When a team loses its five most explosive offensive weapons, panic ensues. Instead of worrying, the Texas Longhorns displayed their muscle in the transfer window after the 2023 season. In Steve Sarkisian’s third year on the job, the Longhorns went 12-2, winning the Big 12 and making the College Football Playoff.
They also produced three receivers who should be drafted, the top running back in the draft, and a tight end who will be drafted rather high. While they have young players ready and waiting, Sarkisian turned to the portal to gain more experience, which has Josh Pate claiming they are “rolling.”
On a recent episode of Late Kick, Pate praised the Longhorns’ ability to acquire great talent in the portal to compensate for the departures of Xavier Worthy, Adoni Mitchell, Jordan Whittington, and Ja’Tavion Sanders.
“Texas is rolling,” Pate stated. “When it comes to talent acquisition, Texas is on a roll. Six of the eight children emerged as blue-chippers via the portal. They recruited three wide receivers, which was critical. AD Mitchell and Xavier Worthy are gone, and they’ve signed three receivers who will make an immediate impact. He went on to say that one particular transfer stood out to him: Alabama’s leading receiver, Isaiah Bond.
“I’m really excited to see what Isaiah Bond is in that offense,” Pate said. “They also signed [Amari] Niblack, a tight end from Alabama, and they backfilled their pass catchers extremely effectively. Now, they have to play out…and as we have seen, portal acquisitions do not have the same strike rate as traditional recruiting for obvious reasons, but Texas has done an excellent job with this.
” In addition to adding four veteran pass catchers, quarterback Quinn Ewers will return for a third season. He made a significant improvement from year one to year two, and with another group of great weapons, Ewers has the potential to emerge as one of the country’s best signal callers.