Texas CB Malik Muhammad didn't jump at the idea of discussing what may be his last year in Austin, but the cornerback knows what level he can be at in 2025.
On our fourth and final player interview of the day, Joe Cook simply asked junior cornerback Malik Muhammad: “Is this a contract year for you?”
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Five seconds of silence.
In those five seconds, your mind populates with a million things that this young player could say. Was our finest reporter about to get chewed out by a 21-year-old cornerback?
But when Muhammad calmly collected his thoughts, he answered maturely.
“I don’t want to speak too much about it. I just want to focus on the process right now,” before finishing with: “But I’ve got that in mind.”
It’s never been much of a question how Muhammad would progress through the Texas system. When you take over the starting cornerback spot as a true freshman, especially as a near-five-star recruit, the natural progression of the college football cycle leads you towards the NFL after year three.
But it’s been clear over the last two seasons that the best is yet to come. He struggled late in the season last year, which almost always leads to outside noise, no matter how established a player you are. For Muhammad, that’s just more reason to grow.
“(I’m) way more confident going into my third year,” Muhammad said. “I feel like having my freshman year, where I played a lot, then my sophomore year where I started every game. Then now my junior year, kind of resettling in and getting the feeling back.”
Muhammad has made a conscious effort to improve on what was potentially lacking in his game the past two years: intercepting the football. He’s been on the JUGS machine daily, looking to improve from his singular interception from 2024.
“(I’m trying to) catch as many balls as I can, day by day, in different bases, like the fade ball, catching it coming on a dig, or coming downhill like a comeback or a curl. I would definitely say my confidence has risen,” Muhammad said.
With just 23 days from kickoff at The Shoe in Columbus, Ohio, the cornerback room will soon be focusing all efforts toward stopping one man: Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith. The best receiver in the country, and possibly the best underclassman pass catcher since Julio Jones, is always going to be a tall task in coverage.
But the Longhorns didn’t struggle last year. It wasn’t Smith who burned them in their Cotton Bowl loss, as the freshman had just one catch for three yards on the game. Muhammad was asked about his stats in coverage against Smith and he claims he didn’t remember. We call BS, though he did acknowledge that it’s a group effort with that type of player, and that his main role was shadowing future first-rounder Emeka Egbuka on third downs.
“Of course, I don’t take any opponent lightly. Whether it’s the number one team in the country, the number three team in the country, or it’s an unranked opponent,” Muhammad said about prepping for Smith this year. “I don’t take nobody lightly.”
While we’re sure the prep for a game of this stature is much more intense for the DB room, Muhammad’s words exemplify an identity in this secondary. It’ll be a group effort to stop the receiving corps of the Buckeyes, but Muhammad’s offseason efforts should be one of the biggest factors in the 2025 defense returning to last year’s form.
Category: General Sports
