Texas Football: 3 2019 National Signing Day takeaways

4 of 5

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – JANUARY 01: Sam Ehlinger #11 of the Texas Longhorns hands the ball to Tre Watson #5 during the first half of the Allstate Sugar Bowl against the Georgia Bulldogs at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 01, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /

2. Running backs still needed

There is nothing but bad news for the running back room for the Texas football program within the past few weeks. Texas lost out on numerous running backs it was pursuing on the recruiting trail to add to the 2019 class and try and make an immediate impact and depth thinned out thanks to the NCAA Transfer Portal.

Moreover, even incoming freshman four-star Buford, GA, running back Derrian Brown was recently hospitalized with an undisclosed illness. While it is good to see Brown reportedly improving his condition, this is a very unfortunate string of events for the Horns running back room. The departure of standout senior running back Tre Watson won’t help anything this off-season.

Ironically, the Horns might have to turn to the transfer portal to find more depth at running back heading into the 2019 regular season to replace what it lost in the same way. The transfer road to the Forty Acres is not a one-way street. Texas landed Watson via the graduate transfer market last off-season, and that might have to be the method to find a solution in 2019.

Texas lost out on the commitments of key running back targets like four-star Deondrick Glass (Oklahoma State), five-star Trey Sanders (Alabama), four-star Noah Cain (Penn State), and five-star Jerrion Ealy (Ole Miss). Offensive coordinator Tim Beck needs to find an answer to this issue at some point heading into the summer months.

Home/Texas Football Recruiting