Derek Williams Jr. holds the SS · Backup spot in Texas Longhorns’s safety room. Where he sits among the room’s front-line roles:

Derek Williams Jr. is a safety for Texas who hails from New Iberia, Louisiana, where he attended Westgate High School. A four-year defensive back, he has appeared in 29 games with two starts across his Longhorn career. In 2023 as a freshman, he recorded 42 tackles with 24 solo, two tackles for loss, and two pass breakups across 13 games. During the 2024 season, he appeared in six games before suffering a season-ending injury in the Oklahoma contest, where he had accumulated four solo tackles and a forced fumble he recovered. In 2025, Williams appeared in 12 games with two starts, accumulating 23 total tackles including 10 solo tackles, with a season-high eight tackles (five solo) against Vanderbilt.

Texas2023 — present