Texas Football: Pre-spring Longhorns defensive depth chart

JACK

Starter: Joseph Ossai, Junior

For the front seven to truly make that leap to one of the best in the Big 12 next season, there is one player that needs to come through for the Texas football program. That one player for Texas is rising junior star linebacker Joseph Ossai. The former four-star recruit was a breakout candidate from the start for the Longhorns last year.

Last season saw Ossai rack up 90 total tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, 5.0 sacks, two interceptions, one pass deflection, and one forced fumble. It would be nice to see Ossai begin his quest to finding more consistency in spring camp as well as forcing more turnovers across the board. The 6-foot-4 and 245 pound Ossai should be one of the Texas defensive leaders this fall.

Backup: Byron Vaughns, Sophomore

It is vastly underrated how stacked Texas could be at this linebacker spot. The JACK linebacker position could be a specialty for Ash and co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Coleman Hutzler. Texas could be good for a long time in this new defensive look at JACK.

The other player to watch out for at this position is rising sophomore linebacker Byron Vaughns. Similar to the narrative surrounding Sweat, the Longhorns might’ve found a gem that flew under the radar in the former three-star recruit Vaughns. Last season, he racked up 14 total tackles and one forced fumble in limited playing time.