Texas redshirt junior left tackle Samuel Cosmi has told teammates he plans to opt out of the Longhorns’ final two regular-season games at Kansas State and at Kansas, a source close to the situation told Horns247. The source said Cosmi had packed up and emptied his locker.
Cosmi has since confirmed Horns247’s report later Sunday when he announced his Texas football career is officially over and officially declared for the 2021 NFL Draft.
Cosmi (6-7, 309) has made 35 straight starts for Texas with the last 21 of those starts at left tackle. Cosmi made 13 starts at right tackle as a redshirt freshman in 2018.
The Atascocita product has NFL aspirations and is expected to forego his final season of eligibility and enter the 2021 NFL Draft.
While some have projected Cosmi as a potential first-round draft pick, an NFL scouting director has told Horns247 that Cosmi projects as a right tackle in the NFL is more likely to be a second-round pick.
Cosmi’s decision comes after Texas was eliminated from the Big 12 title chase with a 23-20 loss to Iowa State in Austin on Friday.
Sources told Horns247 other members of the Longhorns’ team were also considering opting out of UT’s final two regular-season games, but those sources added head coach Tom Herman and his assistants were doing everything they could to keep the team together through the end of the season.
The season got off to a disappointing start for the Longhorns, who opened Big 12 play 1-2 with a 63-56 overtime win at Texas Tech followed by a 33-31 loss at home to TCU and a 53-45, four-overtime loss to Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl.
Still, Texas controlled its own destiny for a berth in the Big 12 title game after three straight wins over Baylor, at Oklahoma State and home against West Virginia. After having its game against Kansas, originally scheduled for Nov. 21, moved to Dec. 12 due to COVID-19 concerns within the Jayhawks’ program, Texas (5-3, 4-3 Big 12) needed to beat Iowa State (7-2, 7-1) to keep its Big 12 title hopes alive.
The Longhorns led the Cyclones for 58:35 and held a 10-point lead midway through the third quarter. But two fourth-down decisions by Herman – with his team leading – failed. The first was a fake punt late in the third quarter from the ISU 48 that came up 2 yards short. The other was a fourth-and-1 from the Iowa State 13 when a 30-yard field goal would’ve given Texas a seven-point lead. Iowa State scored a touchdown with 1:25 left to take a 23-20 lead, and a 57-yard field goal attempt by Texas’ Cameron Dicker barely missed wide left on the final play of the game.
Immediately following the game, speculation began to shift to Tom Herman’s job security. Horns247 has reported a group of big-money donors at Texas has interest in trying to bring in Urban Meyer as coach.
Horns247 reported Friday night that UT administrators were expected to begin talks about Herman’s future within “the next few days.”
