Why DeMarvion Overshown is the pass rusher Texas football needs

Perhaps the position that Texas football is in the direst need of this offseason is edge rusher/defensive end. Texas was looking to fill that need by landing a commitment out of the NCAA Transfer Portal last month from the former TCU Horned Frogs two-time All-Big 12 senior edge rusher/defensive end Ochaun Mathis.

Yet, the Longhorns wound up missing out on Mathis in crushing fashion last weekend as he committed to head coach Scott Frost and the Nebraska Cornhuskers over Texas.

Missing out on Mathis now means that Pete Kwiatkowski and the Longhorns’ defensive coaching staff now have to figure out the pass-rushing issue either with what remains in the transfer portal (essentially they have to get Florida A&M edge transfer Isaiah Land) or figure this out from within. Either way, Texas is going to have a much more difficult path ahead to figure out the pass-rushing issue than once thought just a couple of weeks ago before Mathis chose Nebraska.

If Kwiatkowski and the Longhorns are going to try to find a solution from the players on the current roster for next season, a good option is scheming up senior linebacker DeMarvion Overshown to rush the passer more often. There are a few reasons why I believe increasing the number of snaps that Kwiatkowski sends Overshown after the quarterback could be a successful endeavor this fall.

But I do want to mention before getting into any analysis here that just having Overshown rush the passer more often than in prior seasons won’t be a saving grace for this defensive front. This is just one way to drum up more pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Kwiatkowski should take this into account as part of a more comprehensive solution to help improve the pass rush this year.

Moreover, it is often overlooked that Overshown is actually one of the most effective pass rushers among any Longhorn players along the defensive front in each of the last three seasons. In fact, he led Texas twice and finish second on the team once among eligible players in pressure rate over the course of the last three seasons.

Despite mostly playing at middle linebacker and getting limited reps rushing the passer, Overshown has shown to be incredibly efficient when called upon to get after the opposing quarterback.

Overshown’s pressure rate is also on the upswing in each season since his freshman campaign in 2019. That came to a head last season when Overshown was far and away the pass-rushing productivity leader among eligible players for the Longhorns with 10 quarterback pressures among qualifying plays (i.e. true pass sets, play-action, etc.) on 37 snaps rushing the passer.

Texas football would be foolish not to have DeMarvion Overshown rushing the passer more often in 2022

That led to a pressure rate of 27.0 percent, which is a career-high for Overshown.

Despite putting up a career-best pressure rate on pass rush plays last season, Overshown actually saw his number of snaps getting after the quarterback fall compared to the prior year.

Texas should be sending Overshown after the opposing quarterback more often given his increasing efficiency on pass-rushing plays. That is a very simple adjustment Kwiatkowski can make to help upgrade the pass rush this fall.

It seems like it would be a manageable adjustment for Kwiatkowski to at least have Overshown rush the passer on 20-30 more snaps this fall compared to the last few seasons. Yet, that obviously depends on what looks Texas is facing this fall.

All in all, though, it looks like Overshown is the most effective pass rusher the Longhorns have returning in 2022. He tied for the team lead in sacks last season with Ovie Oghoufo, Byron Murphy, and Alfred Collins. Yet, he took roughly 100 fewer snaps in the pass rush last season compared to those other three.

Get Overshown schemed up to burst through the middle of the line of scrimmage or mix up the looks and get him on some delayed blitzes. Those are going to be the most effective ways to utilize him in the pass rush given his insane speed in pursuit of the ball carrier and ranginess off the snap.

It’s easy to see that the increasing pass-rushing productivity of Overshown, combined with the pass-rushing woes for the Longhorns last season, that there is a way to get after the opposing quarterback more effectively this fall. If Texas doesn’t find another pass rusher out of the transfer portal this offseason, it should be a given that Overshown is sent after the quarterback more often than in prior seasons come this fall.

Texas officially finished spring camp on April 23 with the commencement of the altered version of the Orange-White spring football game. And the 2022 regular season is set to open up at home at DKR on Sep. 4 against Louisiana-Monroe.