While it's hardly unusual to see younger players transfer before the start of a season to save a year of eligibility, it's not entirely common to see a productive senior leave the program, as senior defensive tackle Ashton Dorsey did when he bailed on the Texas Longhorns on Tuesday.

On one hand, it wasn't a huge surprise after the Tyler John Tyler product was left off the two-deep roster released early Monday in favor of redshirt freshmen Hassan Ridgeway and Alex Norman, but the apparent message to Dorsey was diluted significantly minutes later when head coach Mack Brown revealed that injury issues have continued to plague the 6'2, 295-pounder, this time a sore calf that has kept him out of practice for a week and was going to keep him out of the opener this weekend.

All that amid rumors that Dorsey wasn't exactly working his hardest to make an impact in a defensive tackle rotation that has some quality at the top with emerging sophomore Malcom Brown, athletic senior Chris Whaley, and stout junior Desmond Jackson, but no proven depth beyond them.

So what really happened? Is he even injured? Just upset with the coaches for not providing him guaranteed playing time? It's one of those questions that can only truly be answered by the players and coaches, though those rumors are perhaps telling of the situation behind the scenes.

While Dorsey missed four games last season, two because of another calf issue and two more late in the season because of a concussion, he was also massively productive in the time he was on the field after being credited with 10 tackles for loss.

Texas has now lost all three defensive tackles from the 2010 class, with highly-rated Taylor Bible and less-regarded De'Aires Cotton having left the program without seeing the field for the team, though Cotton did at least have some medical issues that resulted in him leaving football.

So, hey, Ridgeway and Norman? Step on up, because y'all are next.

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