The Jaylon Guilbeau Conundrum

Almost universally in college football, when a team returns a defensive starter, it is seen as a reason for confidence for that player’s unit going forward. Barring a player who was just terrible or one that was thrust into the lineup because of downfalls throughout the team, this player should be a key piece for the roster.

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Texas has a lot of these in 2025: Michael Taaffe, Anthony Hill, Malik Muhammad, etc. More specifically, they have three players who played significantly in 2024 who are now entering their senior seasons in 2025—Ethan Burke, Trey Moore, and the title’s namesake, Jaylon Guilbeau.

Guilbeau and Moore share a similar path this offseason, being tasked with changing positions. In Moore’s case, Texas was so talented at edge rusher that they saw him as a better fit at off-ball linebacker, the spot he would likely be playing in the pros anyway.

That situation is a bit different for Guilbeau. Texas has moved nickels outside as recently as last season with Jahdae Barron, but it wasn’t because Texas was so good at STAR that they just wanted to get their best five players on the field. Texas is moving Guilbeau outside, but doesn’t truly have an answer after him at STAR.

Directly looking at Guilbeau as a player, there is reason to be confident in him as a boundary corner. He was recruited there as a top-150 player in the class of 2022. Though it was in the slot, he started three of Texas’ first four games as a freshman but missed the latter half of the season with a torn ACL. In 2024, he was good—not great—in coverage at the nickel, but will now be over two years removed from that tear. He’s running at NFL-level speed.

“It’s been going smoothly. Just getting in the rhythm of playing corner and getting my traits back,” Guilbeau said about moving outside. “I feel like corner is easier than nickel. Corner, you’ve got a better advantage because you can use the sideline.”

But even with a pretty major shift in identity for Guilbeau, it’s been mostly quiet on the reporting front. Defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski endorsed him as an emerging leader of the defense, but mostly just named names when asked about how the cornerback depth chart looks.

Guilbeau exemplifies one of the biggest questions that comes with this Texas secondary in 2025: who’s going to go get the football?

As our own Ian Boyd put on our boards yesterday: “It’s like the opposite of last year when I was excited all offseason by how many guys they had that were likely to crack the starting lineup who were proven players in coverage. This year they have a ton of dudes who are rangy in zone and will hit you, which is okay but frankly inferior.”

Despite some confidence in his move outside, Guilbeau has never recorded an interception and hasn’t been tasked with covering elite receivers on the boundary. Muhammad and safeties Jelani McDonald and Derek Williams have just three combined in their careers. These five, alongside Taaffe, are Texas’ best five to throw out at any given point, but Taaffe is the only ball hawk of the group.

That brings the discussion back to the STAR position because, at the moment, it’s anyone’s guess who plays it. There were reports of Taaffe getting reps, but that didn’t happen yesterday. McDonald seemed like a great candidate this offseason, but he’s only taking reps at safety. That leaves first and second-year Graceson Littleton and Wardell Mack on their own in the room.

While both are talented, Texas is going to begin turning most of its focus to the Ohio State game soon. Do you really want a duo with a combined 25 career snaps lining up against Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate?

At least for the first week of the season, the best answer may be to return Guilbeau to where he played in 2024, at that STAR position, and hope to lean on the likes of Kobe Black and Warren Roberson on the outside. Again, though, those players are rocking under 140 career defensive snaps.

Even with PFF naming Texas as the best secondary in the nation for 2025, it feels like there’s a huge question mark that all centers around the usage of Guilbeau. Put him in the slot and you potentially put Smith one-on-one with an inexperienced boundary corner. Push him outside and the nickel is a brand-new player to big moments.

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What we can feel strong about is that Guilbeau should be a good player for Texas—one that is healthier than ever and one of the most experienced on the back end. Ohio State would love to be able to run him opposite DeAndre Moore Jr. for this upcoming game. But his transformation does pose a big question for what Texas will look like come Week One. Football can’t come any quicker.