Longhorns football is just 97 days away, which means it’s time to start highlighting some possible breakout candidates. Every Sunday until the start of the season, we will highlight another player that will catch national headlines this season. Today, the stars aligned. With 97 days remaining until kickoff, let’s talk about No. 97 for the Longhorns, Alex January. The stout interior defensive lineman seems poised for a breakout campaign.
97 Days Until Texas Football 🤘
Who are the best Horns to wear No. 97?
Current Longhorns DT Alex January enters 2026 with a chance to make a serious climb up this list.
Who gets your vote? 📊 pic.twitter.com/qcUA6ALFRt
— OnTexasFootball (@ontexasfootball) May 31, 2026
January is someone Longhorn fans are plenty familiar with. He shined throughout his redshirt freshman campaign last year, especially against Mississippi State(5 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1 FR). Despite that, he has been overshadowed at times by his counterpart on the interior, Hero Kanu. This season is a great opportunity for January to take that next step forward and give Texas yet another elite DT duo.
ALEX JANUARY 3RD AND 1 STUFFED pic.twitter.com/Xo7NhvxllP
— Nash (@NashTalksTexas) December 31, 2025
One of the interesting things to watch around January is where he’s used. Muschamp’s defense likes to employ a true nose tackle. Despite that, I expect Kanu and January to lead the way on the interior, whatever form that takes. January will likely be used more on run downs, compared to a Justus Terry on third downs. If he improves as a pass rusher, January could be on the field and making an impact consistently.
There are plenty of breakout candidates for the Longhorns but few I’m more confident in than January. He heads into an all important third season with a chance to become a true gamewrecker on the interior. I expect the national headlines to feature January’s name much more in 2026. We’ll see if I’m correct in just 97 days. Tomorrow, we’ll start on depth chart breakout, zeroing in on the quarterbacks.
This article originally appeared on Longhorns Wire: Countdown to Kickoff: Alex January poised for a breakout season?
