Texas Football: 3 struggling players who must be benched

Brenden Schooler, S

The issues at the safety position for the Longhorns are bigger than just the former Oregon Ducks transfer and converted wide receiver Brenden Schooler. At the safety position, missed tackles, missed assignments, and misreads are all becoming commonplace at a time that is very concerning heading into the thick of the Big 12 slate.

The senior safety Schooler was anticipated to come in and fill a hole for the Longhorns in terms of experience added and impact on the field. But Schooler hasn’t done much to help this secondary out so far this fall. He’s already missed nearly half as many tackles as he’s registered solo tackles, and he hasn’t made many other plays otherwise.

Unfortunately for Schooler and the Texas defense as a whole, one of the more memorable plays he’s made so far this season was decking senior cornerback D’Shawn Jamison on a deep pass for the Red Raiders that resulted in a long touchdown of more than 60 yards. Schooler hasn’t really been effective in pass coverage or stopping the run.

For Week 5 against TCU, Schooler and sophomore safety Jerrin Thompson looks set to split reps for the secondary. Senior safety B.J. Foster will get the start solely at the free safety position too.

There’s no clear fix here for the Longhorns, but something has to give in place of Schooler. This is likely to be his last year on campus. At least Thompson is younger and has more room for growth. Clean up the missed tackles with Thompson (a whopping eight on the season so far), then he will be much more effective.