Texas Longhorns Insider Player Feature: Kheeston Randall

It is said that the Texas Longhorns are going to have a strong defense in 2011 and there are many that feel that Kheeston Randall could end up being the best defender on the team this coming season.

Randall comes in as a senior this season and will establish himself as the leader on defense.  He has already been placed on the watch lists for the Lombardi Award, the Outland Trophy and the Nagurski Trophy, which says something about his ability.

He has also been very productive—over his career as he has had 64 total tackles with 37 of those solo while registering three sacks, 16 tackles for a loss, 17 pressures, one forced fumble, five pass break ups and two blocked kicks. 

Some of the honors that he has won since his time at Texas include being named defensive player of the game for the Longhorns' game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers last season. He was also named the Honorable Mention All-Big 12 by the coaches and the Associated Press.

Recently, the Longhorns have had some success in turning out good defensive linemen and it looks like Randall is going to be another one of those popular picks when the 2012 NFL Draft opens up next year. 

The nice thing about Randall is that he can play either defensive tackle or defensive end, which gives Texas the flexibility to move him around on the line, making him effective from several different spots. He is strong, though not as explosive as some might like to see, but he plays gap defense very well and can shed blockers. 

His strength will get him through a lot of tough situations and blockers are going to have a tough time dealing with that. He is able to get to the ball carrier right at the line of scrimmage and take him down fighting through blocks effectively along the way. 

Randall is not going to be the kind of guy that gets to the passer on a consistent basis—he's much better suited to play the run. So this year expect him to be a big time run-stuffing defensive player that makes his living stopping running backs as opposed to quarterbacks. 

Randall will end up being a star for the Longhorns this season and he will improve his draft stock for the upcoming 2012 draft.  Texas is going to need a lot of help from its defense, and if Randall and the rest of the Longhorns defense have a big year, Texas could get back towards the top of the Big 12.

Granted, a lot of other things need to happen for the Longhorns to have success, but their defense can at least help them get back to respectability.