The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Cook, Jamison sign as NFL free agents
04.30.2023 | Football
A total of seven Longhorns have been either drafted or signed as free agents after the draft.
AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Football defensive backs Anthony Cook and D'Shawn Jamison have agreed to sign with NFL teams as undrafted free agents following the conclusion of the 2023 NFL Draft. Additionally, wide receiver Tarique Milton and tight end Jahleel Billingsley were invited to participate in rookie minicamps, with Milton accepting an invite from the New York Giants and Billingsley from the Tennesee Titans. That brings the total to nine Longhorns who have either been drafted, signed or invited to rookie camp. Bijan Robinson, DeMarvion Overshown, Roschon Johnson, Keondre Coburn and Moro Ojomo were selected during the three-day draft.
Cook was a five-year defensive back at Texas and earned honorable mention All-Big 12 accolades in 2022 after appearing in 13 games with 12 starts and establishing career bests with 61 tackles (35 solo), 3.5 tackles for loss and five pass breakups while adding half a sack and one forced fumble. In Texas' victory over Iowa State, he forced a fumble on the Cyclones' final play that was recovered by the Longhorns to clinch the victory.
The Houston native collected honorable mention All-Big 12 honors in 2021 after registering 47 tackles (27 solo) three tackles for loss, one sack, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, one QB hurry and three pass breakups. Cook appeared in all 12 games with eight starts, contributing primarily at STAR. He was a key factor in Texas' victory at TCU, establishing a then career high with eight tackles (six solo) and two tackles for loss, including a strip-sack fumble recovery.
For his career, Cook played in 60 career games with 27 starts. Cook totaled 167 tackles (105 solo), 10 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, 11 pass breakups, three forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. He was twice a member of the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll.
A Houston native, Jamison was a five-year defensive back and return specialist at UT, playing in 60 games and making 40 starts. During his career on the Forty Acres, he registered 139 tackles (109), six tackles for loss, one sack, six interceptions, 17 pass breakups, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries and one blocked punt.
As a return specialist, he returned three kicks for touchdowns in his career (2 kickoff/1 punt), tied for the second-most in school history. Jordan Shipley (1 kickoff/3 punt) is the only Longhorn with more kick return touchdowns all-time. Jamison is also one of only five Longhorns to return both a punt and a kickoff for a touchdown during his career.
Overall, he averaged 26.6 yards per kickoff return, second in program history behind Ramonce Taylor (27.0), and ranks fourth all-time in UT history in career kick returns (54) and kick return yards (1,435), while returning 44 punts for 368 yards for an average of 8.4 yards per return.
In 2022, he appeared in 12 games with nine starts, making 25 tackles (21 solo), two tackles for loss, one sack and seven pass breakups. In the season-opening victory over ULM, he blocked a Warhawk punt on the first drive of the season that Texas returned for a touchdown. Later in the same game, he intercepted a pass and returned it 69 yards for a touchdown, the 14th-longest pick-six in program history. It marked his fourth career non-offensive touchdown (2 KR, 1 PR, 1 INT return), tied for second-most in Texas history.
He set a UT single-season record in 2020 with a 31.7 yards-per-return average on kickoffs, while his 564 kickoff return yards rank as the third-most in a season in school history. Against Kansas State, he set a UT single-game record by averaging 50.0 yards per kickoff return on three attempts for a total of 150 yards (98, 37, 15) to break Fozzy Whittaker's nine-year-old school record (252 yds/6 ret, 42.0 avg). He had previously notched his second career kickoff return for a touchdown with a 100-yard effort in a road win at Oklahoma State, which was the fifth 100-yard touchdown return in school history.
Prior to 2020, Jamison returned a kickoff 98 yards late in the fourth quarter of a 48-13 win over Rice in 2019, and a 90-yard punt return against Kansas State in 2018. He joined Raymond Clayborn, Quan Cosby, Jordan Shipley and Selvin Young as the only Longhorns to achieve both feats. He also showed his return skills against Kansas in 2019, when he recovered a blocked PAT and returned it 90-plus yards for a defensive two-point conversion.
Jamison was recognized three times as the Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week, earned honorable mention as a returner and as the Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Year in 2020 and was a two-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll.
Milton appeared in 12 games for the Longhorns in 2022 and started the regular-season finale against Baylor. On the year, he caught two passes for 40 yards and had a 15-yard rush at Kansas. Prior to arriving last season, Milton played four seasons at Iowa State, appearing in in 44 career games with 14 starts for the Cyclones. He amassed 1,519 receiving yards and seven touchdown catches on 99 receptions (15.3 ypr) in his career at Iowa State.
Billingsley played in four games for the Longhorns, hauling in three passes for 38 yards. The Chicago, Ill. native arrived at Texas from Alabama in the spring of 2022. With the Crimson Tide, he played in 36 games with five starts over three seasons, recording 37 receptions for 559 yards (15.1 ypr) and six touchdowns.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Ready to work 😤@D_JAMISON5 x @49ers pic.twitter.com/m1Td70vPJn
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) April 30, 2023
Signed ✍️ Anthony Cook is KC bound!@_ACook21 x @Chiefs pic.twitter.com/x0dbenA2g0
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) April 30, 2023
Shark5️⃣ heading to the Bay Area 🤘@D_JAMISON5 x @49ers ✍️ pic.twitter.com/lQvw6DXoCb
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) April 30, 2023
