Texas Football: 5 early top Longhorns for the 2022 NFL Draft
B.J. Foster, DB
A former elite five-star recruit for the Longhorns, and a player that made the right decision it seems to return this year, is the redshirt junior defensive back/safety B.J. Foster. The uber-talented but inconsistent 6-foot-2 and 195 pound Foster will need to prove that he can find more stability in his game this coming season.
With the likes of former Texas safeties in junior Caden Sterns and Chris Brown taking their talents to the next level this year, Foster will have a new opportunity to shine in 2021. Sterns was picked up by the Denver Broncos in the fifth round of the draft, and Brown is still trying to find a home as an undrafted free agent following the conclusion of the day three festivities.
Moreover, Foster showed flashes of brilliance in the last three seasons with this Longhorns secondary. He’s registered 122 combined tackles, 15.0 tackles for loss, 5.0 sacks, two interceptions, nine pass breakups, and two forced fumbles. The problems for Foster exists with his quantity of missed tackles (missed more than 20 percent of attempted tackles in his career) and occasional poor positioning in pass coverage assignments.
Foster allowed more than a 70 completion percentage in pass coverage in his career to date.
The good news pertaining to the development of Foster of late is that Foster had a career-best missed tackle rate just above 17.0 percent last season, and didn’t allow any touchdowns in pass coverage in a season for the first time in his career. Those are potential points of emphasis that could allow Foster to rocket up draft boards next year if he continues to improve this coming season.