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The best defensive player on each team Texas faces in 2025

by:Evan Vieth•05/20/25
Downs
Ohio State safety Caleb Downs (© Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Texas football has faced a flurry of notable defenses in its short-lived tenure in the SEC: two games against a Georgia defense that produced three first-rounders, an early-season matchup against Michigan and its stout defensive line, and a masterclass from Ohio State’s NFL-filled defense in the Longhorns’ final game of the season.

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That’s not going to change heading into 2025, where the Longhorns not only square off against the Bulldogs and Buckeyes again but also face potentially improved units from Oklahoma, Florida, and even Texas A&M (despite their NFL losses).

Texas has 12 games on its schedule, and these are the best defensive players it will face in each of those games.

Ohio State: S Caleb Downs

By far the easiest selection on this list. Downs has been an NFL-bound safety since he first stepped on campus at Alabama, racking up 85 tackles and two defensive touchdowns as a true freshman.

With the departure of Nick Saban, Downs found a new home in Columbus, greatly improving his coverage and ball-hawking skills while commanding a title-winning defense. He’s only getting better and is arguably the best prospect in the 2026 NFL Draft. He’ll be a nightmare for Arch Manning and the Texas offense in the first game of the season.

San Jose State: LB Jordan Pollard

Pollard is entering his third year starting with the Spartans and aims to build on an All-Mountain West First-Team selection in 2024. Now a senior, Pollard recorded 78 tackles in 13 games (6 per game) despite weighing barely above 200 pounds. He plays the Mike role in a standard 3-4 defense and uses his athleticism to work downhill in the run game and keep up with running backs in the passing game. He is a 2026 NFL Draft hopeful.

UTEP: LB Nate Dyman

The Miners were active in adding defensive playmakers in the portal this offseason, but Dyman has shown the ability to be an impactful player in both the run and pass game. His 51 tackles last year are the most of any returning Miner players, and he also possesses the ability to rush the passer on later downs.

UTEP’s best defensive player last season, Maurice Westmoreland, is now at Tulane, meaning Dyman will need to step up for the Miners to have any real chance of stopping Texas’ offense.

Sam Houston: S CJ Brown

Almost the entirety of this SHSU defense is made up of portal players, as the team saw drastic changes with the hiring of new head coach Phil Longo. He’s done well filling most positions with depth pieces, but no player was a bigger win than Bowling Green transfer CJ Brown.

Brown was an All-MAC safety at Bowling Green last year who entered the spring transfer portal looking for a new home in his fifth year of college football. He signed with the Bearkats on May 5 and instantly slots into a starting role. He plays all over the field but will predominantly be seen in the box, looking to alter the Texas run game.

Florida: EDGE Tyreak Sapp

Sapp was a top-120 recruit in the class of 2021 who has seen rotational play time for most of his career but blossomed late last season for Billy Napier’s defense. In the final three weeks of the regular season, facing tough competition like LSU, Ole Miss, and (not so tough) Florida State, Sapp recorded 12 pressures, four sacks, and a forced fumble while terrorizing tackles off the edge.

Sapp enters 2025 as a potential first-round edge rusher, combining size and speed as he’s grown to nearly 275 pounds this spring. He will be the first major test in the SEC for tackles Trevor Goosby and Brandon Baker.

Oklahoma: CB Eli Bowen

It’s insanely hard to pinpoint one player on the Sooners as the “best defensive player.” The front seven has nine NFL-aspiring players laying a foundation, and the secondary returns four starters and added a blue-chip transfer.

We settled on Bowen for a few reasons. Despite his 5’9″ frame, Bowen is PFF’s second-highest-rated returning cornerback in the SEC in both raw grade and coverage grade, only behind surefire first-rounder Jermod McCoy of Tennessee. As a true freshman, Bowen completely out-snapped and outplayed his counterparts in the cornerback room, starting with a 57-snap, 85.6 PFF grade game in the Red River Shootout last year. He has the chance to blossom into a true star in Norman.

Kentucky: DT David Gusta

Kentucky lost a ton of defensive talent this offseason between the draft and portal, but head coach Mark Stoops did a great job addressing needs specifically on the defensive line. Gusta is a perfect example, ranked as On3’s No. 62 transfer from Washington State.

Gusta posted an 84.4 PFF rating and is known for his ability to disrupt the passer up the middle, even at 6’3″, 316 pounds. He’s a penciled-in No. 1 starter on a defensive line that should look quite stout when Texas travels to Lexington.

Mississippi State: NB Isaac Smith

No, this is not going to be Derion Gullette or Jaray Bledsoe. Smith was one of the few bright spots of a miserable Bulldog defense in 2024, recording a team-high 84 tackles and allowing under 200 receiving yards, mostly from the nickel position.

He’s a rising junior who was their highest-ranked recruit in the class of 2023, ranking as a top-12 safety. He has legitimate NFL upside after next season and is still just 20 years old. Smith and the Longhorn transfers should lead a fairly decent defense in 2026, but 2025 may still be an easy matchup for Texas.

Vanderbilt: CB Martel Hight

Unfortunately, Diego Pavia and Eli Stowers can’t play on the defensive side of the ball for the Commodores. Hight was their lone four-star recruit in the 2023 class and served as the team’s CB1 last season as a sophomore.

He wasn’t tremendous but played well against Texas, allowing just 28 total passing yards in that game. Vanderbilt’s defense is admittedly thin, but the secondary has some young upside. Hight, in particular, has the skill set to cause problems for the Longhorns if he can continue to develop.

Georgia: S KJ Bolden

Georgia’s defense in 2025 is actually a little less star-studded than you might think, which is part of why preseason projections are slightly lower on them. With seven of last year’s starters headed to the draft and most transfer resources allocated to the offensive side of the ball, Georgia will need a lot of players to take serious steps forward in 2025.

One player you aren’t worried about is KJ Bolden, who was the nation’s best true freshman safety in 2024. He played the sixth-most snaps on the defense last year after entering college as the consensus No. 1 safety in the nation, recording an 82 PFF grade, second only to fellow returner DL Christen Miller (who easily could’ve been the pick here). While much of this defense has question marks surrounding it, Bolden and Miller will be game-wreckers in Athens no matter what.

Arkansas: EDGE Quincy Rhodes Jr.

Another team ravaged by the portal (thank you for Brad Spence!), Arkansas has lost a lot of defensive talent from last year’s team that featured an underrated group of playmakers. The sole survivor is defensive end Quincy Rhodes Jr., a rotational player in 2024 who flashed in the team’s final three games of the season.

A four-star prospect in the 2023 class, Rhodes stands at a massive 6’6, 276 pounds. He’s expected to be the team’s No. 1 pass rusher in 2025 and has the athletic traits to be a draftee in 2026, similar to Isaac Smith.

Texas A&M: LB Taurean York

Last but not least, the Aggies. This one was pretty easy, admittedly, as York has been a high-impact player ever since stepping on campus two seasons ago. He led the team in snaps in 2024 and has the most stops of any returning player heading into 2025.

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York has always been a player that exudes Aggie energy, fueling a rivalry with same-class Texan Anthony Hill. Both are projected first-round picks and will be massive parts of their teams’ defenses in 2025.

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