Longhorns DB Kitan Crawford's 'Confidence Growing' Says Jerrin Thompson

In the first season under coach Steve Sarkisian, the Texas Longhorns left a lot to be desired on defense.

Missed tackles, poor angles and a plethora of factors led to the Longhorns allowing opponents to score 31.1 points per game on 426.4 yards of total offense. 

Fast forward to the end of Sarkisian's second season, though, and the defense made noticeable improvements across the board - holding opponents to just 21.6 points per game on 368.4 yards of total offense.

Now, as they enter year three, the Longhorns look to take yet another step forward. Doing so won't be easy of course, but safety Jerrin Thompson has high hopes that they can, especially due to the depth they've build up on defense. 

"I feel like, especially in the secondary, we have grown tremendously with depth," Thompson said. "Even like with Kitan Crawford, he's come a long way. We just have so much depth in the secondary.

"The whole defense in general, we're all just locked in. We understand our assignments, and we're really getting after it and having fun out there."

While lauding the depth in the Longhorns secondary, Thompson mentioned a name that has received plenty of attention this offseason in Crawford, joining Sarkisian and others in praising the senior defensive back.

"He's just being instinctual. At safety that's one of the big things that you have to do," Thompson said. "He's coming from corner, which is a lot of technique, to safety which is a lot of instincts and communication. He's grown his confidence and has a better feel for what he has to do now."

Crawford's development, as well as additions of defensive backs like Jalen Catalon and Gavin Holmes via the the transfer portal, will go a long way in helping the Longhorns take that next step this season.

For a defense that was already one of the more improved units in college football, this will make life that much more difficult for opponents. 

You can find Connor Zimmerlee on Twitter @Connorjz98

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