2026 Football Roster Impressions
We have some time to review 100 people
First, a note about MGN’s posting schedule. My full intention was to get to these a little more quickly, but life has its way of disrupting plans, well laid or no. My real-life job has become quite demanding and I have given it due attention. I also still try to play rec-league stuff and well yesterday after a Thursday-Friday back-to-back of 10:30-9pm games (yes I know) we had to take my daughter to her game in the morning, went to a basketball game in the afternoon, and then I coached my eldest daughter’s game at 5pm. When I got back home I fell asleep on the sofa and didn’t wake up until approximately 11am Sunday.
All that to say I am a little tired.
But with a smidge of coffee, and nothing planned today except for rooting against the Patriots, I decided this was a perfect time to go through the new roster. So let us do so, and begin with the returners.
Some unsorted observations here: Jayden Becks was leaning toward leaving, but will stay. He’ll be competing for a regular rotation spot but is not the pencilled-in number 1. He has speed, and we are still intrigued. Dalton Carnes was a one-time starter who fell down the charts a bit. He’s well liked and will have another shot to make the regular rotation. Of course Chris Jimmerson, Jr. is back and certainly has a real shot to take the top job. He played for Ray Gates, and Gates is now on the staff. Kyle Koch has intriguing size for a wide out but has had two seasons with one glaring mistake — vs TTU and then Tulane — and that is his defining resume point otherwise filled with special teams, and garbage time snaps. Taylor Starling is talented and had some starting snaps for a while. He fell in the depth chart. I like him still. Chase Canada is also back, he was highly touted and had a good season as the third corner. Kamdon McFarland also had some starting snaps and did some good things for a bad defense. Finally, Terrell Washington briefly considered leaving but ultimately returned.
The takeaway is that the guys who the previous staff valued were poached, but these guys had some good moments. The rest were unproven but we’ve seen good things before. Some are culture guys, and all will get a chance to prove themselves to the new staff.
This is a big list. We’ll be more organized here:
QB: Chaston Ditta, ECU and Tayven Jackson, UCF. These two are interesting. Ditta played in a scheme similar to what we’ll see here but is young and doesn’t have much experience. Jackson has more experience, but relatively unimpressive stats. I give the early nod to Jackson for his experience, and then Jimmerson and Ditta battling for number two.
WR: TJ Chukwurah, Black Hills State; Josiah Martin, OU; Corri Milliner, UAB; Garyson O’Bara, Dartmouth; Justin Stevenson, Utah; James Tyre, WCU. I like that they grabbed some production. Chukwurah is a 1000 yard guy and 16 TD grabs. James Tyre had 800 and 11 scores. O’Bara had 500 yards. I also like that they grabbed some potential. Martin, Milliner, Stevenson were at the American-or-higher level. North Texas has had success with lower division guys (Cam Dorner) and also depth-chart P5-ish guys (DT Sheffield). North Texas under The Elf was able to turn no-names into household names, and we expect the system to be very similar. That of course does not guarantee anything whatsoever.
TE: Drew Clemens, Utah; Brec Long, USA; Max Reese, MSST — Mike Bloesch is back to coach the run game and the tight ends. He had success with a run game that included heavy 11-and 12-personnel. Clemens comes from a good program at Utah, but didn’t play. Brec Long had a good season at Coffeeville, and Max Reese is an experienced guy at an SEC program. Expect more run-blocking out of these guys than pass-catching.
RB: Brendon Haygood, Missouri; Nick Osho, Indiana State; Colin Page, Texas, Jahiem White, WVU. The prize here is White, who has a career 1,879 and 14 scores on his resume. Nick Osho is a big back — 6'1" 220lbs — from Indiana State. Haygood and Page played at good programs, but had little to no time. My guesstimate is the depth chart looks like White-Becks-Osho-as-power back.
OL: Drew Cunningham, Charlotte; Henry Fenuku, Missouri; Jahzari Priester, VT; Chandler Strong, Georgia Southern; Neto Umeozulu, Texas; Caden Voltaire, Loomis Chafee School; Johnny Williams IV, Missouri.
We discussed some of these guys previously.
Chandler Strong - Georgia Southern — Graded strongly as a pass blocker, but average in the run game. He might be the new guard?
Henry Fenuku - Missouri — A former Ray Gates player at North Crowley, this was an early win on the new Edge coach and special assistant to the head coach. He didn’t get much time at Missouri for a solid team, but he has nice feet (played soccer growing up).
Johnny Williams IV - Missouri — He actually went WVU→ Missouri → North Texas. He didn’t get much time at Mizzou. He’s a tackle by trade.
Drew Cunningham - Charlotte - Played center at Charlotte including against North Texas. He was a better pass blocker than a run blocker.
The staff leaned on area and staff connections, got some talent and will try to build a line that can dominate in the run game.
DL: Justin Benton, ECU; Steven Curtis, Minnesota; Mouhamed Diawara, Sioux Falls; Udoka Ezeani, UTEP; Wesley Hudson, Central Oklahoma; Christian Lorenzo, Illinois State; David Onuoha, UMasss; Courage Osawe Jr, Butte College; Davion Rhodes, Georgia Southern; Curlee Thomas IV, Cal -
From the early notes:
This is a a crucial position group. Skyler Cassidy recruited Ethan Day, and some others to fill out the group and brought depth but I wouldn’t say there were any clear game-changers. Ray Gates’ background is coaching edge rushers in college (and good teams in high school) and Neal Brown’s Troy teams had fearsome defensive lines. It has been about a decade since North Texas’ front four has been a problem for conference foes. For now, it looks like the recruiting focus is on talented but underused guys.
Mouhamed Diawara - Sioux Falls - Not much to go on here. Didn’t play much and had limited stats, but has the size and look of a prototype edge rusher. A coaching and scouting win if he can do damage here.
Curlee Thomas IV - Cal - Former 3-star high school edge from Ft Worth, was a three-year depth guy (read: no playing time) at Cal. He was recruited as an outside linebacker but moved to defensive line early in his career. Spot duty.
Lorenzo is another interior lineman, the rest are all intriguing edge guys with prototypical size and varying levels of experience. Some were big contributors at like Georgia Southern (Rhodes) and others are looking for a new start. If North Texas simply has eight average guys that would still be awesome. You don’t want a drop-off, and it is great to have waves of fresh bodies to attack the opposition.
LB: Aaron Alexander, ArkState; Zakye Barker, SMU; Cedric Roberts, Alcorn - Alexander was a key contributor for stAte, and racked up 90+ tackles. Barker is a former ECU second-team all league guy. NT didn’t play a lot of linebackers last year, and I like the idea of a Burrell, Alexander duo, backed up by some combination of the rest of the group. Roberts has played a ton also.
CB: Zach Johnson, Southeastern Louisiana; Jaden Allen, Arkansas; Ja’Bree Bickham, Boise State; Keshawn Davila, Arkansas; Cameron Jenkins, Baylor; Chantz Johnson, Texas State; Peyton Taylor, Emporia State —
S: CJ Coombes, Wofford; Jason cross Jr, WVU; Graham Gillespie, Texas; Caden Jenkins, Baylor; Brandon Jones, McNeese; Taye Seymoure, Auburn, Tyson Wilson, Tyler JC -
From the previous notes:
Upon immediate perusal, North Texas has went heavy on some defensive backs. That was a hope, considering Neal Brown hired Jevaughn Codlin from Notre Dame, a well-regarded recruiter and defensive backs coach. There was also a Baylor connection, with new defensive coordinator Powledge having a line to his old gig.
Safeties and DBs:
CJ Coombes - Wofford — an experienced safety. North Texas has had success with a lot of FCS and lower division guys who had experience.
Tyson Wilson - Tyler JC - Vito had a good interview where he got some background on the kid. The takeaway: An undersized winner at the high school and JUCO level.
Cameron and Caden Jenkins - Baylor - Caden was a two-year starter for the Bears, and looked to be progressing solidly, but struggled along with the entire Baylor defense. I don’t grade underclassmen corners too harshly and am excited about his future. Cameron went to UNLV (a good, and interesting system) as a freshman and had a lot of time on special teams and as a back up. Redshirted as a sophomore at Baylor. He’s the less-heralded of the brothers, but has talent and can do some things. Again, an underclassman with lots of potential.
Keshawn Davila - Arkansas — This is a clear potential kind of deal. He reminds me of S’Maje Burrell, in that Davila is also a former highly rated recruit that has not lived up to that potential. You think 4-stars? That must mean he’s one of the top stars on the squad. You read Davila’s bio and its’ “Well, he played in games”. Defense is a team game and it is funny that guys like Wesloski were considered mediocre when the defense was the worst in the nation, and now a highly touted transfer when the defense is average. Clear upside here and a depth piece at worst if it doesn’t work out.
Brandon Jones - McNeese — The kid calls himself “Mr. Pick-Six” and I would love to see him live up to that name here in Denton. PFF suggests he was a box safety, and graded well as a tackler, and fine as a pass defender.
Taye Seymore - Auburn — He didn’t get any time in 2025 at Auburn, so this really should be considered a transfer from Georgia Tech where he spent time as a special teamer and part-time player. He’s a multi-sport athlete (typical for DBs) and has potential.
Jason Cross - WVU - No playing time at WVU as he redshirted. Former 3-star Pennsylvania safety.
I expect some good things from the secondary, considering the quality recruiters here. Returnees Allen, McFarland, Starling and Canada should fit in nicely and provide some competition.
Specialists:
K: Dominic De Freitas, App State (K), Ian Ratliff, App State (P), Jacob Poff, App State (LS) — NT stole the App State battery basically.
Notable: 28 seniors, 32 juniors, 19 sophomores, 16 redshirt freshman. Eric Morris had complained that his team needed to get older, and did. That led to the best season in program history. Neal Brown has brought in a class of heavy experience. It is not quite the Indiana group that prioritizes experience on the field, as NT has guys with roster experience but not much game time in some spots. Still, guys should not be overawed by playing college football at this point.
We expect Neal Brown to lean on the run game more than you might expect, and focus on the defense. His Troy teams were very good along the line of scrimmage — on both sides of the ball. He had trouble replicating that at WVU, but again, we give him a pass given that WVU in the Big 12 is at a disadvantage in a lot of areas. Brown heavily recruited Texas this portal round, and build a staff with a clear focus on talent-acquisition. To my eyes, this is the most talent on the defensive side I’ve seen in years.
The offensive side of the ball doesn’t have many clear-and-obvious guys — I think you can make the case for any of the three QBs for example — but that’s the game. This was a good haul considering the circumstances. I can’t see this as one that will clearly beat Indiana — but that’s not the immediate goal. Can this group compete for the American? I can see the vision. There is plenty of work to do.