Texas Football: BR said this Longhorn will ‘shock the world’ in 2020

The famed college football “list season” is really taking hold pertaining to the Texas football program with the sports news cycle so focused on COVID-19.

Any number of players in the Texas football program this fall could be breakthrough players or get the national recognition they deserve in a rise to stardom. But Bleacher Report weighed in on March 19 with who they thought would be a potential player that could “shock the world” on the Forty Acres during the coming 2020 season.

The one player out of the Texas Longhorns football program that Brad Shephard from Bleacher Report named among one of his 10 that could “shock the world” in 2020 was a rising junior linebacker that seems to be on a path to stardom. The 6-foot-4 and 245 pound former four-star recruit Joseph Ossai is entering a pivotal year of his career with the Longhorns.

And here’s what that piece from BR had to say on the matter of Ossai being included among those who will shock college football fans this year.

"There weren’t many positive things about last season’s Texas defense, which was riddled with injuries and gave up yards by the mile. The Longhorns wound up canning coordinator Todd Orlando in December.But there are plenty of pieces for new coordinator Chris Ash to move around the table in Austin, including a slew of talented defensive backs that never reached their potential with the Longhorns. There’s a guy in front of them who has an exciting future as well.That’s Joseph Ossai, who has the potential to blossom into one of college football’s top defenders in 2020. He has the talent and the ability to excel and transform that side of the ball for Texas. Really, he’s one of the most accomplished players on this list."

The only other player on this list from a Big 12 school is the Oklahoma Sooners to-be redshirt freshman quarterback and the former five-star recruit Spencer Rattler.

Last season, Ossai racked up 90 total tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, 5.0 sacks, two interceptions, one pass deflection, and one forced fumble. His stat line saw a significant jump from where it sat during his true freshman campaign. And he ranked in the top 10 in the Big 12 last season in total tackles, tackles for loss, and solo tackles.

The key for Ossai this fall is going to be finding more consistency. His production came and went throughout the Big 12 slate for the Longhorns last year. The overall numbers looked good, but they could be much better during his junior season.

The opinion on Ossai nationally does seem to be very solid thus far. Spearheading what should be an improved Texas defense for the 2020 season under recently hired defensive coordinator Chris Ash, Ossai could see a much more complete effort ahead.

Texas will open their 2020 regular season schedule against the South Florida Bulls on Sep. 5. That will carry into the most crucial game of the non-conference schedule, which comes on the road in Week 2 against the LSU Tigers. Ossai will need to come up big in that showdown against LSU in Baton Rouge, as he did last year when the two teams met under the lights at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.