In defense of the secondary and the real concern for Texas’ 2024 season
Of course this is my opinion and given it is contrary to many others I’ll need to come with a strong defense.
If you’re inclined to use the Spring game as a reference, you’re certainly going to be worried about the Texas secondary this season.
A much better but still flawed example would be a real game, like the Sugar Bowl in which a bunch of early Washington Husky NFL Draft picks gave the Texas secondary plenty of trouble.
I actually don’t think that example is all that useful, though a ‘facts in evidence’ argument can be made.
Mothballed Narratives
In Steve Sarkisian‘s short time at Texas we’ve seen numerous scapegoats on the coaching staff.
In Year 1, defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski took on most of the context-free blame. In Year 2, Sark himself shouldered blame despite the program improving. That blame was centered more around him as an OC than program manager. Most agreed he was on the right path as a head coach, but did he forget how to call an offense?! Can he be both head coach and OC?
We’ve seen scapegoating when it comes to recruiting. First, linebackers coach Jeff Choate couldn’t recruit until he landed a stellar 2023 class.
Then it was Chris Jackson who got off to a slow start in 2024 but ultimately landed the elite Ryan Wingo and is now in position to sign the top group in the country for 2025.
Now it’s Terry Joseph and Blake Gideon‘s turn at the fan blame game. Funny enough, Joseph’s recruiting chops have been called into question in the past as well. Based on… well, I’m not quite sure. Being patient I guess.
When it comes to Gideon, he might have inherited the most talent-free room upon this staff’s arrival. What if he had the equivalent of the talent Bo Davis inherited?
The point of bringing these examples up is to remind people how often fan narratives blow up directly in their face.
A Quick Look at 2023
Now, I’m not trying to absolve coaches of fair blame based on tape we’ve seen. There were issues in pass defense last year that almost cost Texas a game or two. But if we look at the most common offenders in the secondary last season, all of them have departed.
Jerrin Thompson‘s lack of speed caught up with him in ways it hadn’t in 2023. Kitan Crawford was the perennial ‘light bulb’ player the switch would never come on for. Terrance Brooks was good at times (actually really good at times) but was too inconsistent.
If Texas is improved at these three positions then the secondary should automatically improve. Texas will assuredly be better at safety and likely at corner, though we need to hear about Gavin Holmes and Jay’Vion Cole in August to know for sure. We do know Holmes had the better spring than Brooks.
Football IQ is incredibly important in the secondary, especially if you keep as many coverages in the tool kit as PK and Joseph do. Fans always underrate this aspect, to include communication, because it isn’t sexy. That’s odd because not busting assignments in the secondary is job No. 1.
That’s why the 2023 secondary was the best one of the PK era — they didn’t bust all that much.
Reasons for optimism
The 2024 secondary has more NFL talent in it than at any other time during Joseph and Gideon’s tenure.
Malik Muhammad will get drafted early. I compare him to former Huskies cornerback Byron Murphy who was drafted in the 2nd round.
Derek Williams has about as much upside as you can find at the position.
Transfer Andrew Mukuba has already been mocked relatively early for the 2025 NFL Draft. We know he has coverage skills for safety.
Jahdae Barron is a high IQ, versatile rock in the secondary who will be drafted.
That’s four starters you can feel confident will be drafted but there’s plenty of other talent in the secondary.
Michael Taaffe is exceptional at job No. 1, to include communication, and is a good tackler. Holmes has quality cover traits. Cole is a plus athlete with demonstrated comfort in zone coverages. Jaylon Guilbeau just had his best bloc of practices in his time at Texas. Jelani McDonald is still learning but has the size, athletic profile, and football character to come on quickly this August and early in the season.
Then there’s this
Remember how PK can’t recruit? Well, that might still be true but does it matter? He has by far his best group of edges who not only can stop the run, but most importantly for this topic, can get after the passer. It’s a boon for the defense that we no longer contemplate using Anthony Hill off the edge.
A pass rush is the secondary’s best friend and vice versa. This should be the year for that virtuous defensive circle.
The real concern
The real concern for the defense in 2024 is marrying the three levels of the defense together. The task is made a bit more difficult by the likely need to involve safeties in run support much more often than in 2023.
This is somewhat tangential to concerns in the secondary but it’s more of a defensive coordinator question than passing game coordinator question.
It’ll be incumbent on PK and Joseph to design a defense in which all 11 players on the field are on the same page. The issue could be compounded by the amount of rotation the coaches utilize. That could be another concern.
But, if you’re worried opposing offenses are simply going to beat Texas through the passing game because of issues we saw last year, I can’t agree with that based on the stark differences between this secondary and the previous one.
The post In defense of the secondary and the real concern for Texas’ 2024 season appeared first on On3.
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