Texas Longhorns Fall Practice Position Preview: Safeties
The Texas Longhorn defensive backs started last year proudly wearing shirts with the label "DBU" written on their backs.
By the end of the year, they were ranked No. 127 against the pass, giving up 310.8 yards per game. Only two three teams (Texas Tech, UCLA and New Mexico) at the FBS level gave up more.
Safety play was a big part of the problem last year. Injuries forced players to play out of position and younger guys to step into starting roles before they were ready to do so.
Healed up with a new defensive coordinator and position coach in Chris Ash, the Longhorns aren't just looking to improve from last year, they want to return to elite status on the back end.
Free safety
It starts at free safety with Thorpe Award watchlist member Caden Sterns. The former five-star recruit was a Freshman All-American in his first season on the Forty Acres, but injuries plagued his sophomore campaign. He missed three games and played hurt in several others, but still managed to record 59 tackles, a pass broken up and one sack last year.
Now fully healthy, many are expecting Sterns to bounce back and produce on an All-American level as a junior and potentially get some serious looks from the NFL Draft.
Behind him at free safety is Montrell Estell. Estell was thrown into the deep end last year when injuries depleted the Texas roster and responded pretty well. He'll provide quality depth and should get on the field in certain situations.
True freshman Xavion Alford is the heir appearant to Sterns at the position. The Shadow Creek High School product was a four-star prospect, ranked the No. 8 safety, No. 22 player in the state of Texas and No. 139 overall player in the 2020 class according to 247Sports.
Strong safety
B.J. Foster is another highly-regarded safety out of high school who came on strong as a true freshman only to suffer injury setbacks as a sophomore.
Known for his hard-hitting, a nagging shoulder injury kept Foster from truly exploiting his skills last season.
He and Sterns have the potential to be the best safety combination in the Big 12 and one of the better duos in the country.
Behind him Chris Brown is a fifth-year senior who was one of the real bright spots in a struggling secondary last year. Brown started 10 games last season before the injury bug eventually bit him as well. He'll not only be a strong backup for Foster, but will probably get on the field when the Longhorns go with six DBs in certain situations.
Tyler Owens got some valuable experience last year as a true freshman when injuries forced him into service with a start against TCU. He played in all 13 games and at times flashed the talent that made him an All American in high school. Highly-touted true freshman Jerrin Thompson is coming in with the intention on pushing the guys ahead of him and could see some time on special teams.
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