Jonathan Scott and Rod Wright will travel to Phoenix on Friday to join the other members of the preseason squad for a weekend of events, fun competition and the annual photo shoot. (Hey, it’s a dirty job but somebody has to do it.)
It marks the fifth straight year that Texas has placed two players on the team. Texas has now had a Playboy Preseason All-American 43 times (40 players/three head coaches) since the team was first honored in 1957.
Scott is the 12th Longhorn offensive lineman and Wright is the seventh defensive lineman to be named to the squad. Those are the two most-represented positions by Longhorn players on the annual preseason squad, outdistancing the five running backs the Horns have had selected.
Both Wright and Scott have already been named the Lombardi Award pre-season ‘watch list’, honoring the nation’s top lineman.
Scott is a three-year starter who earned second-team All-American
(Associated Press and Sports Illustrated) and first-team All-Big 12 honors
in 2004. A starter in the last 31 straight games, Scott helped pave the way
for an offense that ranked second nationally in rushing (299.2 ypg), seventh in total offense (464.4 ypg) and 12th in scoring (35.3 ppg) last season
Wright is a three-year starter who earned first-team All-Big 12 honors last season. He has started 32 of 37 career games and posted 181 tackles, 13 sacks, 28 tackles for loss, 52 QB pressures and five caused fumbles during that span. A second-team All-Big 12 pick in 2003 and Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year selection in 2002, Wright has played a key role on a UT defense that has ranked among the nation's top 25 in total defense the past three years.
The Longhorns have had at least one player chosen to the team in each of the past eight seasons. Among that group, RB Cedric Benson (2004), LB Derrick Johnson (2003-04), OG Derrick Dockery (2002), DE Cory Redding (2002), CB Quentin Jammer (2001), OT Mike Williams (2001), OT Leonard Davis (2000) and RB Ricky Williams (1998) have all earned post-season first-team All-America honors.