The Levels Of Texas Defensive Depth: Understanding Longhorn Defensive Rotations

The Longhorn defense played 23 athletes in Columbus and they performed very well, not just in holding Ohio State to 14 points and a decade low yardage output, but also in terms of their assignment soundness and cohesion. Busts weren’t easy to find on the All 22 and guys knew their roles – from narrow to wide.

[Sign up for Inside Texas TODAY for $1 and get the BEST Longhorns coverage!]

That’s a large number to play in a huge opener on the road and it suggests a great deal of trust between the Texas defensive coaching staff and their athletes. While that number is suggestive of the two deep + 1, the reality is that some defenders never left the field while other positions had rotations five or six players deep.

Why?

What determines it and how it could that change over time?

It’s position (and even opponent) driven and also specific to how the Texas defense is built for that week’s game plan. If we’re playing base defense and just flying to the football, there’s more allowance for inexperience. If we’re mixing up combo coverages with changing rules dependent on opponent personnel, the hash, field position, or facing a tricky read-based option run game, inexperienced players can get paralyzed.

This applies even down the series level.

Can’t Take You Off The Field

This designation is not about talent per se.

Colin Simmons is very good, but we can take him off of the field. We just prefer him on it. He’s an edge, with a very narrow set of responsibilities and he has quality backups who can do edge things.

Quality plays a role here, but it’s actually more about uniqueness of skill set, coordination, leadership, the ability to direct others and trust. There’s a positional bias. Some require more communication and have more open-ended responsibilities. A nose tackle inhabits a small world.

Michael Taaffe and Jelani McDonald are the only two Longhorns that truly fit this profile.

Two others Longhorns were close: Anthony Hill and Manny Muhammad.

Those four were the only Texas defenders with 50+ snaps against Ohio State. The two safeties never left the field.

The difference between those two and Taaffe/McDonald is that I don’t mind resting either for a minute.

Could Liona Lefau move towards Taaffe and McDonald territory? Or at least Muhammad/Hill?

Core Starters

Simmons, Hill, Lefau, Burke etc. Experienced good players who know their jobs, may know some other player’s jobs, and play the lion’s share of snaps.

I consider Trey Moore a core starter, even when he doesn’t start.

Every Man A Starter, Better In Aggregate

I don’t care who our starting defensive tackles are every week. It’s about quality snaps against real opponents. We can play five right now (with that number likely expanding as the year plays out). Interestingly, only OU rivals us in credible DT depth.

This is a job share of different body types and play styles who can all offer quality snaps and specialized features against certain opponents.

I have a hunch that Hero Kanu will lead all DTs in snaps, as he’s the most versatile, the most fit, and has a role in both stonewall-the-run game lineups and when the opponent throws it 45 times, but we are going to share the wealth.

Neither Murphy or Sweat played more than 40-45 snaps in games when they were here, so this isn’t a new approach. We just have a less distinct hierarchy of starter/sub and true depth appears to be terrific.

Limited Snaps, But High Trust

We’ll play these guys against anyone.

Freshman Graceson Littleton played 19 snaps against Ohio State, but it’s clear that the coaches have a lot trust in him as he was targeted on 21% of those snaps. He was on a limited pitch count in coverages he was comfortable with. That could expand rapidly.

Think Ty’Anthony Smith, Kobe Black, Zina Umeozulu, Brad Spence, Colton Vasek, Derek Williams (for medical reasons).

We may add some more names to this list over time, like Jordon Johnson-Rubell or Warren Roberson.

The Young Guns

Justus Terry, Kade Phillips, Jonah Williams, Bo Barnes etc.

Big time talents who simply lack game experience. Depending on their level of uptake, these are athletes who will not just play in the next three games in garbage time, but the coaches may throw them out there with an experienced group of starters on the third series to see how they handle live bullets.

Well, not live bullets. But paintball rounds that sting.

If they blow up – likely in a certain package – now the coaches have to figure out how to push them to Limited Snaps, High Trust.

**

The overriding message is Defensive Depth Good and we have it.

So what’s the larger goal?

To move everyone up a category in ability and readiness, without getting so distracted by getting everyone involved that you water down your elite players.

The other goal is to discover difference markers on game day who provide something unique that no one else can. Jonah Williams, maybe? At least if he gets fully healthy.

**

Right now, Texas may have too many quality contributors at some positions for those players to get all the snaps that they deserve. I’d explore packaging some of those players Texas Tech in exchange for cash and mineral rights. Can we do that? I don’t think we can do that.

There’s a natural limit the Horns can reasonably play without losing rhythm or communication, but Texas will continue to push to get as many 25-30 defenders that they trust playing meaningful football.

This is a much better problem to have than when Sark arrived and my worries weren’t whether the #28 player on the defensive roster could play against Oklahoma, but if some of our starters could.