ESPN identifies sleeper who could emerge for Texas in 2025
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Texas has made it to back-to-back College Football Playoff semifinal games, falling to Washington in the 2024 Sugar Bowl before losing to eventual champion Ohio State in the 2025 Cotton Bowl. Now, as the Longhorns look to win the program’s fifth national championship and first since 2005, all eyes are on Arch Manning as he takes the reins behind center.
Leading the Longhorns to a championship in his first year as a starter will help Manning establish a legacy of his own, but he can’t do it by himself. Fortunately, he’ll have tight end Jack Endries as a key target.
ESPN has named the Cal transfer, who posted 56 catches, 623 yards, and 2 touchdowns in 2024, as one of its sleepers among players on Top 25 teams. But thanks to his production with the Golden Bears, ESPN’s Dave Wilson notes that Endries, who spent 3 seasons in Berkeley, isn’t a traditional “off-the-radar prospect”:
With star recruits Ryan Wingo and DeAndre Moore returning at receiver, 1,000-yard rusher Quintrevion Wisner back at running back with Cedric Baxter and Christian Clark returning from injuries alongside him, Arch Manning will have weapons. But Manning singled out Endries, a former walk-on, as someone who could emerge as a household name by season’s end as he solidifies a position of need after Gunnar Helm, who caught 60 passes for 786 yards and seven TDs last year, developed into a fourth-round pick of the Tennessee Titans and Amari Niblack transferred to Texas A&M.
Manning has carried the weight of expectations since long before he stepped foot on the University of Texas campus. That’s the result of having a grandfather (Archie) and two uncles (Peyton and Eli) who starred at the position.
Having a player like Endries in his offense, though, doesn’t hurt.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
