Texas Football: Position Battles to Watch in Longhorns' 2015 Spring Game

More Longhorns than just Tyrone Swoopes and Jerrod Heard will be fighting for starting jobs this offseason. Saturday's spring game gives them all a chance to enter the summer with a head start.

Settling the quarterback competition is far from the only tough decision the coaches have to make between now and the fall. Linebacker, defensive end and cornerback all have vacated starting spots, as do tight end and receiver on the offensive side of the ball.

Then there are the offensive tackle and "Fox" end positions, which each return starters but have plenty of new competition courtesy of some early enrollees.

Because of injuries and a general lack of depth, the real competition for most of these spots will have to wait until the freshmen arrive.

The real intrigue lies with the quarterbacks, linebackers, receivers and offensive tackles. We'll have a good idea of who owns those jobs by the end of the week.

Courtesy of 247Sports

Quarterback

As has been and will be the case all offseason, Texas has to choose between Swoopes' grasp of the offense and Heard's athleticism. Whichever prevails in this matchup will tell us a lot about who ends up with the job.

Now that Texas is moving to an uptempo system, Heard looks like the choice here based on upside. He's a true home run threat on both designed runs and scrambles, which adds a dimension that the bigger Swoopes just can't provide.

However, the junior does hold an edge in both his understanding of the offense and arm talent. According to Mike Finger of the San Antonio Express-News, that edge was significant when spring practice began, but Heard has been narrowing the gap of late as he takes first-team reps.

We'll get to find out just how these two compare on Saturday. We know Heard will make plays with his feet, so if he and Swoopes are comparable through the air, we'll be well on our way to seeing the redshirt freshman take control of this team.

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Linebacker

Depending on how you classify the Fox position, there are three open linebacker positions with five viable candidates playing in the Orange-White scrimmage.

At least we'll get a real sense of who's actually in the running.

Prior to his injury, Dalton Santos had the inside track on one of Texas' open linebacker spots. He's the only true middle linebacker currently on the roster, with nine starts there for his career.

A healthy Santos considerably shortens this conversation. Instead, it's been a free-for-all now that he's succumbed to an ankle. Senior Peter Jinkens and junior Tim Cole appear to be the favorites in the meantime, with redshirt freshman Edwin Freeman hot on their heels, according to HornsDigest.com.

Freshman phenom Malik Jefferson has also gotten a look.

This is the last chance for Cole and Jinkens to grab starting jobs. More talented linebackers will arrive this summer, and head coach Charlie Strong's preference to play a nickel corner and Fox end leaves only two spots for Jinkens, Cole, Freeman and Santos once he returns.

As for that Fox role, Jefferson will almost certainly factor into the rotation and could beat out incumbent starter Naashon Hughes.

Ideally, the coaches can find a way to get both of them an abundance of snaps because these are two of the best athletes on the squad.

Barring a little creativity, that's going to be one of the most exciting battles of the entire offseason.

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Receiver

When Armanti Foreman was ripping off huge plays against Oklahoma State and TCU, could anyone have imagined that his slot role would be in jeopardy in 2015? It is, and for good reason.

It's been the spring of the receiver at Texas. Dorian Leonard has been making insane one-handed grabs on a weekly basis, Jacorey Warrick looks like a terror out of the slot, Daje Johnson has his head on straight and nobody can count out Lorenzo Joe.

Add in senior Marcus Johnson, and a supposed position of weakness looks like the best group on the team. 

The issue at this point will be finding snaps for all of these guys, not to mention Foreman and the slew of freshmen who will arrive this summer. Each has a skill set the Horns could really use, especially from the plus-sized Leonard (6'3", 203 lbs) and multitalented Daje Johnson.

If the quarterbacks throw the ball well, these guys are all going to have nice games this Saturday.

Offensive Tackle

Four early enrollees have added necessary competition to the offensive tackle position that was overwhelmed most of last season. By the time fall rolls around, both jobs could belong to newcomers.

Even with several experienced blockers at his disposal, Joe Wickline is going to tinker with his group until the bitter end. Not only is he eyeing a redemptive campaign, but the new attack requires a different style of blocking from these guys.

The interior of this group is pretty much set with three effective starters back in the fold, but this staff recruited for immediate competition. For that reason, Texas has four early enrollees with the size to play tackle who will all see action in the spring game.

Incumbent left tackle Marcus Hutchins told reporters that the competition is making an impact thus far:

"

Yes, it makes all of us work even harder. Especially at the tackle position, we compete every day. I think it gives us more insight of how hard it is. Each and every day is not a given day. It can be switched, I can be here or I can be there. It's whoever goes out there and works the hardest, and we all go out there and play and bust our butts. It's a competition everyday and it's the difference.

"

Connor Williams, Tristan Nickelson, Brandon Hodges and Garrett Thomas—the four current newcomers—have all seen work at tackle. Williams and Nickelson have seen the most work with the first team, with Hodges looking like a utility player along the front.

Right tackle is definitely the most available spot of the two, as no real starter emerged last season. That role best fits the 6'8" Nickelson, though we can't count out true freshman Williams. HornsDigest.com's Chip Brown believes he'll be an NFL left tackle.