Texas Football: 3 personnel changes to make during the bye week

Jaylan Ford starts in place of Luke Brockermeyer

The point here is not to say that former walk-on linebacker Luke Brockermeyer is having a terrible season. He’s actually played out as a rather pleasant surprise for the Longhorns at the linebacker position this fall. But he’s still not making that many big plays in the backfield. And he’s missing more tackles than Texas can really afford with the inconsistencies along the defensive front.

What Texas needs at the linebacker position at this point of the season is more stability. And that is something that the former under-the-radar three-star recruit and sophomore linebacker Jaylan Ford could provide.

There are two simple metrics that show the efficiency that Ford has played with so far this season compared to Brockermeyer. The first is the fact that Ford has missed just three of the 32 attempts he’s had for tackles this fall, good for a 9.3 missed tackle percentage. Meanwhile, Brockermeyer has missed 10 tackles on 62 attempts, good for a 16.1 missed tackle percentage.

The other metric is havoc rate. That is the percentage of defensive snaps in run defense or pass rush where the linebacker either comes up with some type of quarterback pressure, fumble or tackle for loss. In 187 snaps in those situations this season, Brockermeyer has created havoc a dozen times. That’s good for a havoc rate of 6.5 percent.

Meanwhile, Ford has come up with a havoc rate of 8.3 percent on 84 snaps in pass rush and run defense this season.

Something else worth comparing between Brockermeyer and Ford is their play in pass coverage. Both are actually two of the more capable linebackers in the Big 12 in pass coverage. Ford was one of the four highest-graded linebackers in the Big 12 in pass coverage last weekend. And Brockermeyer has one pass breakup and one interception on the season already.

Ford appears to do a better job sticking with some of the more athletic tight ends and running backs in pass coverage. Brockermeyer can let those slip away sometimes since he is the less agile of the two linebackers. But he also makes more big plays in pass coverage from what we’ve seen so far.

Let Brockermeyer work into the linebacker rotation to still get significant snaps. That is the type of role that Ford was filling in this linebacker group prior to the concussion that senior DeMarvion Overshown suffered in the Oklahoma State game.

If Overshown isn’t able to start for Texas in the road meeting with Baylor on Oct. 30, then Ford will likely be starting anyway. He and Brockermeyer is still a competent duo at linebacker. But if Overshown is healthy, it should be worth giving the starting reps in the Baylor game to him and Ford.