Out of spring, Jefferson is a backup, but fall might prove otherwise

Published Apr. 23, 2015 10:53 a.m. ET

foxsports

The Texas Longhorns are replacing 10 starters, a good number of whom will be playing on Sundays, which makes the task of replacing them even more difficult.

Then there was the slew of injuries that kept potential starters out of spring practices and zapped some energy from the anticipation of last week's spring game.

So viewing the Longhorns' depth chart is an inexact science for now. A number of positions aren't set in stone, and even projecting which players will land as starters can be a hazardous undertaking at this point.

Obviously, the quarterback competition between Tyrone Swoopes and Jerrod Heard will dominate the headlines from now until whenever coach Charlie Strong makes his final decision, and probably beyond, but perhaps the most intriguing story line to watch is on the other side of the ball.

Freshman linebacker Malik Jefferson showed off his rare talents during the spring game, bringing a tenacity and physicality that coaches love and that promises to keep him on the field for a long time.

During the spring game he was like a heat-seeking missile looking destroy anything that came in his zip code. Jefferson lacks a true position at the moment because he can do so many different things that he doesn't easily fit into one spot.

So Jefferson officially heads into summer as a backup to sophomore Naashon Hughes. But once fall camp opens in August, everything is fair game.

(h/t Bleacher Report)