HOUSTON - The Texas Longhorns are facing some legitimate questions about their secondary heading into the 2024 season.
Not only did the Longhorns lose their top corner Ryan Watts to the NFL, but they also lost key members of last year's unit such as starting corner Terrance Brooks, safeties Jerrin Thompson, Jalen Catalon, BJ Allen and Kitan Crawford, and reserve corners Austin Jordan and Xavion Brice.
In fact, even with the incoming addition of transfer safety Andrew Mukuba and a host of talented recruits, at least from an outsider's perspective, the Longhorns look to be a bit short-handed in terms of experience on the back end.
That said, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian is not pressing the panic button.
"We're going to be just fine in the secondary," Sarkisian said at the Houston Touchdown Club on Wednesday. "I think we've got a lot of versatility back there."
When you take a closer look, he is absolutely right.
As it stands right now, the Longhorns are returning one of the more exciting young talents on the roster regardless of position in boundary cornerback Malik Muhammad, who will be flanked on the field side by veteran Gavin Holmes.
Meanwhile, arguably the Longhorns' best defensive player - Jahdae Barron - returns to occupy his position at nickel or SPUR in combination with Jaylon Guilbeau, who is coming off of a tremendous spring of his own. Not to mention, both players are capable of playing multiple positions in the secondary.
Combine that with the returning safety talent in Derek Williams, Michael Taffe, Jelani McDonald, and Mukuba, and incoming freshmen like safety Xavier Filsaime, and corners Kobie Black, Warren Roberson, and Santa Wilson, and the Horns are as deep as they have ever been in terms of talent.
And Sarkisian believes that to be the case as well.
"Our defensive backfield is probably the most versatile as we've had in my time here and probably the most talented defensive backfield that we've had in our time here," Sarkisian said.
Of course, that doesn't mean that the Longhorns will not make any additions to the secondary or the roster in general either.
They are just going to be deliberate in their approach, and be sure to avoid any unnecessary risks when bringing in new talent.
"We're at a point right now where we don't have to take a whole lot of risks because we are at a deep roster," Sarkisian said. "We’re not hung up on what position a guy may play, it’s do we think they can help us on the football field and enhance our culture.”
More must-reads: