The last time we saw Texas, in a heartbreaking loss to the Washington Huskies in the Sugar Bowl, we witnessed a vicious cycle between defense’s pass rush and its coverage in the secondary. The pass rush was routinely a tick too late to quarterback Michael Penix , making the jobs of the cornerbacks and safeties more difficult.
There’s only so long you can cover really good receivers. If anyone understands that, it’s Steve Sarkisian . That’s why he routinely assembles elite position groups. Washington certainly had an elite position group. Georgia will potentially have an elite wide receiver room this season, and based on preseason thinking, that’s Texas’ stiffest competition for the SEC crown.
Can Texas go from ‘vicious’ to ‘virtuous’ in just one offseason? Yes, it’s possible. At a minimum, it’s nearly a certainty Texas will be improved in the mutualistic relationship between the two parties.
What’s changed to give fans so much hope? Quite a bit.
Two big portal additions from the secondary
Andrew Mukuba , a former freshman All-American at Clemson, returned home for his final year. What’s key about his freshman season is he was at safety before Clemson moved him to nickel for his sophomore and junior years. Mukuba is certainly versatile but more at home at safety where he’ll play this year.
Texas also added Jay’Vion Cole from San Jose State to give Austin a little more brain drain from Silicon Valley. He’s a smart defender but also with twitch. He’ll battle Gavin Holmes for snaps at field corner.
Effectively, Mukuba replaces Jerrin Thompson (Auburn) and Cole replaces Terrance Brooks (Illinois).
Two new pass rushers at Edge
Both Trey Moore and Colin Simmons have versatile skillsets but they’re most well known for getting to the passer. Texas hasn’t had a true pass-rushing threat at the position since Joseph Ossai in 2020. That will change this year even if Moore doesn’t have quite the impact he did at UTSA.
These two don’t just add individual talent but schematic diversity for Pete Kwiatkowski to implement.
Barron’s return is potentially massive for the secondary. Not only is he athletic and physical, he is also a high IQ player.
Ian summed Barron up nicely here : “Offensive coordinators don’t like having to deal with Barron aligned to the wide side of the field with this mind for the game, short-area quickness, and physical play. They’ll have to figure it out for one more year and this time, Texas is not going to be as exposed elsewhere for offenses to attack.”
I’ll add, in addition to playing Star, Barron could also play boundary corner behind Malik Muhammad or even field corner if necessary.
Increased IQ in the secondary
Overall the secondary’s IQ is much higher than the year prior and we should see far fewer mental mistakes.
Yes, they’ll run plenty of man coverage, especially to the boundary, but expect to see more coverages which allow for more disguises, which in turn will lead to quarterbacks holding on to the ball longer than they’d like. When that happens, rushed incompletions, sacks, and turnovers tend to follow.
Just as pass rush helps the secondary, the secondary helps the pass rush.
Player development and physical and maturity
You like players on clear trend-lines. Both Barryn Sorrell and Ethan Burke have gotten better each year at Edge. Why would that stop now? These are two grown men.
Redshirt freshman Colton Vasek would have played last year if he wasn’t injured but he wasted zero timing knocking the rust off in the spring. You can’t tell he didn’t play last season.
Jaylon Guilbeau , who looked like a future impact player during his first spring, has returned to form after seemingly plateauing. Having a viable rotational player at Star is key to continuity in the event that Barron gets dinged up again.
Michael Taaffe has added a little bulk and is a year older. Last year was his first real experience and he received more playing time as the year went on. As smart as he is an offseason goes a long way towards his development.
Malik Muhammad , a certifiable future star, is even more experienced and physically mature. Despite losing Ryan Watts to the NFL Draft, you can’t find anyone concerned about Muhammad replacing him. Like Taaffe, Muhammad is very smart and takes football seriously. There aren’t really off-season for these guys — it’s constant development.
Both Derek Williams and Jelani McDonald have significant upside. Williams proved how many gigs he could download after being a summer enrollee and still playing a mentally taxing position as a true freshman. McDonald is still transitioning to safety but is a quick study and will play this year. For these two, it’s all about processing, everything else comes way-too easy. Williams is becoming more vocal which is always a great sign.
Gavin Holmes had a strong spring as he continues to sync the mental elements of the position with his obvious athletic gifts.
Depth across the board
Terry Jospeh and Blake Gideon are two-deep across the board at corner, Star, and safety.
Meanwhile, Pete Kwiatkowski is three-deep.
This isn’t just good for guarding against injury, it sparks competition that forces improvement.
Admittedly, it’s too early in his time at Texas to know what Hazelton’s specific impact is, but his resumé and experience fit within the defensive coaches’ goals. A big concern of mine hasn’t been the quality of coaching in the secondary, at linebacker, or with the defensive front — it has been marrying it all together.
Hazelton will help in that regard, though, it should be easier to tie it all together with improved pass rush and coverage personnel.
The post Reason No. 2 Texas will be better in 2024 than 2023: Virtuous circle between pass rush and coverage appeared first on On3 .
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