Texas Longhorns Set for Top-3 Offense in College Football Despite NFL Draft Losses?

Defense may indeed win championships, and the Texas Longhorns know that like anybody else. But in today's world of college football, you're going to need more than just defense to win a national championship. The way to win remains the same: you must outscore your opponents.

Since Steve Sarkisian took over as the Texas head coach, the Longhorns have been able to put up points. In just the last two seasons, over 30 points per game, each ranking inside the top-30 in scoring offense. And while they enter the 2025 season with a lot of lost production offensively, they are not viewed as a unit that could take a step back.

Pro Football Focus's Max Chadwick still believes that the Texas offense will be among the nation's best. In a recent article ranking the top-10 offenses in college football for the upcoming season, he ranked the Longhorns at No. 3.

Nation's Third-Best Offense?

"[Arch Manning] earned an impressive 88.0 PFF overall grade on 233 snaps, though, and will have PFF’s No. 3 running back unit and No. 8 receiving corps to help him out," PFF writes. "The biggest question for Texas is along the offensive line, as the elite unit from 2024 lost four of five starters. However, intriguing players are waiting in the wings, including tackles Trevor Goosby and Brandon Baker."

The lone returning starter for Texas up front is Devon Campbell. The former five-star offensive guard is rated highly by Pro Football Focus, as they gave him a 76.8 pass protection grade last season, after he only allowed three sacks and 15 pressures.

Aside from Campbell, who's recorded 30 starts in his 37 career appearances, Cole Hutson and the aforementioned Goosby will be the only other Longhorn offensive linemen who have recorded at least one career start before this coming season.

But it isn't just the offensive line where the Longhorns will have new faces. They will also have to replace their top tight end in Gunnar Helm, along with two of their top receivers from a year ago. Although, unlike the offensive line where Texas will have new faces with very limited experience, the ones they are looking at, receivers already boast experience.

Ryan Wingo and DeAndre Moore are the top returners out wide for Texas and will now look to step into the voids left behind by Matthew Golden and Isaiah Bond. They will be joined by Stanford transfer Emmet Mosley as the most experienced receivers Texas will enter the season with.

"We brought in Emmett Mosley, a transfer from Stanford, who had 50 catches there as a true freshman at Stanford that we're excited about, to go along with a really good recruiting class and a bunch of young guys, ..." Sarkisian said at SEC Media Days.

Yet for all the question marks that come with counting on players to step up, the strength of the offense right now seems to be at running back. With the return of CJ Baxter from his knee injury, Texas now has two potential top running backs in him and Quintrevion Wisner.

Wisner, the now senior back, stepped up in the absence of Baxter last season. He rushed for 1,064 yards and five touchdowns on 226 carries, leading a backfield that also featured Jaydon Blue.

With a new quarterback and a young set of receivers, it is likely that Texas leans on its ground game early. But as the season goes on, the passing game will likely only get better as Manning and his playmakers build rapport.