Texas Football: Perfect OL transfer target emerges for the Longhorns

A really appealing potential target to help the offensive line woes for the Texas football program next year just emerged in the NCAA Transfer Portal this week in the form of the former Oregon Ducks freshman offensive tackle Kingsley Suamataia. The 6-foot-6 and 280-pound former five-star recruit was less than one year into his first season with the Ducks before putting his name in the transfer portal.

During his recruitment, one of Suamataia’s top schools was the Alabama Crimson Tide. Two of his top recruiters were new Texas special teams coordinator/tight ends coach Jeff Banks and offensive line coach/offensive coordinator Kyle Flood. That could create a connection here between the Longhorns and Suamataia out of the transfer portal.

According to a report from Horns247 (paid content) on Oct. 27, Texas should be expected to push hard for Suamataia out of the portal, despite the BYU Cougars being the potential favorite. If Texas can make a good pitch to Suamataia, this could be a near-immediate solution to some of the offensive line woes that new head coach Steve Sarkisian and Flood have experienced in the trenches this fall.

Suamataia should still have four years of eligibility remaining since this is his first year in college and he only got snaps in one game with the Ducks. He got 11 snaps in Oregon’s Week 3 win over FCS Stony Book. Suamataia didn’t allow any run stuffs or quarterback pressures in those 11 snaps.

The highly-touted Suamataia surprised many by this move to put his name in the transfer portal this week. He will immediately become one of the more highly sought-after transfer targets heading into next offseason. That is if he is still available in the portal once the current season concludes.

Texas football could help offensive line issues by landing transfer OT Kingsley Suamataia

Unless there’s another school that forms a good connection and pitches well to Suamataia in the very near future, Texas should be one of the favorites if they decide to pursue him. That is especially true since there is a lack of quality offensive linemen in the portal otherwise at the moment.

While that is sure to change in the coming months, Texas would do well to help fix some potential offensive line problems for 2022 and on before next offseason even arrives.

Although Texas did not offer Suamataia out of high school, this is a new coaching staff in place that was after him while they were still employed at Bama. Texas is also pretty thin at the offensive tackle position, with Christian Jones and Derek Kerstetter likely running out of eligibility next year. That really just leaves Andrej Karic as the last offensive tackle with significant game reps.

There are a number of reasons why both Texas and Suamataia should have mutual interest out of the portal in the coming weeks and months.

Suamataia surely has a high ceiling in college. Coming out of Orem (UT) High School, he ranked as the nation’s No. 36 2021 high school prospect, No. 6 offensive tackle, and the top overall prospect out of Utah (247Sports Composite). And the Top247 ranked him as the nation’s No. 32 high school prospect, No. 6 offensive tackle, and top prospect out of Utah.

Texas currently holds a record of 4-3 (2-2 Big 12) heading out of the first bye week of the season. They are looking to respond to snap a two-game losing skid as they hit the road to face the No. 16 ranked Baylor Bears on Oct. 30.