Texas football gets key All-American LB back for 2023 in Jaylan Ford

Texas football got a huge piece back at the linebacker position on Jan. 14 with the announcement that AP Third-Team All-American junior Jaylan Ford will be returning for the 2023 season. Ford took to social media on the afternoon of Jan. 14 to announce that he will be returning for his senior campaign at Texas.

This was one of the last remaining announcements among potential returning Longhorns players for the 2023 season. And it now makes the likes of redshirt junior wide receiver Jordan Whittington, senior offensive tackle Christian Jones, senior defensive lineman T’Vondre Sweat, and Ford that Texas will be getting back on both sides of the ball in 2023.

Ford had his best season in his collegiate career to date during his junior campaign. He registered 119 combined tackles for loss, two sacks, 18 quarterback pressures, two pass breakups, one batted ball, 53 stops, four interceptions, three forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries in the season that was.

What Ford did as a true playmaker for Texas at the linebacker position in 2022 helped to take the defense to a new level for Pete Kwiatkowski. Defenders such as Ford, junior safety Jerrin Thompson, and senior interior defensive linemen Keondre Coburn and Moro Ojomo helped Texas’ defense become one of the most improved units in the Power Five last season.

All-American LB and rightful Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Jaylan Ford will return to Texas football in 2023

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According to Sports Reference, Ford was the only defender in the FBS in 2022 that registered at least 10 tackles for loss, four interceptions, two forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries. He was making plays for this Texas defense in multiple phases, including quite a few clutch interceptions in Big 12 play.

What Jaylan Ford’s return means to Texas in 2023?

Getting Ford back for the 2023 season means that Texas will have a seriously formidable starting linebacker duo between him and the No. 1 ranked linebacker recruit in the nation, freshman Anthony Hill Jr.

Despite the loss of senior linebacker DeMarvion Overshown, Texas might be even better at the linebacker position in 2023.

Texas will have that physical downhill player in run defense that can make some plays as a hybrid will linebacker in Hill. Meanwhile, Ford can anchor down the middle of the defense as a productive mike linebacker that has a nose for finding the ball in traffic.

Another reason why getting Ford back is so enormous for the Texas defense is his ability and production from the season that was when he drops back into pass coverage. One of the areas of Hill’s game that he needs to work on in camp this offseason is his ability to play the ball and contest in space in pass coverage.

Ford was one of the highest-graded linebackers in coverage in the Big 12 in 2022. He even led all Big 12 linebackers in QBR allowed in pass coverage last season. All in all, Ford will give the Longhorns a linebacker that can mask some of the more questionable areas of Hill’s game in pass coverage while giving this defense a true playmaker and difference-maker in pass coverage.

Texas now has key returning upperclassmen at every single level of the defense upon the announcement of Ford coming back to the Forty Acres in 2023. He will be one of the highlighting players on this defense which will also include Sweat, Thompson, and redshirt junior cornerback Ryan Watts for the 2023 season.