If Texas Longhorns are without CJ Baxter due to his knee injury, where will Steve Sarkisian turn on offense?

The Texas Longhorns received some potentially terrible news on Tuesday when true sophomore star running back CJ Baxter reportedly injured his knee during practice. He will be undergoing an MRI to see the extent of the damage and assess whether or not he will have to miss significant time.

We do not have abundant detail on how the injury occurred as of this writing, but Texas was supposed to only have one tackling period at Tuesday's practice and they did not apparently hear a pop in the knee when it was injured.

But what does this mean for Texas if CJ Baxter's MRI does return bad news? The expectations for the Longhorns are "playoff or bust", if not higher, so who will Steve Sarkisian ask to step up at running back with Baxter potentially sidelined for any amount of time?

Jaydon Blue is the Real Deal

Last season when Jonathon Brooks went down with his injury it became the CJ Baxter and Jaydon Blue show. If Baxter does miss any time, Blue should be ready to carry a feature back workload. He jumped in down the stretch logging 115 snaps over the last four games for Texas racking up 359 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns on 49 touches.

Blue's explosiveness is what makes him special as he averaged over 7.3 yards per touch throughout that four game stretch for the Longhorns. This shouldn't surprise Texas fans who know just how special Blue has been for years as he's waited his turn for greatness.

Prior to joining the Longhorns he was one of the most highly touted recruits in his class as he tallied nearly 4000 yards from scrimmage during his sophomore and junior seasons of high school. Blue sat out his senior season and the recruiting services knocked him down the rankings needlessly, but he's still just the same elite talent that he was then. If called upon Blue will prove to be worthy of a feature back role this season.

Other Key Texas Running Back Depth

The Longhorns have plenty of depth beyond just Jaydon Blue too. Tre Wisner got involved some last season as a true freshman and brings a balanced skill set to contribute on any down he's called upon. He might not have the flashy recruiting profile that other Texas running backs have had in the past, but his elusiveness could bring great value.

Jerrick Gibson, the top tier true freshman four star running back from IMG Academy is the name behind Jaydon Blue that brings the most excitement. Gibson was long considered by many to be the number one running back in his class who brings elite athleticism with a 4.5-second forty and vertical jump over 40 inches. Already over 200 pounds, Gibson would be ready to hop in right away as a significant contributor.

Hopefully CJ Baxter is just fine and misses nearly zero time, but the Texas backfield is in good hands either way. Be looking for more Texas Longhorns coverage here at A to Z Sports all year long! Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news!

And if you want to check out Jaydon Blue's highlights to see the steady hands the Texas ground game will be in if CJ Baxter misses time just watch the video below!