Texas Football: 3 transfer portal losses that will hurt in 2021

2) Texas football portal losses that will hurt in 2021

Jalen Green, Cornerback

Maybe the most pivotal loss that the Longhorns will undergo this year on the defensive side of the ball among players gone in the portal is the former elite five-star recruit and junior lengthy 6-foot-1 cornerback Jalen Green. Among former Longhorns players that have entered the transfer portal in the last few months, and found a landing spot quickly, Green was the one that played the most last year.

Green was figured to be one of the cornerbacks that would assume a starting role among their top three at the position for the next two years entering last season. He did also get the bulk of the snaps at the cornerback position alongside fellow junior DB D’shawn Jamison. But now that Texas lost both Green and former four-star recruit and sophomore corner Kenyatta Watson II to the portal since the start of last season, this position is looking much thinner now.

Watson II ultimately took his talents back to his home state and landed with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the ACC. And Green wound up landing with head coach Mike Leach and the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the SEC West after he announced earlier this year.

What Green did for the Longhorns over the course of his three years playing for the team provided mixed results. But he did register 47 career combined tackles (35 solo and a dozen assisted), three tackles for loss, no sacks, five pass breakups, and one interception. Last season individually, he played in nine games and racked up 14 combined tackles, two pass breakups, two tackles for loss, and one pick.

This is a sizable loss for the Longhorns, as the new DC Kwiatkowski usually can develop lengthy and physical corners like Green that have so much raw talent in due time.