Texas Football: 5 former Longhorns finding success elsewhere in 2021
Xavion Alford, USC DB
In hindsight, one of the costliest recent losses for the Longhorns to the transfer portal is the former touted blue-chip recruit and sophomore USC safety Xavion Alford. USC is getting tremendous value out of both Alford and Ingram already. Those are two of their most productive players on each side of the ball.
Texas is struggling to find any solutions at the safety position this fall, and Alford might’ve helped in this area. Pete Kwiatkowski and Blake Gideon aren’t getting much consistency out of anyone in this position group right now, including senior B.J. Foster, sophomore Jerrin Thompson, senior Brendon Schooler, junior Chris Adimora, etc.
Meanwhile, Alford is having a true breakthrough campaign with the Trojans. So far this season, he’s registered 25 combined tackles, a whopping three interceptions, and two pass breakups. Yet, it’s not all rainbows and sunshine for Alford out of the gates during his run with the Trojans.
There are issues that Alford is facing with missed tackles, as he already has seven on the season. His run defense still has a ways to go. But his pass defense is clearly setting him apart in the PAC-12 right now.
Next. 3 players that clearly aren't a good fit with Sark. dark
Alford is going to be a key part of this USC defense for a long time. The talent was always there with him, it just didn’t look like he was ready to rock with the new coaching staff once Herman was gone last offseason. He found a home with the defensive coordinator that recruited him in former Texas DC Todd Orlando (who is now in the same role at USC).