Texas Football: 3 Longhorns that will breakout vs. OU

2) Texas football players who could breakout vs. OU: Jalen Green

The roller coaster ride that is the career of junior Texas cornerback and former highly touted four-star recruit Jalen Green needs to come to a head in the near future. Green had points where he looked like a true option as a primary cornerback last season, but his play has usually stayed pretty inconsistent. And that trend remained early in the current season.

Green has played a good amount of snaps in each of the three games. He was on the field for a season-high 52 snaps in the loss to the Horned Frogs last weekend. The way his game is looking actually shows his open-field tacking ability and run defense trending up. But his efficiency in pass coverage hasn’t really improved over the course of his three years on the Forty Acres.

So far this season, Green registered three total tackles (all solo) and one pass deflection. He hasn’t had much of a chance to make an impact near the line of scrimmage, and he’s only been sent on one pressure all season. Hence the drop in the number of his total tackles and tackles for loss. Last year, he registered 30 total tackles and two tackles for loss.

Green was targeted in the passing game nine times through three games. He’s only allowed four receptions, but two of those went for touchdowns. Both of those touchdowns did come in the Longhorns impressive overtime comeback win back on Sep. 26 over the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Maybe he can have this major breakthrough in Red River against the Sooners.