Steve Sarkisian evaluates Texas' depth at linebacker

The Texas football team is hoping to surge forward in Steve Sarkisian‘s third season with the program, but doing so will at least partially be determined by how Texas’ depth at linebacker emerges over the next few months.

The Longhorns lost DeMarvion Overshown to the NFL Draft, meaning there’s some significant production to replace.

But Sarkisian doesn’t seem overly concerned about it.

“The linebacker thing, we’ve got a lot of depth there,” Sarkisian said during spring football practice. “All the sudden it went from, OK, what are we going to do with DeMarvion being gone, and then Jaylan (Ford) decides to come back and so that’s great having him back.”

Overshown finished the 2022 season as a first-team All-Big 12 selection and a Butkus Award semifinalist.

He tallied 96 tackles, 10.0 tackles for a loss, 4.0 sacks, five pass breakups and two quarterback hurries. Along with the production, Texas will have to replace his leadership. Ford is a good place to start when it comes to Texas’ depth at linebacker.

During the 2022 campaign, Ford tallied 119 tackles, 10.0 tackles for a loss, 2.0 sacks, four interceptions, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and six passes defended.

There are several guys Sarkisian pointed to that had a really solid spring, though, not just Ford.

“I think just kind of the development of Jeff Bush has been positive,” Sarkisian said. “The development of (Morice) Blackwell has been a real positive. David Gbenda had the best offseason he’s had since we’ve been here, and it showed up in his play, not only on defense but on special teams. The influx of Liona Lefau and Anthony Hill, so it’s a very strong position for us.”

The other thing that Sarkisian noted is that Texas’ depth at linebacker should aid the team on special teams, as well.

That’s an oft-overlooked aspect of creating additional depth at defensive positions. The linebackers are involved on a lot of special teams units, and that can help set the team up for success.

“Not only defensively, but that linebacking corps is critical to our success on special teams as well,” Sarkisian said. “D-Mo provided a lot on teams for us. We feel good about it. I think it’s a real positive right now.”