such confidence. I don't think he even thinks anything about the achilles anymore. I just think he's playing."

What's the State of the Longhorns Running Back Room in 2025

Texas's running back room loses a critical piece of Sarkisian's offense in Jaydon Blue, who was drafted in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys. In his final season with the Longhorns, Blue rushed for 730 yards and eight touchdowns while also having 42 receptions for 368 yards and six touchdowns.

However, the Longhorns return plenty of talent for the 2025 season, having the only returning 1000-yard rusher in the SEC, Quintrevion Wisner, who finished the season with 1064 rushing yards and five touchdowns. The aforementioned CJ Baxter, who, when he was healthy, totaled 653 yards and five touchdowns on the ground as a true freshman in 2023, and second-year running back Jerrick Gibson, who carved out a role as a true freshman with 377 rushing yards and four touchdowns.

The Longhorns also brought in a pair of touted four-star freshmen running backs with their top-ranked 2025 recruiting class in James Simon, who ranked as the No. 9 running back in the class, and Ricky Stewart Jr., both of whom could find roles in the Longhorns' offense right away if necessary.

Clark will look to impress in his second season with the Longhorns after being out the entirety of his first year. Sarkisian highlighted the traits that Clark has that can make him a key component to the offense as the season progresses.

"He's got great balance and body control, he's got a really strong lower half and natural runner ability, and that's a hard thing to describe, but some of the things that runners do are very natural to him," Sarkisian said. "The one cut ability, the contact balance, he's got very good hands out of the back field. So encouraged by him, I was encouraged in spring, and I am more encouraged today."