Texas Football: 3 backups who should start after loss to OU
JD Coffey III, S
It feels like the weakest position group on the defensive side of the ball for the Longhorns so far this season is at safety. About the most consistent force at the safety position for Texas so far this season is the former elite five-star recruit and senior B.J. Foster. But even Foster has struggled with frequent inconsistency this fall.
Texas still doesn’t have much of a better option at the strong safety position, though, than Foster. Where Texas could make some beneficial personnel adjustments is at the opposite safety position. The other safety position was a revolving door for the Longhorns so far this season.
Texas has largely split reps at the other safety position between the likes of super senior and converted wide receiver Brenden Schooler and sophomore Jerrin Thompson. But neither has really found traction at any point this season as the starter, hence why the coaching staff is still splitting reps so deep into the campaign.
In the loss to Oklahoma last weekend, Schooler and Thompson missed a combined four tackles and were two of the five lowest graded defenders for the Longhorns in the game.
It might be time for Texas to consider another option completely at this strong safety slot. There are two ways that the Longhorns could realistically go to really shake things up. The most obvious consideration for Texas could be giving more reps to freshman safety JD Coffey III. At the moment, Coffey is the backup behind Thompson and Schooler. And he does at least have slightly over a dozen reps under his belt.
Coffey was a touted blue-chip recruit that deserves at least a few snaps considering how poorly Thompson and Schooler have played at times this season.
The other option that the Longhorns could go with here is the former five-star recruit and junior safety Tyler Owens. As he was not able to make much sustained progress up the depth chart in the last few years, it doesn’t feel like there are many opportunities left for this team with Owens.