Texas Football: 3 freshmen bound to breakout for Horns in second half

Derek Williams Jr., S

Texas had a handful of talented true freshmen step up on defense in the first half of the regular season. True freshman linebacker Anthony Hill Jr., cornerback Malik Muhammad, and safety Derek Williams Jr. were the main trio of first-year players who stepped up on defense for the Longhorns in the first half.

Hill, Muhammad, and Williams each played over 170 defensive snaps in the season’s first six games. That ranks each of them among the top 15 Longhorn defensive players regarding live-game snaps this season.

Williams is on this list, and Muhammad and Hill aren’t because we haven’t truly seen Williams have that breakout game we all know he’s capable of this season. Hill had his coming out party in Texas’ big Week 2 win on the road over the No. 3 Alabama Crimson Tide. Muhammad was also a big-time contributor, taking the second-most cornerback reps for Texas in the first half of the regular season.

As the season progresses, I expect to see more of Williams, especially given the issues Texas had at the safety position in the first half of the regular season. Williams will be a starter for Texas at safety next season, so it makes sense to get him the additional reps in live-game action down the stretch this fall.

Williams was steady in the defensive snaps he got in five games this season. He registered double-digit total tackles, three defensive stops, just one missed tackle, and one pass breakup. Williams has made a few big stops this season and had a key pass breakup on a money down against Baylor in Week 4.

The steady contributions Texas received from Williams in the first half of the regular season combined with the potential he has as a future NFL safety, gives me a lot of hope for what he can do to impact the secondary down the stretch.