Texas Football: Jake Smith shocks Longhorns, enters transfer portal

News that likely shocked most Texas football fans arrived on the afternoon of June 22. Rising junior Texas wide receiver and former highly-touted four-star recruit Jake Smith now intends to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal, per multiple sources including 247Sports. This might be the biggest loss to the transfer portal yet for Texas.

And this could very well be considered one of the most detrimental transfer losses for the Longhorns since the portal first took hold of the college football landscape a few years back. Smith is clearly a sizable loss for this receiving corps and one that new head coach Steve Sarkisian will have to figure out in the near future.

Smith missed pretty much all of spring camp due to a broken foot. And he looked likely to return at or near full strength for the Longhorns during summer workouts. Getting him back in full-contact drills by the start of fall camp looked to be a notable goal for Texas and this strength and conditioning staff in the months ahead.

What’s next for Texas football and WR Jake Smith?

And while Smith entering the transfer portal surely isn’t good news for Texas, it doesn’t guarantee that he’s set to leave the Forty Acres for good. Some players will test the transfer market and return to their original school if nothing else appeals to them.

Texas is losing the wideout that was one of their most proven and productive returning to Austin this year. Smith registered 48 catches for 568 receiving yards (11.8 yards per catch) and nine receiving touchdowns in the past two seasons for the Longhorns.

Now there could be more pressure on the likes of younger and more unproven wideouts, along with former five-star recruit and redshirt sophomore Jordan Whittington, to fill this depth left behind by Smith. Whittington and Smith were already set to duke it out for starting reps in the slot this fall. But given Whittington’s spotty injury history, this lack of depth in the slot could now be concerning.

Texas looked to be about done hitting the transfer portal to fill depth needs this offseason as the Sark coaching regime took hold on the Forty Acres. But this might open the door up to turn to the portal once again for help.

The latest transfer portal addition for the Longhorns came in the form of the former Alabama Crimson Tide sophomore running back Keilan Robinson. The movement in the portal is not done for the Longhorns after losing Smith on June 22.