Jaylan Ford: Man in the middle
One of the obvious problems for Texas during their wilderness romp after the Colt McCoy injury has been their struggle to develop winning players at positions where development is everything. The linebacker position is an easy example for demonstrating how Texas’ malaise has been driven in part by an inability to consistently train raw athletes into skilled veterans.
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Texas high school football doesn’t produced pre-made inside linebackers very often and certainly not in the volume with which it cranks out highly skilled quarterbacks, receivers, or defensive backs. All the top athletes who could project to Mike linebacker play a different position in high school so you either have to know how to develop a Mike with a position change or you have to take a lower level of athlete in order to get ahold of a player who’s been taught anything about the position.
For years, Texas struggled with this dynamic. They generally chose to only take premium athletes who then rarely developed into winning linebackers who could survive against spread offenses. Then late in the 2020 class, the Longhorns flipped an 83.17 recruit out of DFW from Utah named Jaylan Ford. Nearly four years later, they finally have a developed true linebacker.
Jaylan Ford’s profile
There was some question over whether Ford should have been Defensive Player of the Year in the Big 12 in 2022. He lost that battle to K-State defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah but was named 1st team All-Big 12 and finished the regular season with 109 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, two sacks, four interceptions, and three forced fumbles.
That’s tremendous impact.
Ford is listed at 6-foot-3, 236 pounds and tested with a 32″ vertical and 4.47 shuttle as a 6-foot-2, 205 pound sophomore. As a high schooler he had the ideal frame to eventually fill out into a 230-240 pounder with enough athleticism and quickness to hold up in the spread era. However, he didn’t have the length, size, power, or speed to dominate a game as an Edge and recruiting rankings tend to measure for the sorts of measurables which get you on the edge chasing the quarterback, even if you play a different position.
He actually played inside linebacker in high school, which always makes a huge difference, and was thus ready by his third year at Texas to process everything Big 12 offenses throw at linebackers to keep them from finding the ball. Ford has maximized at Texas not by virtue of elite athleticism but by having the right blend of big enough, quick enough, and smart enough to get where he needs to be.
Present in the run game
Ford isn’t (yet) an elite run defender at linebacker, but in the spread era Woody Allen’s “90% of success is just showing up” defines good play at the position. Ford knows how to diagnose plays quickly and mind his gaps and has enough quickness, length, and hand skill to help get over blockers and reach the ball carrier.
His work in the box is routinely steady if unspectacular. He takes in information with his eyes well, maintains good position to make a play, and consequently makes a number of plays.
Both of his sacks on the year were good inside stunts where he took an efficient path coming unblocked on an inside blitz. He plays blocks fairly well as a pass-rusher or against the run and ensures Texas doesn’t squander their advantages from routinely deploying future NFL players at defensive tackle.
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Present in pass defense
If Ford is solid in diagnosing run plays and getting to the ball, he’s well above average doing so in coverage.
All of his interceptions on the year were simply Ford doing what he does on most every passing play. Taking a good drop, staying aware of the route distributions AND the quarterback’s eyes, and being in position to make the play.
Here’s an example where he made a good drop but a different player benefitted on the stat sheet.
K-State tried to attack Ford in coverage all day and they caught him a few times struggling to keep track of Deuce Vaughn, but they were also caught by him trading off routes effectively and picking off a pass. Most of Ford’s NFL showcase film would consist of him showing great awareness in coverage.
Breakthrough in 2023?
There’s still a fair amount of improvement Ford could make for 2023 to significantly improve his draft grade and serve as the tip of the spear for a dominant Texas defense. His ability to routinely show up while playing with clear cut NFL talent in front of him and in the secondary made it easy to stuff the stat sheet with tackles in 2022 but he could make a lot more impact plays as a run-stopper and blitzer.
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He had a lot of near-misses on blitzes and runs where he took a free run into the backfield but came up empty, starting in the ULM game where he was credited with zero tackles when he could have inflicted multiple TFLs.
This extended into the rest of the season as well.
There were a lot of examples like this on film where Ford just about had a play dead to rights but couldn’t finish the tackle. Another year of film study, strength and conditioning, and development could be the difference in inches which allows him to make a few more big plays in the box. Add some more disruptive plays in the pass-rush or run game to his expertise in coverage and he may have a stronger case for DPOY in 2023.
