Texas Football: LB room gets stronger with addition of Devin Richardson

Somewhat of an unexpected addition for new head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Texas football program arrived out of the NCAA Transfer Portal over the weekend. In a big weekend that seemed like it could provide a spark more so on the recruiting trail for Texas than out of the transfer portal delivered benefits in both senses in the past 48 hours. Texas took part in their annual Orange-White Game on the afternoon of April 24.

And it was the first time that the Longhorns took to the field at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium for some form of game action since last November. It was also the first time that the Longhorns faithful saw a Sark-led team out on the field at DKR this year.

With all that was going on for Sark and the Longhorns in this wake of a new era of the football program, it’s easy to see why there was a spark both on the recruiting trail and out of the transfer portal this weekend.

It all started with the Longhorns getting a commitment retroactively added to their 2021 class in the former of the former Michigan Wolverines elite four-star Central East wide receiver signee Xavier Worthy on April 24.

The addition that the Longhorns did get out of the portal this weekend came thanks to the commitment of the former New Mexico State Aggies redshirt sophomore linebacker Devin Richardson. As Texas has stayed busy targeting linebackers out of the portal this offseason, Richardson could be part of a trio of additions to the program with this position group in a span of fewer than five months.

The announcement that Richardson would be committing to the Longhorns out of the portal came via his Twitter timeline on the late morning of April 25. He committed to Texas just one day after the spring football game.

What the addition of Devin Richardson means for Texas football?

Former underrated three-star recruit and the 6-foot-3 and 240 pound Spring, TX, native linebacker Richardson is a solid and underrated get for co-defensive coordinators Pete Kwiatkowski and Jeff Choate. Texas now has a solid group of transfer portal additions that add depth at the linebacker position this year between the former LSU Tigers senior Ray Thornton, and potentially the former Alabama Crimson Tide five-star recruit and senior Ben Davis.

Texas lost the likes of junior linebackers Ayodele Adeoye and Juwan Mitchell to the transfer portal earlier this offseason. Mitchell was the team’s leading tackler returning in 2021, and Adeoye had flashes of brilliance over the course of the last three years. Losing those two was big for the Longhorns.

But getting more depth back now in the form of Richardson helps out a lot. That is especially true since Texas also had significant losses along the front seven to the NFL Draft such as former star junior outside linebacker/edge rusher Joseph Ossai and senior defensive end Ta’Quon Graham.

Texas was not one of the just four programs that offered Richardson coming out of Klein High School in Spring, TX. The four schools that were on his offer sheet were the New Mexico Lobos, New Mexico State, Utah Utes, and FCS Southern Jaguars.

Moreover, back during the 2018 recruiting cycle, Richardson ranked as the nation’s No. 1,631 high school prospect, No.109 outside linebacker, and No. 234 prospect out of Texas (247Sports Composite). And the Top247 ranked him as the No. 146 outside linebacker and No. 297 prospect out of Texas.

Richardson was a significant contributor to the Aggies front seven in the last three seasons. In what was just a dozen games played over the course of the last three years, Richardson registered an impressive 78 combined tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks, one pass breakup, three forced fumbles, and no fumble recoveries.

The best individual season for Richardson came back during his redshirt freshman campaign in 2019. That season he registered 69 combined tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks, one pass breakup, and three forced fumbles. Richardson only played in one game last season since New Mexico State didn’t have a full campaign in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Texas finished up last season with a record of 7-3 (5-3 Big 12) under the direction of former fourth-year head coach Tom Herman. Back on Jan. 2, Sark replaced Herman as the next Texas head coach.