Texas Football: 3 backups who should start after loss to OU
Alfred Collins, DE/EDGE
If there is one defensive player that I would say I am disappointed for the coaching staff’s usage in so far this season, it would be the former five-star recruit and sophomore defensive end/edge rusher Alfred Collins. An extremely talented and physically gifted player like Collins likely wasn’t going to translate right away in this new defensive scheme.
He is being asked to play a very different role in this scheme this fall than he was last season under former defensive coordinator/safeties coach Chris Ash.
While it would be worth giving Collins more reps along the defensive front as his play improves this fall, he’s about to get more snaps anyway. With the injury news coming down that senior defensive end/edge rusher Jacoby Jones will undergo foot surgery this week that will keep him out for an undisclosed period of time (likely at least a few weeks), Collins is probably the next man up at the Jack end position for new co-defensive coordinators/linebackers coaches Pete Kwiatkowski and Jeff Choate.
Collins has largely progressed in both run-stopping and the pass rush in the last three or four weeks. He was largely not present for the Longhorns in the first two games of the regular season. But since the win over the Rice Owls at home back on Sep. 18, Collins has improved drastically.
In the last four games, Collins registered nine combined tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks, five stops, two run stuffs, eight quarterback pressures, and just one missed tackle.
Next. 5 overreactions from the nightmare loss to OU. dark
It makes the most sense to give the bulk of the reps in the absence of Jones at the Jack end position to Collins. We could see more reps go out to the likes of senior edge rusher/linebacker Ben Davis and former walk-on Jett Bush. But Collins deserves the start against Oklahoma State next weekend.