A stacked offense has Texas as the No. 2 team in Pro Football Focus’ preseason power rankings

Over the course of the last month, Pro Football Focus has power ranked individual college football offensive units. Yesterday, they released preseason power rankings for the 2024 season. Thanks to an offense loaded with multiple top-five position groups, the Longhorns were given the No. 2 preseason power ranking.

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Texas was one spot behind the Georgia Bulldogs and one spot ahead of week two opponent Michigan in the rankings. SEC teams made up 10 of the top 25, with Alabama, LSU, Missouri, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Texas A&M joining the Bulldogs and Longhorns.

Here’s how Texas earned a No. 2 power ranking thanks in large part to three different elite offensive position groups.

Power Rankings: No. 2 Texas

The list
25. North Carolina
24. Arizona
23. USC
22. Kansas State
21. Texas A&M
20. Troy
19. Kentucky
18. Iowa
17. SMU
16. Tennessee
15. Clemson
14. Ole Miss
13. Oklahoma
12. Notre Dame
11. Missouri
10. LSU
9. Washington
8. Penn State
7. Florida State
6. Oregon
5. Alabama
4. Ohio State
3. Michigan
2. Texas
1. Georgia

Quarterback room: No. 3

The room that features Quinn Ewers, Arch Manning, and Trey Owens was ranked behind Oregon’s and Georgia’s. At the top of the depth chart for the Ducks is Dillon Gabriel, a sixth-year senior that has played plenty of good football and has even defeated the Longhorns. Behind him are sophomore UCLA transfer Dante Moore, one of the more heralded recruits in the 2023 class, and redshirt freshman Austin Novosad, a Central Texas product also from the 2023 class.

PFF gives Oregon the nod over the Longhorns at two, likely due to multi-year production from the starter and added experience from a similarly-rated backup.

Georgia gets the nod over everyone thanks to Carson Beck, who currently stands as the odds-on favorite for the Heisman thanks to his own talent and the accumulated talent around him.

The list
5. Alabama
4. Ohio State
3. Texas
2. Oregon
1. Georgia

Receiving Corps: No. 5

This listing includes tight ends. Texas had to hit the portal for four players vying for frontline time in this category in wide receivers Isaiah Bond, Matthew Golden, Silas Bolden, and tight end Amari Niblack. That aggression in the portal is what earned respect from PFF as Texas needed quality and quantity at receiver after AD Mitchell, Xavier Worthy, Jordan Whittington, and Ja’Tavion Sanders left for the NFL.

Plus, a talented returner like Johntay Cook is listed as an additional reason why the Longhorns earned high accolades.

Georgia’s tight ends and veteran receiver corps have them fourth. Ohio State lost Marvin Harrison Jr. but added Jeremiah Smith to a very talented group for third-place billing. Ole Miss was active in the portal as well, adding Juice Wells and Dae’Quan Wright, to earn the No. 2 spot.

Oregon, thanks to the addition of Evan Stewart to a room that returns four of five leading receivers from a team that ran into the Washington buzzsaw twice, took the top spot.

The list
5. Texas
4. Georgia
3. Ohio State
2. Ole Miss
1. Oregon

Offensive line: No. 4

Returning four of five starters goes a long way, especially when four of those starters were on a College Football Playoff team and one of them, Kelvin Banks, is expected to be a first-round pick. PFF labeled him as the second-best returning tackle in college football.

While there’s no guarantee that all four returners will be in the starting lineup once again, that undoubtedly provides the Longhorns with a high-quality baseline for Ewers and the rest of the offense to work with in search of a national title.

LSU, Georgia, and Alabama were ranked ahead of the Longhorns.

The list
5. Oregon
4. Texas
3. LSU
2. Georgia
1. Alabama

Snubbed: Running back

Tashard Choice‘s group featuring CJ Baxter and Jaydon Blue at the top didn’t make PFF’s top 10. Three Big 10 teams, two SEC teams, four Big 12 teams, and one ACC team earned inclusion, with Ohio State leading the way.

With Jonathon Brooks and Keilan Robinson off to the NFL, there’s some justification for the ranking, especially when looking at the top five. The Longhorns, who Steve Sarkisian claims operates a run-first offense, will look to prove they were underrated by PFF during the 2024 campaign.

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The list
5. Ole Miss
4. Penn State
3. Georgia
2. UCF
1. Ohio State

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