Even the undrafted Longhorns had favorable outcomes after the 2024 NFL Draft.
Since all 11 Texas Longhorns players invited to the NFL Draft Combine were selected in the first six rounds of the 2014 NFL Draft, the drama surrounding where the undrafted free agents would sign was limited to punter Ryan Sanborn and linebacker Jett Bush, both of whom quickly landed deals.
On the way ATL @RSanbornKicks x @AtlantaFalcons pic.twitter.com/RLJd5o8NZW
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) April 28, 2024
Sanborn, a graduate transfer from Stanford who spent one season on the Forty Acres, is headed to the Atlanta Falcons, where he’ll have a chance to join former Texas running back Bijan Robinson and former Texas defensive tackle Ta’Quon Graham. In 2023, Sanborn punted 40 times for 1,828 yards to average 45.7 yards per punt, the seventh-best single-season average in program history. Of those 40 punts, Sanborn had 15 punts of 50-plus yards with a long of 64 yards and also recorded 15 punts inside the 20 with nine fair catches and two touchbacks.
Signed and ready to work @jettbush x @Patriots pic.twitter.com/GoXTHcWO2s
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) April 28, 2024
Bush is joining two other Texas players with the New England Patriots who were undrafted free agents — offensive tackle Calvin Anderson and special teams standout Brenden Schooler. A former walk on from Houston Strake Jesuit who earned a scholarship as a sophomore in 2020, Bush started six times among his 58 games with the Longhorns over five seasons, playing on the edge and at inside linebacker for Texas. In 2023, Bush started five games and played in all 14, recording 17 tackles (eight solo) with three tackles for loss, two sacks, one interception, one pass breakup, and one fumble recovery.
Texas has a strong tradition of undrafted free agents remaining in the league — of the 29 players who were on rosters at the start of the 2024 NFL Draft, 10 of them were undrafted.