Texas Football: Denzel Okafor makes good move, returns from transfer portal

The NCAA Transfer Portal didn’t hold the name of rising senior Texas football offensive tackle Denzel Okafor for very long.

The experienced depth along the offensive line for the Texas football program during the 2020 offseason looked to really get thin once seniors like Denzel Okafor and JP Urquidez put their names in the NCAA Transfer Portal. Okafor and Urquidez were both either set to challenge for starting spots along the offensive line this offseason, or be key backups in case injury or performance issues persisted.

Last year, the Texas Longhorns football program had a lot of trouble in the trenches for much of the Big 12 slate. That’s why losing any starting or backup offensive linemen to the transfer portal was going to hurt the Longhorns no matter what this offseason.

Moreover, Texas getting the news back that Okafor was going to return to the Forty Acres this year, despite already putting his name in the transfer portal, is so crucial. Okafor is now one of two key Longhorns that put his name in the transfer portal this offseason that will wind up coming back to Texas. The other is to-be junior linebacker Juwan Mitchell.

Linebacker is also a big position of need for the Longhorns this year.

According to a report from Anwar Richardson of Orange Bloods on Twitter, Okafor withdrew his name from the transfer portal after spending about two weeks in it. Head coach Tom Herman and his staff apparently was able to talk Okafor back into staying with Texas.

Okafor has played in 39 career games with the Longhorns, starting in five of them. Of those 39 games played, 13 of them were last season. He contributed mainly on special teams last fall. But most of his starts came during his freshman season, back in 2017 (started four games).

The former four-star offensive guard recruit and Lewisville High School product Okafor that held offers from 16 schools. He ranked as a top 300 2016 high school prospect in the nation, and the No. 12 offensive guard.

Okafor was set to challenge the likes of Tope Imade, Reese Moore, Christian Jones, and Isaiah Hookfin for playing time at the offensive tackle spot opposite of to-be redshirt junior Sam Cosmi. He and Imade will now be two of the most experienced offensive linemen coming back for Texas in 2020.