Rutgers OG Grad Transfer Jonah Jackson joining Texas football?

There’s an opening at offensive line spots for Texas football to fill through the transfer market this off-season, like former Rutgers G Jonah Jackson.

The graduate transfer market heats up the first few months of the off-season and the rumor mill really starts churning when the calendar turns to February. This also presents a period of time for the Texas football program to definitively add to positions of need that it wasn’t able to address on the recruiting trail.

Among those positions of need for Texas football during the 2019 off-season are offensive linemen, running backs, and potentially linebackers. Texas football does have a sizable amount of depth at linebacker for the 2019 season, there’s a lot of turnover at the position too. But, running back and offensive line are needs that must be addressed either way.

Unless something big changes within the next week or so before National Signing Day, Feb. 6, Texas football might have to turn to the transfer market to add any running backs and/or offensive linemen it wants to. Transfers is another thing that plagued the running back room for the Texas Longhorns of late.

The losses for Texas football of former starters along the offensive line are the most severe of any position on the roster this off-season. Just a few of the senior offensive linemen that are set to depart Texas football this year includes offensive tackle Calvin Anderson, guard Patrick Vahe, and versatile guard/center Elijah Rodriguez.

To replace those departing senior offensive linemen, Texas football has a host of transfer candidates it can turn to. The first name of the bunch that stuck out, and still does, is the former Virginia Cavaliers offensive guard R.J. Proctor. In his time with Virginia, Proctor got tons of starting experience and is ready to compete at the Power Five level at his next destination.

However, another name that emerged on the graduate transfer market for Texas football is the former Rutgers Scarlet Knights offensive guard Jonah Jackson. At Rutgers, Jackson was a versatile piece to the offensive line that was able to fill in at numerous spots. Jackson can really play anywhere on the interior and excel in the process. He could have a similar presence for the Horns offensive line like Rodriguez did this past season.

Moreover, what would make it so difficult for the Horns to turn to one of the many transfer prospects in the NCAA Transfer Portal that have some years of eligibility left is the need for an immediate impact lineman. It’s an ideal situation for the Horns to land a transfer candidate that has two or more years of eligibility left, but that player would likely have to sit out the 2019 campaign. That is still the necessary evil to the abundance of transfer prospects in the portal this off-season.

Reports do indicate that Jackson has some interest in joining up with Texas football this off-season after departing Rutgers. But, he is a big time transfer prospect that also has interest coming from schools like the Ohio State Buckeyes and rival Oklahoma Sooners.

According to NJ.com, there were multiple reasons why Jackson left Rutgers despite holding a significant role there. Among those were branching out and getting his masters degree elsewhere, finding a new destination to compete for one more year, and “seeing what other schools have to offer”.

In terms of the type of programs Jackson is choosing to pursue this off-season, the Texas Longhorns seem to fall in line pretty well. Schools like Ohio State and Oklahoma hold a similar athletic backing and education pedigree, if not better academically than those two per US News & World Report.