Editor’s Note: This is the fifth of a 25-part series. Using our still-too-early Top 25, 247Sports is giving a post-National Signing Day outlook for college football’s top teams.

Texas Spring Game : April 15

Out with the old and in with the new for the Texas Longhorns as they transition from Charlie Strong to Tom Herman.

Sort of.

Nearly the entire Longhorn roster is back for the 2017 season, and the young players that Strong recruited are now upperclassmen charged with carrying the team. At the same time, Herman is attempting to change everything at Texas from the facilities to the schemes.

It’s going to be a busy offseason in Austin, and Herman will have a hand in nearly all of it. Quarterback is usually the most popular question on the Forty Acres, but there are far more compelling stories to follow this spring and summer.

Offseason Outlook

(Returning Starters: Offense – 8, Defense – 10)

The Longhorns return nearly everyone from last year’s 5-7 team, with the only major losses being right guard Kent Perkins, tight end Caleb Bluiett, running back D'Onta Foreman and safety Dylan Haines.

Herman will have a pair of Top 10 classes to work with (2015, 2016), which provides him plenty of talent for his debut season in Austin. He will not have the "cupboard is bare" excuse that Strong had when he followed Mack Brown.

Quarterback, for once, isn’t much of a question. Shane Buechele had a strong true freshman season, and Herman, known as a quarterback whisper, should only aide his development. The loss of All-American running back Foreman certainly hurts, but Chris Warren – a 252-pound linebacker disguised as a back – will return after a season-ending knee injury.

Texas is also well stocked along the offensive line and at wide receiver – though that group must curb its propensity for drops.

Defensively the Longhorns have struggled, but the pieces are mostly there. Development from young defensive linemen will be critical (D'Andre Christmas-Giles, Jordan Elliott and Charles Omenihu are among the most important), but the real key for the Longhorns will be the linebackers in defensive coordinator Todd Orlando’s 3-4 scheme.

Middle linebacker has been an issue for Texas for two years now, and in 2017 the Longhorns will essentially need two of them. There are plenty of athletes at that spot for Texas – former five-star Malik Jefferson has played there in the past but could come off the edge now – but it’s time for that to translate to the field. Defensive back, while a different issue, is much the same. Too many DBs (Holton Hill, Davante Davis and Kris Boyd) were stagnant or regressive in their growth as sophomores. Texas needs its highly-touted prospects to step up.

Offseason Storyline to Follow

There isn’t a shortage of storylines to follow for the Longhorns this spring and summer, but most interesting is how the depth chart will shift under Herman. It’s a bit of lip service when Herman says there’s no depth chart, but a regime change is exactly the type of situations where major shifts occur.

Players such as Jefferson could switch positions — and it's clear that shakeups along the defensive line could be massive given the scheme switch.

Wide receiver, too, is a position where the depth chart could be turned topsy-turvy. Starters like Armanti Foreman and John Burt have oodles of talent, but youngsters like Devin Duvernay and Collin Johnson (pictured above) are primed for a breakout.

There aren’t the only spots where changes could occur. The Longhorns will go through their third offensive philosophy change in three years this spring, and that shift creates openings.

The defense, too, will be altered. Orlando will install an attacking 3-4 scheme where the front seven is given plenty of freedom, while the defensive backs are asked to cover plenty of ground in quarters coverage.

Herman’s changes off the field – facilities, staff, recruiting – will get a lot of attention. But it’s these on-field shifts that will matter the most come the fall.

Instant-Impact Addition

Gary Johnson (ILB) – He’s not an early enrollee, but no member of Texas’ 2017 class has a better chance to start right away than Johnson. The nation’s top-ranked JUCO inside linebacker is a plug-and-fill player at a position of need for Texas.

Johnson isn’t huge (211 pounds), but he features elite speed for a linebacker and is a thumper moving downhill. He’s an ideal fit for Orlando’s system and will only add weight in a high-major college strength program.

His addition will also potentially allow a player like Jefferson to move outside, where his natural skillset might be better utilized.

Also watch out for kicker Josh Rowland, an early enrollee. The JUCO product should take over the placekicker duties immediately.