2023 or 2024? Looking at Longhorn defensive positions ahead of year one in the SEC

Under Steve Sarkisian and defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski, the Longhorns have made yearly improvements on defense.

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Texas was No. 100 in total defense and No. 102 in yards per play allowed in 2021. In 2022 after a move from the press box to the field by Kwiatkowski, the Longhorns improved to No. 54 in total defense and a solid No. 18 in yards per play allowed.

Further improvement was made in 2023, when Kwiatkowski coordinated a unit that was No. 35 in total defense, a standing buoyed by a rush defense ranked third nationally. Because of that, opponents tended to air it out against the Longhorns more often, part of the reason opposing offenses picked up 5.24 yards per play n 2023. That figure was good for No. 41 nationally.

Life is going to change for Texas in the Southeastern Conference. The Big 12 may be considered the league with the best collection of coaches, but the SEC is no slouch in that area and is far and away more talented than the conference Texas just won.

When looking at individual units on the Texas defense, are there units likely playing at a higher level in Texas’ debut season? Or are there units headed for a regression of some sort?

Defensive tackle

2023: Vernon Broughton, Aaron Bryant, Byron Murphy, T’Vondre Sweat, Jaray Bledsoe, Alfred Collins, Zac Swanson, Trill Carter, Sydir Mitchell

2024: Vernon Broughton, Aaron Bryant, Jaray Bledsoe, Alfred Collins, Zac Swanson, Sydir Mitchell, Tia Savea, Alex January, Melvin Hills

Edge: 2023

After Keondre Coburn and Moro Ojomo moved on to the NFL after the 2022 season, there was no guarantee their position mates in Murphy and Sweat were going to elevate the play at the defensive tackle position.

But that’s exactly what they did. Sweat was the Outland Trophy winner, a unanimous All-American, and the Big 12 defensive player of the year. Murphy earned All-America honors from several outlets and was the Big 12 defensive lineman of the year.

Collins, Broughton, and Savea could provide quality play at the position during the Longhorns’ debut season in the SEC, but they face an extremely tall task in matching the first-round level Sweat and Murphy played at weekly in 2023.

EDGE

2023: Justice Finkley, J’Mond Tapp, Billy Walton, Tausili Akana, Barryn Sorrell, Ethan Burke, Colton Vasek, Jett Bush

2024: Justice Finkley, J’Mond Tapp, Billy Walton, Tausili Akana, Barryn Sorrell, Ethan Burke, Colton Vasek, Colin Simmons, Zina Umeozulu, Trey Moore

Edge: 2024

After this position was a liability in 2021 and for parts of 2022, some of the players recruited by Kwiatkowski developed into players who could affect the passer. For sure, there were times when high quality opposing offensive tackles got the better of the Longhorns, but pressure was not something few and far between in 2023. Sacks? A little bit of a different story but still present.

EDGE is a position where development can take some time to manifest, but when it does it makes a difference. Sorrell and Burke are good examples of that, as both made a number of big plays throughout the year.

Those two, plus almost everyone else in the group, return for 2024. Not only are they back, but Texas added two excellent high school EDGEs in five-star Simmons and four-star Umeozulu, plus the American Athletic Conference defensive player of the year in Moore via the portal.

Defensive tackle might be taking a step back, but EDGE is very likely to take a step forward and just in time for battles with some of the top offensive tackles in the country in 2024.

Linebacker

2023: Anthony Hill Jr., S’Maje Burrell, Liona Lefau, David Gbenda, Morice Blackwell Jr., Derion Gullette, Jaylan Ford

2024: Anthony Hill Jr., S’Maje Burrell, Liona Lefau, David Gbenda, Morice Blackwell Jr., Derion Gullette, Tyanthony Smith, Kendrick Blackshire

Edge: 2024

Losing Ford both as an on-field standout and as a locker room leader will be a difficult void to fill for new position coach Johnny Nansen, but he’s the only player from the 2023 room that exits the program. A fellow veteran in Gbenda plus a freshman All-American in Hill enter the first year in the SEC as the leaders at the position.

Nansen walks into a well-stocked room, with another vet like Blackwell and other class of 2023 linebackers like Burrell, Lefau, and Gullette ready to break out. Of course, Blackshire made his way back to Texas via the transfer portal, giving the Longhorns a strong mix of veteran experience and young promise.

Another year in the game for Gbenda, another year of development for Hill, and the overall potential contained within the position gives 2024 the advantage even with the loss of Ford.

Safety

2023: Derek Williams, BJ Allen Jr., Jalen Catalon, Larry Turner-Gooden, Michael Taaffe, Kitan Crawford, Jerrin Thompson

2024: Derek Williams, Michael Taaffe, Jelani McDonald, Andrew Mukuba, Xavier Filsaime

Edge: 2024

The room saw quite a bit of experience depart when Catalon, Crawford, and Thompson all portaled out. But thanks to welcome contributions from a freshman in Williams and a former walk-on in Taaffe, the safety room was not a position in dire straits entering the 2024 offseason.

That said, the Sugar Bowl versus Washington illustrated the need to bolster the safety room, and thanks to the additions of a high four-star in Filsaime and an impact transfer in Mukuba, Blake Gideon did just that.

The room is a little thin numbers wise, and it’s possible some spring cross-training leads to a summer position change. But along the top line, the combination of multi-year experience and young talent has the unit looking better than it did when the 2023 campaign ended.

RELATED: Jahdae Barron’s return to Texas improves depth and talent at safety, too (+)

Corners/Nickels

2023: Jaylon Guilbeau, Austin Jordan, Malik Muhammad, Ryan Watts, Terrance Brooks, Gavin Holmes, X’Avion Brice, Jahdae Barron, Warren Roberson, Jelani McDonald

2024: Jaylon Guilbeau, Austin Jordan, Malik Muhammad, Terrance Brooks, Gavin Holmes, Jahdae Barron, Warren Roberson, Kobe Black, Wardell Mack, Santana Wilson, Jordon Johnson-Rubell

Edge: 2024

The Star/nickel position received a massive boost with the return of Barron for his fifth season. It’s also a spot that has two veterans waiting in the wings in Guilbeau and Jordan, meaning Texas has about as many learned reps as a college roster can have at one of the most difficult positions in football.

Corner loses Watts to the NFL but because of a combination of injury and freshmen development, Muhammad had supplanted him in the starting lineup at the end of the season.

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A top three at corner of Muhammad, Brooks, and Holmes with a competition for the second-string boundary spot among freshmen Roberson, Black, Mack, and Wilson has the Longhorn secondary looking up both at safety and corner.