Longhorns Country

Longhorns LB Jaylan Ford Named Big 12 Preseason Defensive Player Of The Year

Ford enters the year as the favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year.

Cole Thompson

© Aaron E. Martinez / American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK
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Jaylan Ford is ready to take over as the face of Texas football in 2023. And if not for Felix Anudike-Uzomah, Ford could have joined Grant Wistrom in a class of his own among Big 12 icons.

Ford was selected as the Big 12's preseason Defensive Player of the Year entering 2023. The senior linebacker also was named to the Big 12 first-team, along with four other Longhorns.

DeMarvion Overshown served as Texas' vocal leader and captain last season under second-year defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski, but Ford was the one laying down the hammer in the huddle. He led the Longhorns in tackles with 119 stops while posting career-highs in tackles for loss (10), sacks (2), forced fumbles (3), pass breakups (3) and interceptions (4).

Ford was named a first-team Big 12 defender, finishing second in tackles and tied for third in interceptions. There were conversations of Ford potentially leaving for the NFL draft, but a change of heart led him back to Austin for one final year.

“I just wanted to leave on a good note,” Ford said at the start of spring practice. “When I got here, I think everyone – when you got to a school, you dream of winning championships. And I just felt like with this team, what I’m seeing, how we came together and there's so much that we can tap into in one year, I'm just really excited to see what we could do this year.”

Many around the Forty Acres believed Ford should have taken home the defensive hardware last season after his Swiss Army knife production. Anudike-Uzomah, who stayed close to Manhattan as a first-round pick of the Kansas City Cheifs, finished second behind TCU's Dylan Horton with 8.5 sacks but only totaled one more tackle for loss (11.0) than Ford.

Wide receiver Xavier Worthy, tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders, left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr., defensive lineman Byron Murphy, and linebacker Ford all earned preseason selections. Worthy and Ford both earned preseason accolades last July after successful seasons in 2021. Sanders, who finished second in receptions, joined Ford, Overshown, and Doak Walker winner Bijan Robinson on the All-Big 12 first-team last season.

Ford, Worthy, and Sanders should garner buzz entering a spell-binding year for the Longhorns after promising tenures in Austin. Another year alongside quarterback Quinn Ewers should help the 6-1 Worthy build a rapport in the passing game en route to a potential Biletnikoff Award. Sanders excels in all three phases of offense, meaning he could be a finalist for the Mackey Award come December.

Ewers, who won Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, likely received the second-most votes at quarterback behind Kansas phenom Jalon Daniels. Few passers were vital to their program's resurgence in recent memory as Daniels, who led the Jayhawks to a 5-0 start and ranking in the AP Poll for the first time since 2009.

Daniels was also named Big 12 preseason Offensive Player of the Year. In nine games last season, Daniels racked up over 2,500 total yards of offense with 25 touchdowns against four interceptions.

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Cole Thompson
COLE THOMPSON

Cole Thompson is a sports writer and columnist covering the NFL and college sports for SI's Fan Nation. A 2016 graduate from The University of Alabama, follow him on Twitter @MrColeThompson

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