4-star Texas S commit Tyler Owens aiming to uphold Longhorns’ legacy as ‘DBU’

Landing quality defensive backs that can continue to uphold the University of Texas’ claim as “DBU” is a trend we’ve seen time and time again throughout the early portion of the Tom Herman era. After piecing together an incredibly loaded recruiting class last year and signing arguably the best secondary group in the country, which featured six All-Americans, the Longhorns are looking to capitalize off that recruiting performance and continue to sign similar elite talent this year.

The 2019 cycle has been good to the Texas program thus far, as they have the No. 8 nationally ranked recruiting class, according to 247Sports Composite, and once again, numerous four-star defensive backs are bound for the Forty Acres. One of those key verbal commitments came early last week from a prospect that has one of the highest ceilings of any recruit in the state, safety Tyler Owens.

The four-star Plano East star has what it takes to be a daunting presence on defense.

Owens has the versatility to play any position on the backend of the defense and has the frame to potentially grow into an outside linebacker. He possesses striking speed and has that headhunter mentality when recognizing where the play is going.

Something else that stands out about Owens game is that he’s able to move in space exceptionally well, while reading the quarterbacks eyes. Quarterbacks at the high school level are intimidated by Owens presence and shy away from throwing the ball his way because of the amount of ground he covers in a hurry.

Owens chose Texas over schools such as Baylor, Houston, Missouri, Nebraska, and UCLA. After the Longhorns put an offer on the table in late July, Owens had a strong feeling that Austin was the place to be.

“I just didn’t want to miss out on a great opportunity to be a part of Texas and their long line of great defensive backs,” Owens told Burnt Orange Nation.

There were a multitude of reasons why Owens chose to further his education and football career at Texas, but the way the coaching staff runs the entire program is what really stood out to him.

“The coaches, they’re not all about football” Owens said. “It’s like a family. They work on creating a great bond with their players.”

The Texas coaching staff is looking forward to Owens playing at safety or the joker position once he touches the field. Although Texas brought in a heavy defensive back class during last year’s recruiting cycle, Owens can still see himself competing and playing with a loaded secondary.

“I definitely can see myself getting in that mix,” Owens said. “Coach [Craig] Naivar was explaining to me how all of the guys in the secondary rotate and how they have six defensive backs on the field at times. It’s real smooth how they all work in.”

Owens has several attributes that can’t be taught, but he still feels there’s a good amount of learning he has to do to take his game to the next level.

“Just working on being more of a ball hawk,” Owens said. “I’m working on that as you can see, but definitely being more of a shutdown defensive back.”

When asked what he was looking forward to the most upon his arrival to Texas, Owens had this to say, “Just the environment. Winning with cool great people.”

Owens has moved up in the rankings recently, as he is now ranked as the nation’s No. 296 prospect, and as the No. 38 player in the state, per the 247Sports Composite.