Texas Football: Transfer CB Kenyatta Watson II trending to GA Tech

Texas football might lose another valuable piece of the secondary this year, with RS FR corner trending to Georgia Tech in the portal right now.

Definitely the most significant name out of the Texas football program to hit the NCAA Transfer Portal, that put their name in during the 2020 regular season, is the 6-foot-1 and 185 pound redshirt freshman cornerback Kenyatta Watson II. At a big position of need for Texas (in the defensive backfield), losing Watson II definitely hurts.

Recently hired defensive coordinator/safeties coach Chris Ash and cornerbacks coach Jay Valai are going to feel the impact of losing the secondary depth if Watson II winds up leaving the Forty Acres after putting his name in the transfer portal. And it’s starting to look more and more like Watson II will wind up leaving the Longhorns in the near future.

There are a multitude of schools that are reportedly (247Sports paid content) interested in Watson II out of the portal, including the likes of the Mississippi State Bulldogs, Georgia Bulldogs, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, and Tennessee Volunteers. All four of those SEC and ACC programs had originally offered Watson II as a recruit coming out of high school back during the 2019 recruiting cycle.

But it does appear that the program that holds the lead in pursuit of getting Watson II out of the transfer portal is Georgia Tech. The 247Sports Crystal Ball Predictions have all three experts picking Watson II to commit to Georgia Tech out of the portal.

Another program to watch in pursuit of Watson II out of the portal is Mississippi State. Former Texas Tech and Washington State head coach Mike Leach has some connections on his coaching staff back to Watson II. When the Longhorns were originally pursuing Watson II out of Grayson High School in Loganville, GA, the main recruiter on staff was former cornerbacks coach Jason Washington.

Now that Washington is on staff with Mississippi State in that same role, the connection back to Watson II is definitely something to watch.

However, Georgia Tech has that relevance to Watson II in his home state. Both Georgia and Georgia Tech are programs to watch in that regard that seem to have a good amount of traction pursuing him.

Coming out of high school during the 2019 recruiting cycle, Watson II ranked as the nation’s No. 131 high school prospect, No. 16 cornerback, and No. 16 prospect out of Georgia (247Sports Composite). He held offers from well over 40 schools, including a number of blue bloods that appear to be still pursuing him out of the portal this year.

During his bits and piece of two years playing for Texas, Watson II got action in four games. He registered six total tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss, and one pass deflection. Watson II really didn’t get as much playing time as he likely should’ve with various cornerbacks struggling for the Longhorns in the past two years.

Texas now holds a record of 2-2 (1-2 Big 12) on the season after falling short in the Red River Rivalry game last weekend to the Oklahoma Sooners in four overtimes, by the final score of 53-45. There is a lot of turmoil in the Texas program right now with a lot of pressure falling back on fourth-year head coach Tom Herman.