2023 NFL Draft profile: Texas DT Keondre Coburn

Over four seasons as a starter for the Texas Longhorns, defensive tackle Keondre Coburn was a steady presence on the interior of the defensive line and is now set to come off the board in the 2023 NFL Draft.

A Houston Westfield product, Coburn was a significant recruiting coup early in the tenure of former head coach Tom Herman as Texas was able to keep Coburn in the 2018 recruiting class despite a January visit to Miami. The consensus four-star prospect was ranked as the No. 123 player nationally and the No. 11 defensive tackle, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings, and held 30 offers.

The 6’2, 332-pounder played in three games in 2018 to maintain his redshirt and went on to start 45 games over the following four seasons. Coburn had 26 tackles, including 18 solo stops, 4.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, and forced one fumble as a redshirt freshman in 2019 before logging 25 tackles (13 solo), 4.5 tackles for loss, one sack, two pass breakups, and one quarterback hurry while earning All-Big 12 honorable mention in 2020. As a junior, Coburn recorded 15 tackles (nine solo), two tackles for loss, one sack, one quarterback hurry, and collected his first career blocked kick. After deciding to return in 2022, the big defensive tackle was a second-team All-Big 12 selection when he registered 28 tackles (10 solo), three tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, one forced fumble, and two quarterback hurries.

Coburn returned to Texas in 2022 in part to improve his pass-rushing ability and had some success in that area collapsing pockets with his bull rush and is also effective on twists, but the squat defender is at his best as a two-gap player capable of clogging interior rushing lanes thanks to his pure size and solid ability to anchor. However, he was also effective at Texas when he was asked to slant into gaps, highlighting his combination of size, strength, and quickness. A good athlete for his size, Coburn didn’t always emphasize maintaining an ideal weight with the Longhorns, so there’s some untapped upside for him if he can maximize his quickness — Coburn’s current weight is around 15-20 pounds lower than he played at on the Forty Acres and the lightest he’s been since his redshirt freshman season.

ESPN’s mock draft projects Coburn as a fourth-round selection of the New York Giants with the No. 128th pick.