Texas 2015 Quarterback Fall Practice Preview: Depth Chart and Analysis

As we inch closer to fall practice, a familiar quarterback controversy is heating up for the Texas Longhorns.

Much like we saw leading up to the spring, returning starter Tyrone Swoopes has been doing all of the right things to stay atop the depth chart. He's earning the respect of his teammates and coaches alike, which is absolutely essential for a starting quarterback on such a young team.

But as we saw in the spring, Jerrod Heard will make this interesting with his athletic ability. He brings a big-play element with his feet that would be a great fit for the uptempo attack Charlie Strong and his staff want to run.

The battle here will make for an interesting storyline throughout camp, but it looks like Swoopes will hang on for at least the opener. Then, as the weeks go by, Heard's athleticism should settle the debate before the second half of the season.

1. Tyrone Swoopes

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He struggled late, but Swoopes had some big games during his first year as the starter.

Unless Jerrod Heard turns it on over these next two months, Tyrone Swoopes will be Texas' starting quarterback to begin the season. The big question will be whether he can hang on to the job.

Swoopes was written off after his late-season meltdown in 2014, but he's not going quietly. As a source told 247Sports' Jeff Howe, it's Swoopes who continues to take the initiative and try to run this team, which has kept him at the top of the totem pole.

However, that same source also indicated that the job would be Heard's if the redshirt freshman would push just a little bit harder:

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Jerrod could enter camp with the job basically won at that point, but Tyrone has done such a good job and he's doing what he needs to do when it comes to the little things. The guy who wins the job is going to be the guy who pushes the right buttons this summer. Jerrod is doing that, Tyrone is just doing it more assertively right now.

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As detailed by Burnt Orange Nation's Wescott Eberts, Swoopes can definitely keep his job. His offensive line was a total disaster last season, the offense should be easier for him to handle and he had some really strong performances before TCU and Arkansas tore him up.

Thanks to those big games and his work this summer, Swoopes has stayed on track to get the tough road start at Notre Dame. If he can throw the ball accurately and keep his composure in that game, he could hang on to the job longer than anyone thought back in January.

But once he reverts back to the Swoopes we saw in December, Heard will get his chance.

2. Jerrod Heard

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Heard's athleticism gives him an edge over Swoopes in the long run.

Your move, Jerrod Heard.

After looking like the better quarterback in Texas' spring game, the redshirt freshman has once again seen Swoopes up the ante. The junior is acting like the job is his, while Heard is still figuring out how to fully compete for it.

The same thing happened before spring practice, when Horns Digest's Chip Brown reported some concerns over Heard's work ethic. One month later, Heard was back in the conversation for the starting job thanks to some eye-opening work in the spring, as Charlie Strong put it before the Orange-White Scrimmage:

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I would say this, Jerrod has taken just tremendous steps here in the last week or so and he's really closed the gap. So it's going to be interesting to get through Saturday and then get to fall camp.

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The reason for Heard's resurgence is undoubtedly his supreme athletic ability. Heard can make a man miss and then break away with sprinter speed, two things that Swoopes decidedly cannot do. And as Texas moves its focus toward a quarterback-oriented running game, those skills give Heard tremendous upside.

So while it's disconcerting that Heard is struggling to take the reins, it's obvious the coaches love what he brings to the table. His talent will keep their eyes on him, and eventually they'll decide he's too explosive to keep off the field.

When Strong and his staff decide the offense needs a boost, Heard will be the guy.

3. Kai Locksley

Kai Locksley almost certainly won't see the field in 2015 as a true freshman. But should Texas' quarterback situation become that perilous, he's the only other scholarshipped option.

A better athlete than anything else, Locksley will probably get the same treatment as Jerrod Heard in 2014. Charlie Strong won't burn a redshirt unless he absolutely has to, meaning a walk-on like Logan Vinklarek would be the backup should anything happen to Swoopes or Heard.

While there's a chance the coaches would turn to Locksley should Swoopes and Heard both go down, it's almost a certainty that he holds a clipboard for the entire season.

The Walk-Ons

Logan Vinklarek, Trey Holtz and Jimmy Greenwood, in that order, will serve as depth of last resort for the Longhorns this season. 

Vinklarek, who transferred from Blinn last season, did enough in his short time with the program to serve as a backup for Swoopes most of last season. He was a backup at Blinn, which tells you everything you need to know about what the team would look like with him taking the snaps.

Greenwood's interesting because he was an intramural star who threw two passes in the spring.