Texas Longhorns fell into the redundancy trap after using a lot of resources to fix their fatal flaw via the transfer portal
Did the Texas Longhorns actually fix their biggest problem in a cohesive way?
Heading into the transfer portal period, there was no question that the running back position was going to be an important one to find answers for the Texas Longhorns. Head coach Steve Sarkisian and the program said goodbye to Tre Wisner (Florida State), CJ Baxter (Kentucky), Christian Clark (South Carolina), and Jerrick Gibson (Purdue) this offseason. That meant that the team’s leading returning rusher, not named quarterback Arch Manning (399 yards, 10 touchdowns), was true freshman James Simon (122 yards).
The Longhorns ended up being very aggressive to fill that need, landing commitments from Raleek Brown (Arizona State) and Hollywood Smothers (NC State) in the portal. Combine them with Derrek Cooper and Jett Walker coming in via the 2026 recruiting class, and this running back depth chart does appear a lot more dynamic, at least on paper. There is, however, an interesting question about redundancy and whether the portal ideology was the correct one for this team.
Texas lands former Arizona State star Raleek Brown
After Texas was involved with several talented running backs, including Isaac Brown (Louisville), before he opted to return to school, the first domino to fall was Brown. After beginning his career with USC, the speedster finally had his massive breakout this past season. In 12 games for the Sun Devils, Brown managed to rush for 1,141 yards and four touchdowns, while adding another 34 receptions for 239 yards and two more scores through the air.
Speed is the name of Brown’s game. While he is a smaller runner at 5-9 and 195 pounds, he has the short-area explosiveness and long speed to create a ton of big plays. As a complementary weapon, Brown brings a ton of upside to the table. Big plays were sorely missed by the Longhorn offense in 2025, an issue that Brown should solve almost instantly.
Texas lands former NC State RB Hollywood Smothers
Speaking of playmakers, Texas didn’t wait long to also add Smothers. The former NC State star began his career with Oklahoma, developing into a star for the Wolfpack over the last two seasons. During that stretch, Smothers was able to rush for 1,519 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground. Smothers also hauled in 56 receptions for 452 yards and three more scores during those two years.
Similar to Brown, Smothers’ game revolves around creating big plays. He does an excellent job making defenders miss in the open field, creating a ton of explosive runs after his initial move. With Smothers being only 5-11 and 195 pounds, he is never going to be great at breaking tackles. If you are able to manufacture space, Smother is the perfect player to be able to take advantage of it.
Did Texas fall for the redundancy trap?
If the idea for the Texas staff was just to get faster and more explosive in the backfield, they certainly did that. There is, however, an interesting conversation that should center around the issue of redundancy. Both Smothers and Brown are going to function in a similar role, ideally anyway. It is still a backfield that is severely lacking in terms of power and tackle-breaking ability. Can either one of them churn out the hard yardage that this team is going to need in the bigger games?
Perhaps Cooper or Walker comes in and adds the power element that is missing, but that feels like a tall task to put on a true freshman. With the amount of money that was poured into both of those backs, you would expect Brown and Smothers to handle the bulk of the workload. Everyone knows that Sarkisian wants players who can manipulate space, but without someone who specializes in getting the dirty yards, it feels like a redundant backfield that could struggle in key situations, as well as short-yardage opportunities.
Texas Longhorns News
Texas Longhorns add RB Raleek Brown to stabilize backfield after transfer portal losses
Texas addressed a major offseason need by landing Arizona State transfer RB Raleek Brown, adding proven production and stability to a backfield reshaped by the transfer portal.
