Texas Football: 3 problematic Razorbacks players for the Longhorns

Grant Morgan, LB

There are two very experienced linebackers that are pretty much the backbone of the Arkansas defense. While Catalon is definitely a key cog to what Odom and the Hogs do on the defensive side of the ball, the senior linebacker duo of Bumper Pool and Grant Morgan is really leads the way.

But Texas will have an opportunity to establish the line of scrimmage in the ground game with Pool set to miss the first half after a targeting call in the second half of the Hogs’ win over Rice. That will leave a heavy reliance on the shoulders of Morgan out of the gates for Arkansas.

And this is a good linebacker for the Hogs to place added pressure on. Morgan is already the play-caller on defense for Arkansas and he is one of the team captains. Not to mention his production backs up what he brings to the table for this defense.

We didn’t get to see a whole lot on tape from Morgan in Week 1 since he got a targeting call himself against Rice. But his targeting call came in the first half of that game, meaning he should be ready to go from the first snap for the Hogs.

Morgan is essentially the starting middle linebacker for the Hogs in a defensive system that places most of the emphasis for this position group to stop the run and helping out on routes between the numbers and with the tight ends. Of the roughly 660 snaps that Morgan took with Arkansas last year, less than 10 percent of them came in the pass rush.

Morgan is a big presence at the line of scrimmage in run defense for the Hogs, and he’s decent in pass coverage. In pass coverage assignments last season, Morgan didn’t give up any passing touchdowns, along with five pass breakups, and one interception. The good news here is that if you do get the ball to the target Morgan is covering, he is very prone to giving up yards after the catch.

This could be an opportunity for Texas to exploit by using someone like Jordan Whittington or Xavier Worthy between the numbers. Senior tight end Cade Brewer could also be a threat on Morgan in the red zone.

Moreover, Morgan just doesn’t miss tackles. He hasn’t missed a double-digit percentage of tackles in three years. Morgan and Pool are good at covering the gaps and they rarely make mistakes. They are beatable in the passing game, but this will be a challenge for Texas to deal with in the trenches.