Texas Football: PFF ranks Devin Duvernay among most efficient slot receivers

One of the biggest voids left on either side of the ball for Texas football this year comes with the loss of stud wide receiver Devin Duvernay.

The individual player that the Texas football program might miss the absolute most this coming season is former star senior wide receiver Devin Duvernay. Losing him and fellow standout wide receiver Collin Johnson could hurt the effectiveness of the Longhorns passing game out of the gates this fall.

This coming season, the Longhorns will be relying on a very different group of wideouts to help rising senior star signal caller Sam Ehlinger in the passing game. That group will include the likes of redshirt freshman Jordan Whittington, sophomore Jake Smith, redshirt sophomore Joshua Moore, and junior Brennan Eagles, among others.

Texas also landed the ex-Michigan Wolverines graduate transfer and rising senior wide receiver Tarik Black a couple of months ago out of the NCAA Transfer Portal. The 6-foot-3 and 215 pound Black should be able to replace some of the production left by the departed Johnson.

And the Longhorns could wind up looking to the transfer portal again for help at wideout this offseason.

However, no matter which way you spin it the lost production of Duvernay is going to be an improbable task to replace. He was one of the most reliable and productive receivers in the entire country last season. He racked up more than 100 catches for nearly 1,400 yards, and 10 touchdowns. Duvernay led the Big 12 in total receiving yards, yards per game, total receptions, and receptions per game, last season.

The effectiveness and prominence on a national scale is something that Pro Football Focus recognized with one very specific stat category recently with a social media post.

Per PFF, Duvernay led the nation in yards per route from the slot last season at 3.0. He was followed up by UNC’s Dazz Newsome, Washington State’s Brandon Arconado, and LSU’s Justin Jefferson. That truly shows the value that Duvernay brought to the table for the Texas offense last season.

Duvernay was picked up by the Baltimore Ravens in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft. Johnson was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the fifth round of the 2020 draft. Texas will have to find a way to replace the production and threat of those two in some regard this fall, and it won’t be easy.