Texas is looking to follow up on a big 2024 season, and it all starts in the backfield. The Longhorns are happy to have Tre Wisner leading the charge, but CJ Baxter’s return from injury is certain to bring fans excitement.
CJ Baxter Misses Greg McElroy’s Top 10 Running Backs Due to Injury Concerns
The Longhorns are “not in a rush” for Baxter’s return to the field, coming off ACL and LCL injuries, but once he does, they should be dangerous.
“Coming into the ‘24 season, the expectations were sky high, because if you look at what he did as a true freshman the year before, he was pretty effective,” ESPN’s Greg McElroy said. “But he got more effective as the season went along. CJ Baxter maybe took a little time, had to take a bit of a back seat to Jonathan Brooks, who went on to have an amazing season for Texas two years ago.
“So Baxter was kind of lost there in the shuffle … But you felt like last year it was finally going to be his show. It was finally going to be an opportunity for Baxter to show ‘Hey, I’m the five-star phenom that everyone expected me to be when I arrived at Texas a couple of years back.’
However, pre-season injury to his ACL and LCL required surgery, shutting him down the entire season, but he will now be back in the mix to complement and already emerged Tre Wisner.”
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And while McElroy may have left Baxter outside his top 10, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian is still happy with his backfield.
“I think that the backfield will be better, in some degree,” Sarkisian said. “We got two guys coming off of injuries in CJ Baxter and Christian Clark, and we really think highly of both of them. We have a 1,000-yard rusher coming back, Tre Wisner, and we have a true freshman kid who’s going to be a sophomore in Jerrick Gibson, who played some really significant meaningful snaps in some big games. And so I feel really good about the running back room.”
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