Texas Football: 3 NCAA Transfer Portal ILB Longhorns targets

A second edition of linebacker options for the Texas football program in the NCAA Transfer Portal this offseason turns inside.

Following up the outside linebacker targets in the NCAA Transfer Portal that could be good for the Texas football program to pursue during the 2020 offseason, inside linebacker is important to scout too. Texas has a need to shore up the depth at linebacker at all three spots for recently hired defensive coordinator Chris Ash.

There were two key names among Texas linebackers that were in the transfer portal at some point during the offseason. The name that is still in the transfer portal that should be considered a noteworthy loss is the former JUCO transfer and Murrieta, CA, native Caleb Johnson. Soon after he put his name in the transfer portal, Johnson landed with the UCLA Bruins.

The other Texas linebacker that put his name in the transfer portal, but ultimately came back to the Forty Acres, was a fellow former three-star recruit and JUCO transfer Juwan Mitchell. Last season, Mitchell was a more proven commodity for the Texas defense than Johnson.

However, Texas still is pretty young and unproven in the linebacking corps. Beyond rising star junior outside linebacker Joseph Ossai, there’s not much to boast at this level of the defense. Bringing in a new voice as the defensive coordinator could make the development of these linebackers even more difficult this fall.

And there’s some underrated linebackers in the transfer portal this offseason that aren’t getting as much attention as they could be if the depth was thinner among those that are uncommitted. But the transfer portal is increasingly becoming the free agency of college sports.

Here’s a look into the definitive 2020 NCAA Transfer Portal Big Board for the Texas Longhorns football program at inside linebacker during the offseason.