Jalen Catalon and the ceiling for the Texas secondary
Many expect the 2023 Texas secondary to be the best it has been since perhaps the 2017 season when future pros like DeShon Elliott, Kris Boyd, PJ Locke and Brandon Jones roamed DKR.
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The Horns certainly have the talent to be as good, if not better, this season. After all, by my count more than a half dozen players in the Texas secondary have legit NFL aspirations in the years to come.
However, and perhaps ironically, a single player’s health is perhaps a key to that.
Jalen Catalon, the Arkansas transfer who was a starter for the Razorbacks, did not make it all the way through a season the last two years due to injury.
Yet his addition to the Texas secondary not only gives the Horns much-needed experience, but increased athleticism and instinct on the back end of the defense.
While Texas is building significant and quality depth at the position, the Horns are still young or inexperienced behind Catalon.
A team’s health is almost always a factor in the outcome of a season. If Catalon stays healthy, I expect the Texas secondary to be the best it has been in quite a while, going back even further in time than that 2017 group.
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Not only has Steve Sarkisian dramatically improved the Texas roster in his two-and-a-half years on campus in Austin. He’s also getting somewhat lucky. And I’m not really sure what more Texas fans could ask for.
His announcement last night that he expects every player on the roster to be physically ready to go come June/July, even if some are still in the process of rehabbing, is nothing short of astounding. It actually borders on the ridiculous.
There are healthy teams, there are talented teams. But there are very few teams that are both talented and healthy, nearly 85 strong.
Yes, some players will still be limited during the summer months. But to the point he made last night during the Texas Fight Tour stop in San Antonio, those players are on the very end of the healing/rehab process.
In sum, it’s just exceedingly rare to have no major injuries at this time of the year.
