Texas Football: Early predictions for Longhorns in the 2021 NFL Draft
The potential top five pick: Caden Sterns, Safety
The likely two most talked about prospects for the 2021 NFL Draft that could be coming out of the Texas program after next season deserve their own parts of the list entirely. The first of those two is Ehlinger, and the second is a potential top 10 (maybe even top five) picks in rising junior safety Caden Sterns.
Projections are all over the place right now for Sterns, with some holding him out as a potential mid-second round pick. Others do have him out as a potential top five pick. It just depends on what criteria you’re seeking out for safety prospects in the 2021 draft class.
The former five-star recruit and Cibolo Steele product Sterns stands at 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds. His physical tools and frame are ideal for what NFL scouts are going to be looking for at the safety position.
Where Sterns needs to improve above all else is just putting together one solid year of production in pass defense after a down finish to his sophomore campaign. Sterns was one of the most hype up safeties in the nation during his true freshman season in 2018. He registered 62 total tackles, three tackles for loss, one sack, four interceptions, and four pass deflections in 2018.
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Sterns does have the promise to become an immediate star safety at the next level. The comparisons with Baltimore Ravens future Hall-of-Fame safety and former Longhorn Earl Thomas are valid. But Sterns needs to show out this coming season, sporting the improvement he had in stopping the ball carrier at the line of scrimmage last year with the ball hawking skills he had in pass coverage in 2018.