Texas Football: 5 WR targets in transfer portal to replace Jake Smith

The bad news that arrived for the Texas football program on June 22 was mostly detrimental to one position group. Texas and new head coach Steve Sarkisian saw the wide receiver room lose two players on June 22, as it seems now. The first is the three-star 2021 wide receiver signee and Rudder High School product Keithron Lee. And the other is junior wide receiver and former four-star recruit Jake Smith.

Texas saw the former Gatorade National High School Football Player of the Year and Arizona native Smith enter the NCAA Transfer Portal after nearly three years with the program. Smith had originally signed with the Longhorns 2019 class as the nation’s No. 49 high school prospect, No. 8 wide receiver, and No. 2 prospect out of Texas (247Sports Composite).

This is a big loss for the Longhorns receiving corps, as Smith was set to be one of the most productive wideouts returning this year. In his two years playing for Texas, Smith registered 48 catches for 568 receiving yards (11.8 yards per catch) and nine receiving touchdowns.

Texas football has a hole at receiver with Jake Smith transferring

While the news isn’t official yet of the next destination for Smith out of the transfer portal, it seems likely that he will leave Austin this offseason. More often than not, a player that enters the portal doesn’t return to the same program.

Granted, there is still a chance that Smith returns to the Forty Acres (i.e. Casey Thompson and Myron Warren in the past couple of years).

With the losses of both Smith and Lee this week, Texas might need to turn back to the transfer portal to make up for the lack of depth in the receiving corps. Here’s a look at what’s available realistically for the Longhorns to add depth back to the wide receiver room out of the transfer portal at this point of the offseason.