Texas Football: Senior OL JP Urquidez transfers to Texas State

A player that was anticipated to not come back to the Texas football program this year just announced his official transfer to Texas State.

One of the biggest names out of the Texas football program to put their name in the NCAA Transfer Portal earlier this offseason came from rising senior offensive tackle JP Urquidez. Both Urquidez and fellow rising senior Texas offensive lineman Denzel Okafor looked to potentially hurt the depth in the trenches by putting their names in the transfer portal this offseason.

But the Texas Longhorns football program would be getting Okafor back on the Forty Acres, while Urquidez would announce his official intentions to leave on April 26. Urquidez will now be taking his talents to join up with former West Virginia Mountaineers offensive coordinator Jake Spavital and the Texas State Bobcats in San Marcos.

Urquidez announced his transfer to link up with the head coach Spavital and Texas State over the weekend on his Twitter timeline.

This Copperas Cove High School product and Texas native was a former four-star recruit that signed with the Longhorns back during the 2016 cycle. The 6-foot-6 and 305 pound Urquidez ranked as the nation’s No. 236 2016 high school prospect, No. 22 offensive tackle, and No. 36 prospect out of Texas.

Urquidez played in 15 games in his four year playing career with Texas. His college debut came back in 2017, when the Longhorns upended the San Jose State Spartans in a non-conference regular season game. He did play in 13 games last season, with a lot of his contributions coming on special teams.

This coming season, Urquidez looked to challenge for a starting spot at offensive tackle, but wasn’t guaranteed to nab one. He should have a more direct path to immediate playing time and a starting role in San Marcos.

The only other former Longhorn that was an offensive lineman that put his name in the transfer portal entering, or during, the 2020 offseason was former four-star 2019 signee and the sizable 6-foot-6 and 360 pound tackle Javonne Shepherd. But Shepherd will be taking his talents to the JUCO ranks next season.