Texas is staring at a hefty chunk of NIL money sitting on the injury report.
With multiple key players sidelined, the Longhorns have nearly $10 million in NIL capital tied up in injured bodies, according to OrangeBloods owner Geoff Ketchum. That figure includes some of Texas’ biggest names, and in this NIL era, every absence comes with a price tag.
Running back Hollywood Smothers is done for the season after Texas announced this week that he suffered shoulder and knee injuries against Mississippi State. Offensive tackle Trevor Goosby was already ruled out for the year a couple of weeks ago, and tight end Nick Townsend has now joined him on the season-ending list. Edge Richard Wesley has also been out for weeks.
The injury report gets even heavier from there. Wide receivers Ryan Wingo and Cam Coleman are both questionable after getting banged up last week.
Defensive backs Kade Phillips and Graceson Littleton are listed the same way, and EDGE Colin Simmons is questionable as well. Simmons, an All-American, has already missed three games.
Some of those names carry major NIL weight. Coleman and Smothers were both big transfer portal additions.
Goosby and Simmons are projected to be top ten picks in the 2027 NFL Draft. Goosby’s future position next season is still up in the air.
Ketchum’s estimate breaks down into four players making $1 million or more this season and four more in the $750,000 range. That’s a lot of money Texas has committed that isn’t helping on the field right now.
Steve Sarkisian has talked about NIL budgets in salary cap terms, and the logic is easy to see. If a program wants to land a receiver like Cam Coleman, it may have to let someone like Parker Livingstone walk. But once those dollars are tied up on the injury list, they’re dead money.
The NFL has long dealt with that kind of injury cap hit, but pro teams can work around it in ways college programs can’t. They can trade for replacements, shuffle cap space, and dip into the league’s practice squads.
Texas doesn’t have those options. Sarkisian and the Longhorns have to make it work with what’s already on the roster.
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One name to watch is true freshman John Meredith III, the former five-star recruit who could be asked to take on a bigger role if Texas needs another body on the back end. The Longhorns are also still waiting on edge rusher Colin Simmons, whose status remains uncertain, even as others have helped keep the defense moving in his absence. [Read more 🡒]
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For Illinois, the real test is not just whether it can win, but whether it can handle the kind of game that exposes soft spots and rewards discipline. Nebraska brings the sort of familiarity that can make an opponent dangerous, and with so many teams around the country still sorting out their identities, this one has the feel of a useful barometer for where Illinois stands before the schedule gets any harder. [Read more 🡒]