Assessing 3 important defensive leaders for Texas football in 2022

D’Shawn Jamison, CB

While Overshown will be the tone-setter for the defensive front this season, one of the spark plugs for the secondary will be super senior cornerback and return specialist D’Shawn Jamison. As the most experienced defensive back returning for the Longhorns this season, it’s easy to see why Jamison is such an important piece to this secondary.

Jamison will need a bounce-back 2022 campaign to really lead this secondary to new heights. He fell short of expectations last fall, posting the worst defensive grade of his collegiate career to date while registering just one pass breakup for the first time as a starting corner.

We still saw glimpses of what Jamison could do last season, including the interception he snagged against the Oklahoma State Cowboys. But Texas fans will be hoping to see the version of Jamison that was making plays on special teams and in pass defense during the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

Yet, it wasn’t all bad with Jamison in his first season under PK and cornerbacks coach Terry Joseph in 2021.

One improvement that largely flew under the radar for Jamison was his improved tackling and ability to minimize mistakes. In fact, Jamison ranked second in the Big 12 last season in missed tackle percentage on pass plays among cornerbacks. He posted a stellar missed tackle rate of just 3.6 percent on pass plays, by far a career-best for him.

If Jamison can continue to show that he’s going to do these little things such as minimizing missed tackles and avoiding bad penalties while showing that special playmaking ability he did a couple of years ago, then Jamison will be the perfect corner to lead by example for this secondary. His ability to set the tone for the secondary could have a massive impact on how this position group fares for the entire season.