Steve Sarkisian Excited About Texas Longhorns' Depth

“I think the beauty for us — defensively, I could almost say we have 15 (or) 16 type starter players. We have a lot of really good defensive players. So, to say, ‘Hey, that's our 11 starters,’ (is) probably not fair,” Sarkisian said in a media availability on Saturday.

He expanded on the strength of the Longhorns’ depth chart and highlighted the multitude of personnel groups that Texas can utilize.

“You know, I look at our safety position,” Sarkisian said. “I see three guys over there that all could be starters — whether it's Derek (Williams Jr.), Jelani (McDonald), or Michael (Taaffe).”

While all three defensive backs played last season, Taaffe posted the highest numbers out of the three. Having started for all 16 games, Taaffe amassed two sacks, two interceptions, a forced fumble and 78 tackles across the season. McDonald, with four starts, accumulated an interception and 33 tackles in his 14-game appearances. 

However, the notable player proves to be Williams Jr., as he makes his return to the field following his season-ending injury, in which he missed 12 games. Prior to the injury, Williams Jr posted a forced fumble, an interception, and 11 tackles, eight of which were solo, across three games. 

“(Further), look at our linebacking core, all four of those guys could be starters,” Sarkisian said.

With linebackers Anthony Hill Jr., Trey Moore, Liona Lefau and Ty’Anthony Smith — between their individual performances last season and the progress made in the offseason confirm the starting position will be ultra competitive.

“So, I think about the two deep that way (and) what that looks like,” Sarkisian said. “I feel very comfortable with the depth on my team, it’s more about, ‘Can we put them in stressful situations, and will they respond?’”

At the end of the day, Sarkisian proves that he isn’t worried about solidifying the starting position roster quite yet, but would rather choose to focus on the Longhorns' quality of depth chart.

“In the end, I'm not so hung up on who the starters are,” Sarkisian said. “I'm more hung up on what is our two-deep look like, because if you're in the two-deep, you're going to play for us, and that's pretty clear.”

While the season opener is slowly closing in, at the end of the day, time still remains for Sarkisian to make decisions on starting roles for week 1. 

With kickoff on Aug. 30 against Ohio State, the Longhorns’ depth chart proves to be strong, and deciding who will start won’t come easy. However, one thing is clear — their two deep will definitely see playing time.