Texas football's defensive backfield could have hometown Austin feel | Sporting News

The level of elite high school football played in the Austin area has always been solid, if not spectacular. While perennial powerhouses Westlake and Lake Travis have continually cranked out top high school prospects, other programs have tended to wax and wane, leaving the Central Texas hub behind other prospect rich markets like Dallas and Houston (and often nearby San Antonio as well). 

For a school with the drawing power of Texas, that isn’t a major hindrance. Still, as the Longhorns have resurrected national hopes and dreams, that rise has coincided with a new influx of talent from the school’s backyard, with a number of contributors from the Austin area now dotting the team’s roster. 

That critical mass in turn could lend the field a very Austin flavor this fall, with at least one potential defensive backfield formation comprised of three of five members who hail from Texas’ capital city. 

Here’s how that setup might look, as broken down by On3 Sports’ Inside Texas: 

Boundary corner: Malik Muhammad
Boundary safety: Michael Taaffe
Field safety: Andrew Mukuba
Star: Jahdae Barron
Field corner: Gavin Holmes

The three middle contributors in that set up are all Austin natives. Taaffe starred at aforementioned Westlake before joining Texas in a preferred walk-on role (and later playing a key role in the recruitment of quarterback Arch Manning). Jahdae Barron has been one of Texas’ most stalwart leaders since joining from Pflugerville Connally, where he was a standout star on a middling team. And Mukuba is Texas’ most recent Austin (re)addition, transferring back home after three years at Clemson following a standout career at Austin LBJ. 

The trio make for a unique feel for Longhorns, with all members of the trio expected to contribute to Texas’ defense extensively, whether together or separately. For some hometown fans, the ability to integrate that much hometown flavor on a team expected to contend for everything in the year ahead could make the chase all the more exciting and impactful.