The Big 12 has seen true freshmen take the conference by storm over the past few years.

Karl Joseph earned a reputation as one of the Big 12’s best hitters during his first year at West Virginia in 2012. Andrew Billings began to make his mark at Baylor while starting the final two games for the Big 12 title-winning Bears in 2013. Samaje Perine transformed Oklahoma’s offense in 2014. KaVontae Turpin brought explosiveness to TCU’s offense in 2015.

Year in and year out, true freshmen step on campus and make an immediate impact. With that in mind, we’re going to take a team-by-team look at the most intriguing freshmen on each Big 12 roster.

Today, we continue the series with Texas:

Devin Duvernay arrives as the third-ranked wide receiver in the 2016 class. Mark LoMoglio/Icon Sportswire

WR Devin Duvernay: We know where Duvernay was heading had he played in Baylor’s offense. He would’ve immediately become one of the Big 12’s most exciting young receivers, a Christian Kirk-like force as a pass-catcher and returner who can score a lot of different ways.

What makes Duvernay’s decision to go to Texas so intriguing is, well, can he play up to that potential as a Longhorn? He’s enrolling next week to play in a Baylor-inspired offense led by first-year OC Sterlin Gilbert, one that needed a threat like Duvernay in the slot.

“He's one of the fastest sprinters in the nation, so you know he brings unbelievable speed and explosiveness to our team,” Texas coach Charlie Strong said when Duvernay committed.

Texas must find a way to put Duvernay’s 10.27-second 100-meter speed to good use, which shouldn’t be too complicated a proposition. He just needs a reliable quarterback who can get him the ball. Duvernay can get by without one, too, if you’ve seen the many direct snaps he turned into TDs on his Sachse (Texas) High highlight reel.

The Horns dedicated this offseason to repairing their offense and retraining their quarterbacks. The late addition of ESPN’s No. 3 ranked receiver recruit ought to help both efforts.

DE Andrew Fitzgerald: Texas loaded up on defensive linemen in the 2016 class, and pretty much all of them will have an opportunity to crack the two-deep and get on the field this fall. Only one of them – Fitzgerald – was named the dark horse of Texas’ entire recruiting class by his new head coach.

“When we turned the tape on, I said, ‘Oh god, I don't need to see anything else,’” Strong said on signing day. “‘If he's going to play like that, we have to have him.’”

It’s kind of hard to believe the 6-foot-5, 250-pound defensive end was only a three-star recruit. Fitzgerald racked up 20 sacks over the last two years at Flower Mound (Texas) Marcus, but what Strong and the Texas staff love about him is his non-stop motor.

Texas is in decent shape at strong-side defensive end with Bryce Cottrell and a bulked-up Charles Omenihu returning, but don’t be surprised if Fitzgerald rises up and becomes a valuable member of the rotation at that spot this season.