For the second year in a row, Texas football has a linebacker selected in the NFL Draft. The New Orleans Saints picked senior All-Big 12 Texas linebacker Jaylan Ford with the 175th overall pick in the fifth round of the 2024 NFL Draft.

Texas football’s Jaylan Ford the team’s first LB off the board in the 2024 NFL Draft in the fifth round

Who Dat! Jaylan Ford is a Saint 🤘@Jaylanfxrd x @Saints x #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/3vYPnvf7Ti

— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) April 27, 2024

DeMarvion Overshown, Ford’s linebacker for a few years at Texas, was selected by the Dallas Cowboys with the 90th overall choice in the third round of the NFL last year.

Over the past few seasons, Ford has been among the Big 12’s most productive linebackers. Additionally, in 2022, the two-time All-Big 12 linebacker was selected to the Third Team All-American.

Ford was a unique leader for this Texas defense, being the first linebacker in the Big 12 to have more than 100 total tackles, double-digit tackles for loss, and multiple interceptions in each of the previous two seasons.

In the past ten years, Ford is the only linebacker from Texas to achieve consecutive seasons with ten or more combined tackles.

For the Longhorns, the multi-year starter at Mike linebacker performed a variety of duties. Ford led the club in run stops, total tackles, forced fumbles, tackles for loss, and interceptions throughout the previous two seasons.

Since 2022, Ford has been a vital member of the Longhorns’ defense, making huge plays at the end of games as a linebacker. He recorded a pick-six last fall in addition to a number of crucial red zone interceptions in 2022. In a road Big 12 game against a top-25 opponent in 2022, Ford also recovered a game-winning fumble for the Longhorns against the Kansas State Wildcats.

Ford was an excellent captain for this Texas defense because of his capacity to force turnovers, constantly get downhill to block running lanes, and maintain his composure when dropping back in coverage.

Texas has nine players selected in the 2024 NFL Draft

 

Ford was chosen third overall on the defensive end of the ball in the 2024 NFL Draft, making him the eighth player from Texas overall. Two defensive tackles from Texas were chosen in the top 40 picks of this draft: T’Vondre Sweat (38th overall to the Tennessee Titans) and Byron Murphy II (16th overall to the Seattle Seahawks).