A veteran pass rusher was lost by a college football playoff team before their first game.

This week alone, the Texas Longhorns have lost a lot of players in their front seven. Now, another important player will leave Austin.

From Hayes Faucett of On3, we know that junior pass rusher Justice Finkley will go through the transfer system. From Trussville, AL, the player will have one more year of eligibility for the 2025 season at any school he chooses.

Finkley was a four-star recruit for the Longhorns’ 2022 class, and he started school right away in January of that year. Since he was a rotational player for three years on Forty Acres, he played in a lot of games and recorded 26 stops, 2.5 sacks, and a forced fumble in 42 games with the Longhorns. He did, however, only play in six games this season and made five stops. The last time he played was on November 9, when Texas beat Florida 49–17.

Finkley was a nearly top-100 high school recruit, and a number of big schools offered him scholarships. These included Florida, Oregon, and Alabama, which is just over an hour from Trussville, Alabama, where he grew up. He was only a part-time player for Texas, but many schools should be interested in him because he has experience coming off the edge for a team that is in the running for the College Football Playoff.

As was already said, UT’s defensive front seven has already lost a lot of players through the trade portal. Finkley is the second Longhorn edge rusher, after Tausili Akana, to say that they have entered the gate ahead of next week’s College Football Playoff game against Clemson.

Steve Sarkisian and his team were able to get two four-star edge prospects in Lance Jackson and Smith Orogbo for their No. 1 ranked class of 2025 recruits. This means that the incoming freshmen should be able to fill those gaps right away.