In a defense that is overshadowed by star seniors like defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat, linebacker Jaylan Ford and defensive back Jahdae Barron, it’s easy to forget about the impact of a player like Ryan Watts. The boundary cornerback position is harder to shine in, especially if the interception numbers are low, but Watts’ impact is seen much more through the way the team plays, not through his individual stats.

Watts has battled injury throughout the season, missing two crucial games in the middle of the year against Oklahoma and Houston. In games Watts has played, Texas is 6–0, boasting an average scoreline of roughly 36-12, holding teams to 14 or fewer points in five out of six games. Without Watts, the Longhorns are just 1–1, giving up 29 points per game and looking lost at times on the defensive end.

A team would expect to play slightly worse when their starting cornerback is out, but the Longhorns played their worst two games, by far, without Watts in the lineup. In the six games Watts was active, Texas gave up just under 200 yards of passing per game, which would be one of the 30 best passing defenses in the country. Without, they averaged over 330 passing yards given up per game against Oklahoma and Houston, which would be the worst in the nation. One injury rarely makes that large of an impact on a team’s passing defense, but Watts is essentially the catalyst of the Longhorn passing defense.

But there’s reason to be positive about the pass defense, and Watts, at the moment. Despite his zero interceptions on the season, the team has been creating turnovers. Texas has a positive turnover ratio, and the defense has forced three fumbles and caught nine interceptions, eight of which have come in games where Watts was active.

Watts returned for his first game in three weeks against the BYU Cougars on Saturday, and the defense did not disappoint. A week prior, Houston was able to tear through the secondary on crossing routes and chunk plays, but BYU did not have the same fate against Watts. 

The Texas defense was stout, holding BYU to six points with less than 100 yards passing. Though the team played a lot of zone coverage, when Watts was on Chase Roberts, BYU’s leading receiver heading into the matchup, BYU could not find their favorite target. Roberts was held to under 30 receiving yards on four catches, failing to stretch the field at all apart from an 11 yard completion, his longest on the night. The Cougars only had one pass exceeding 20 yards, a 47-yarder to the game’s leading receiver Darius Lassiter.

Watts won’t be tested as much this coming week against Kansas State, a team that ranks in the bottom five of the Big 12 in passing attempts per game and top five in rushing attempts, but his ability to tackle will still be on display. Though an underrated skill for cornerbacks, it is extremely important for your team’s boundary corner to be able to shed his blocker and “set the edge,” or force the running back into the middle of the field for players like Ford and Barron to make a play. Standing at 6 feet, 5 inches and 213 lbs, Watts is bigger and stronger than most wide receivers, making him one of the best at setting that edge for the defense.

Watts’ unique size and strength lead him to be a valuable asset to the Texas defense, and their performance on the field shows that. With Watts seemingly healthy for the rest of the year, expect a Texas defense that sits right in the middle of the Big 12 to jump higher with their star cornerback back in commission.