Texas football adds much-needed LB depth with Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey

Some pretty big news arrived for the Texas football program and second-year head coach Steve Sarkisian early in the afternoon of May 27. Texas got the news that they landed a commitment from one of their biggest targets out of the NCAA Transfer Portal at this point of the offseason, which starts this holiday weekend off on a high note.

Co-defensive coordinators/linebackers coaches Pete Kwiatkowski and Jeff Choate got a big addition out of the portal entering the holiday weekend from the FCS All-American and former James Madison Dukes senior grad transfer linebacker Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey. A decision that was anticipated to come at some point during the holiday weekend actually came to fruition pretty fast on May 27.

Tucker-Dorsey announced on his Twitter timeline on the afternoon of May 27 that he will be committing to the Longhorns out of the transfer portal. He will arrive in Austin ahead of this coming season as a graduate transfer with one year of eligibility remaining.

https://twitter.com/TuckerDorsey_/status/1530236444044054528

This is a big-time get for the Longhorns since linebacker was definitely one of the biggest positions of need this spring. Texas had missed on quite a few of the top linebacker/edge rusher portal targets in the last few months too.

Notable linebacker/edge targets such as Jared Verse, Ochaun Mathis, and Drew Sanders all took their talents elsewhere, leaving Texas’ front seven high and dry early this offseason.

Texas football gets needed and impactful veteran transfer addition in former JMU LB Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey

Yet, Texas did get some help on this side of the ball with likely one of the last impactful linebackers that will surface on the transfer market at this point of the offseason. Tucker-Dorsey was a stud for James Madison in the last few seasons. His numbers really do speak for themselves.

Last season with JMU, Tucker-Dorsey registered a team-leading 116 combined tackles, nine tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, nearly 20 quarterback pressures, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, four interceptions, and nearly a half-dozen pass breakups. He was extremely effective in multiple phases of the defense last season for the Dukes.

The overall productiveness and efficiency of Tucker-Dorsey were put on display by the fact that he ranked among the 10 best FCS linebackers last season in defensive grade and ranked among the top 30 defenders in the FCS in stops (with 49).

So, how will the 5-foot-10 and 215-pound Tucker-Dorsey fit with the Longhorns’ defensive front?

In all likelihood, he will compete for starting reps right away at one of the middle linebacker positions. I would figure that Tucker-Dorsey would now be competing with rising senior Jaylan Ford for key reps this fall at the mike linebacker position.

There are even some plays where Tucker-Dorsey could play at the sam linebacker spot, depending on how things shake out with David Gbenda this fall. Tucker-Dorsey would be more effective in stopping the run or rushing the passer playing at the sam linebacker position, though, than he would be in pass coverage assignments.

With Texas not really having a true edge rusher that they can rely on to make a big impact getting after opposing quarterbacks this year, it looks like the plan will be for Kwiatkowski to run with more of a 3-3-5 or 3-3-5 stack defensive look more often than not. This type of defense would be optimal, especially after the addition of Tucker-Dorsey.

Tucker-Dorsey would be asked to quickly diagnose plays and be able to react accordingly to get to the ball. But this is an area where Texas has struggled since last fall. Whether it was Ford or Luke Brockermeyer last season, the mike linebacker was just too slow at diagnosing plays and getting to the ball carrier in due time.

Although, Ford did make noticeable strides in this area as the season moved along last fall. From what we’ve heard from what he showed during spring camp, Ford’s quickness and decisiveness have also markedly improved in the last few months.

Yet, you would want someone a little more proven to be manning the mike linebacker position, especially against some of the offenses that like to play fast in the Big 12.

An edge that Ford would have playing at the mike linebacker position over Tucker-Dorsey would be closing speed and pass coverage ability. And those two abilities really play hand in hand with each other.

Ford is able to more effectively handle challenging pass coverage assignments thanks to his ranginess and speed at the mike linebacker position compared to someone a little bit slower in the open field such as Tucker-Dorsey.

All in all, the combination of Tucker-Dorsey and Ford to round out the two-deep at the mike linebacker position puts Kwiatkowski and Chaote in a much better spot than they would be without the former JMU All-American. They have slightly different skill sets, but that allows the defensive coaching staff to be more resourceful and specialized at the linebacker position.

What Tucker-Dorsey also does for Kwiatkowski, Choate, and the Longhorns is add more valued depth and veteran presence at the linebacker position. Texas was short on depth, especially at middle linebacker, thanks to the injury that Brockermeyer suffered last year. And there aren’t really any incoming linebacker recruits that were going to make an early impact this fall that were signed in the 2022 class.

Adding Tucker-Dorsey just gives that much more assurance in the linebacker room that this group will be able to hold its own, even through some trying times, this coming season.

Tucker-Dorsey is the seventh scholarship transfer portal addition for Sark and the Longhorns so far this offseason. He is also the second defensive portal player to be added to the roster. This could also wind up being one of the final portal additions for Texas for the rest of the offseason.