One last member of Kyle Flood’s 2022 offensive line recruiting class is back for a final season on the Forty Acres.
Kyle Flood secured some further continuity on his 2026 offensive line when Texas Longhorns center Connor Robertson announced his return for the 2026 season on Sunday.
The 6’4, 312-pounder is returning for his final season of eligibility after walking on Senior Night to end the regular season.
Of the seven offensive linemen signed by Flood in the landmark 2022 recruiting class for the Longhorns, Robertson was the lowest rated out of Austin Westlake as a consensus three-star prospect ranked as the No. 600 player nationally and the No. 27 interior offensive lineman, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. Robertson chose Texas over 30 other offers, including BYU, Cal, Duke, Houston, Kansas State, Miami, Nebraska, Ole Miss, Penn State, Stanford, TCU, Tennessee, USC, and Vanderbilt.
Of those seven offensive linemen, Robertson was willing to wait the longest to develop despite appearing in four games as a true freshman — as the backup to longtime starter Jake Majors in 2023, Robertson stepped in for Majors early in the Red River Rivalry that season, struggling while playing 75 snaps in the late loss to the Sooners, ultimately totaling 124 snaps in seven games.
Robertson returned to a smaller role at the end of blowouts in 2024 before entering the 2025 campaign as the backup to classmate Cole Hutson at center. When Hutson went down with injury, Robertson took over the starting role and played at a consistent level, allowing Flood to slide Hutson over to left guard when he returned from injury to stabilize a leaky position for the Longhorns.
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian publicly noted the lack of athleticism from his interior with Hutson and Robertson starting, but the combination reduced communication breakdowns, assignment breakdowns, and technique breakdowns, allowing the Horns to make a late-season run at the College Football Playoff.
The late-season surge from Robertson marked the culmination of long-term development by Flood and made him valuable enough for the staff to make a retention push to ensure some interior continuity with Hutson and starting right guard DJ Campbell both exhausting their eligibility.
And although Robertson returning limits the athletic upside of next season’s offensive line, it does raise the floor for the entire group as Flood looks for new starters at the guard position.
Category: General Sports
