Texas Football: 5 immediate impact summer enrollees for the Horns

Derek Williams, S

The most hyped-up summer enrollee for the Longhorns, and also the highest-rated, is the former elite five-star New Iberia (LA) Westgate safety Derek Williams. The elite safety recruit out of Louisiana was one of Texas’ biggest wins on the trail during the 2023 cycle, showing off the great work that the DB coach tandem of Terry Joseph and Terry Gideon can do even when they reach out of state.

Moreover, Williams will be looked to by many fans to make a push to compete for some live-game reps right away from the time he steps on campus this summer. It sounds like a lot of people think that Williams could push for a starting spot this fall, which might be a bit premature.

Williams has all the talent in the world, and there’s definitely a way for him to get consistent live-game reps this fall. At the outset of fall camp, though, Williams will be able to learn under more experienced and proven safeties such as seniors Jalen Catalon and Jerrin Thompson.

Where Williams can bring a lot of value to the table for the Longhorns right away would be to provide more safety depth and long-term upside for this position group. If Williams can show out during summer workouts and in fall camp, he could start to work his way into the two-deep at the safety position heading into the 2023 regular season.

I would feel different about Williams’ chances to get more live-game reps out of the gates this fall as a true freshman had he enrolled early to participate in spring ball. Just look at freshman cornerback Malik Muhammad, who received some second-team practice reps at the field corner position in spring practice as an early enrollee.

Muhammad will be in a spot to compete for the two-deep at field corner heading into fall camp since he was able to experience spring ball and go through some of the growing pains most true freshmen experience early in college.