Texas Football: 3 position changes the Longhorns should make in spring

BJ Allen Jr.

Possible position change: Boundary to field safety

Another potential position change to watch take place in the secondary this spring could see the former four-star recruit and second-year boundary safety BJ Allen Jr. move to the field spot.

During his true freshman campaign, Allen mostly trained at the boundary safety position. And most game depth charts that were actually released by Sark and the Longhorns last season had Allen listed as a backup boundary safety behind senior Anthony Cook.

Yet, I do believe there is some credence to the idea of either cross-training Allen at field safety or moving him to that spot exclusively in spring ball, depending on how other possible position changes play out in the next couple of weeks.

The first reason why I believe adding more depth to field safety makes sense this spring is the lack of proven depth at the position heading into camp. At the moment, the only returning field safety that has any sort of significant live-game experience at the position is senior Jerrin Thompson.

The projected backup at field safety behind Thompson heading into the spring is the former walk-on and redshirt sophomore Michael Taaffe. While Taaffe did prove to be steady and reliable as a backup last offseason, he’s still a high-floor, low-ceiling type player at the position.

Taaffe also doesn’t have the speed and overall ranginess that Texas would want to command the secondary over the top at field safety.

However, the 6-foot-1 and 205-pound Allen is a physically gifted safety that brings a good amount of scheme versatility and ranginess in the secondary. He could be a higher-ceiling player that could be a long-term solution at the position upon Thompson’s departure in 2024.

Allen has excellent timing and ball skills in man coverage. He also is very adept at covering the deep ball from the free/field safety position. From the perspectives of ranginess and ball skills in pass coverage, Allen checks a lot of the boxes that safeties coach Blake Gideon would want to sure up the depth at field safety this spring.