As spring practice begins barring down on us, we’ve made our way to possibly the freshman with the most important spring ahead of him. Derrek Cooper walks into Austin as the No. 4 running back in the country and into a room that at worst will need him to help fill out the depth throughout the 2026 season. There’s no reason to believe he can’t do that and then some. Cooper brings great size and strong instincts to the table, which I believe will get him on the field early and often in 2026.
Highschool Stats: 289 carries, 2408 yards(8.3 yards/carry), 32 TDs in two seasons
Cooper makes his way to Austin just like CJ Baxter did, as a highly touted RB from the state of Florida. Cooper attended Chaminade-Madonna High School, the same school Jeremiah Smith and many other college football players attended. He became the RB1 in his junior year and instantly became one of the top RBs in the country. Nearly 1,000 rushing yards and 13 TDs in 2024 before 1,500 and 19 TDs in his senior campaign.
Meet your newest Longhorn, @DerrekCooper80 🤘#AllGas26 | #NSD26pic.twitter.com/t8slyOoE37
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) December 4, 2025
Cooper’s arrival to Austin comes with less responsibility than was once thought, with the additions of Raleek Brown and Hollywood Smothers. Despite that, the Longhorns are seemingly still missing a true “power back” and Cooper could very well fill that void. At 210 lbs, he has 15 lbs on both Brown and Smothers and he looked very confident running between the tackles in high school. Cooper likely won’t need to carry a massive load but he could play an incredibly important role within the offense.
2026 5⭐️ATH Derrek Cooper is ELITE on both sides of the ball! 😤💪🏾 #Recruiting#NadeBoyz 🟥⬛️ pic.twitter.com/U3lBQdtygE
— CB (@ChalupaBatmaan) September 24, 2024
The question with Cooper and so many other Longhorn freshmen is: How quickly can he be ready? The games against Texas State and UTSA will tell us what we need to know about Cooper. If he’s on the field before James Simon is, it’s fair to expect him to play a major role throughout the season. That remains to be seen but for now, Cooper has a massive spring camp ahead.
Tape from new #Texas RB commit Derrek Cooper possesses spectacular burst into the second level.
— CJ Vogel (@CJVogel_OTF) July 20, 2025
Elite jump cutting ability and tops it off with 10.7 100m speed.@ontexasfootballpic.twitter.com/xDwSWF5Bux
Sarkisian and company made a conscious choice to bring in a pair of starting level RBs through the portal. Despite that, they likely could’ve done more and I believe Cooper is the reason they didn’t. I’m not sure we see Cooper lining up against Ohio State, but I do expect him lining up in the backfield against Texas A&M at the end of the year. This is a special athlete and someone that could add a unique and needed element to the Longhorns offense.
Cooper is staring down a spring camp where he can steal snaps from more veteran players. The player we will discuss tomorrow, John Turntine, has the chance to do the exact same thing. The talented OT comes into Austin slightly undersized but with elite athleticism and I could see him finding the field in his freshman year.
This article originally appeared on Longhorns Wire: Fresh Faces on the Forty: Cooper will be hard to keep off the field