Texas Longhorns rising redshirt sophomore edge Colton Vasek is set to undergo surgery to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder, according to a Sunday report from Chip Brown of Horns247.
It’s not a longterm physical setback for the 6’5, 260-pounder, who played with a brace on his shoulder in 2024, but it is another one for Vasek following a back injury that kept him from seeing the field as a true freshman in 2023.
Vasek arrived on the Forty Acres from Austin Westlake as a member of the 2023 recruiting class after a high-profile flip from Oklahoma to Texas, an important head-to-head win for the Longhorns over their Red River rival. In the 247Sports Composite rankings, Vasek was a top-100 prospect nationally and the No. 16 edge and brought a championship pedigree to the Texas program by winning back-to-back state titles while 71 tackles with 53 solo stops, seven tackles for loss, 14 sacks, 19 pressures, one fumble recovery, and one forced fumble as a senior.
The back injury slowed down Vasek’s development, but he did emerge as a fringe rotation player as a redshirt freshman, playing 81 snaps in 10 games on special teams on the kickoff return, punt return, and punt coverage units, as well as one snap on the field-goal block team, and 65 snaps in seven games on defense, primarily in blowouts, although Vasek did play six snaps in the Cotton Bowl loss to Ohio State.
On defense, Vasek recorded seven tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, six total pressures, and two defensive stops, flashing the potential that made him such a coveted recruit.
With Barryn Sorrell exhausting his eligibility as the starting Jack end for Texas and Justice Finkley transferring to Kansas, Vasek projects as the primary backup for his high school teammate, rising senior Ethan Burke. Early enrollee Lance Jackson is also expected to compete for playing time at the position.
