5 best Big 12 defensive players against WVU

Malik Jefferson

The biggest defensive threat the Mountaineers will have to watch for this season plays for the Texas Longhorns. The junior is one of the most talked about players in the Big 12 that isn’t named Baker Mayfield.

Coming out of high school, Jefferson was tabbed as the No. 4 player in the country and the top recruit in Texas. He has had a lot of hype and this year, his junior campaign, is the year he will put it all together.

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In Jefferson’s sophomore season, he had made 8.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks and also had three pass breakups, three quarterback hurries and a forced fumble to go with his 62 total tackles.

Last year against West Virginia, he had three total tackles as the WVU football team got by with a 24-10 victory.

According to SI.com, he is the No. 40 player in the country. The website said, “His speed and razor-sharp change of direction should serve him well in a move to outside linebacker this fall, refining a key weapon for a Texas defense whose 3.42 sacks per game were the fifth-most in the nation. This year, with Longhorn fans and NFL scouts alike watching attentively, he will be expected to churn out big plays with regularity.”

If the Longhorns will restore their rightful place in the college football hierarchy, Jefferson will be the centerpiece for the resurgence.