Texas faces off against Michigan in just a few days and there are a number of questions around the Longhorns. The main one floating around is how will the Longhorns defense perform without multiple impact players, like Anthony Hill Jr. and Michael Taaffe. For now, we will focus on Taaffe’s absence and the opening it provides for the young secondary players for Texas.
Michael Taaffe, Malik Muhammad and Jaylon Guilbeau have officially announced they are off to the NFL, not to mention Derek Williams Jr. and Santana Wilson opting to enter the portal. That leaves a Longhorn DB room that is composed of Jelani McDonald, and tons of young, yet talented, players. Multiple of them will be thrust into major positions, and likely need to respond strongly if they want to keep their position heading into 2026.
Now, despite the secondary being a young unit, it is not one that entirely lacks experience. Xavier Filsaime is still young, but has played all season and is slowly improving at safety. At cornerback, Graceson Littleton has been one of the best freshman DBs in the country and Kade Phillips has come on incredibly strong over the last month of the season.
On top of that, Kobe Black has begun to play his best football late in the season as he’s gotten more reps. The most intriguing name to watch in the CB room could be Wardell Mack. Mack has been reported to have some interest in entering the portal, but Wednesday could subside some of those worries depending on his usage.
Now, there are a number of players that are both young and inexperienced that will have their number called on Wednesday. Jonah Williams might be the most important of, not only this group, but the entire DB room heading into this game. With baseball season on the horizon, Williams won’t get as much time with Will Muschamp as the other DBs, which means he needs to make these reps in front of his future coach count.
McDonald, Filsaime, Black, Littleton, Phillips, Mack and Williams are likely the main rotational pieces to watch. That being said, this is a massive chance for guys like Zelus Hicks, Warren Roberson, Jordon-Johnson Rubell and more young DBs that could get reps in this game. One way or another, the secondary will be something to watch closely, particularly for the young DBs.
It’s known the Longhorns will be aggressive in the portal. It seems the secondary will be a focus, but Wednesday could turn the “need” into a “want” very quickly. If we get a strong performance from the young DBs, it could be the Longhorns are looking for depth rather than true starters.
This article originally appeared on Longhorns Wire: Young Longhorns secondary takes centerstage vs Michigan in Citrus Bowl
Reporting by Tommy Bresee, Longhorns Wire / Longhorns Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
