Texas Football: New transfer CB target emerges in Marcus Banks

This is not a fun time really to be a Texas football fan. New head coach Steve Sarkisian doesn’t have this team trending in the right direction at the moment, and plenty of change appears to be on the horizon for next offseason. It seems almost like a sure thing that Texas will be hitting the NCAA Transfer Portal hard next offseason to try and find players that are a better fit with the culture Sark wants to establish, and for the new schemes in place on each side of the ball.

There is a new name to watch that appeared in the transfer portal this week for Sark and the Longhorns. Former blue-chip recruit and Alabama Crimson Tide junior cornerback Marcus Banks posted on his Twitter timeline on Nov. 8 that he would be entering the transfer portal ahead of next offseason.

This is one of the bigger names to watch that could have a connection to the Longhorns out of the portal in the coming months. With all of the former Alabama assistants on Sark’s staff with the Longhorns now, it would make sense if Texas reaches out to Banks soon. They might’ve done so already, we just don’t have concrete evidence of it yet.

Texas football could pursue former Alabama CB Marcus Banks out of the portal

Coming out of Dekaney High School in Houston, TX, during the 2019 recruiting cycle, Banks did hold a Texas offer. And the top recruiter after him from the Alabama coaching staff was new Texas special teams coordinator/tight ends coach Jeff Banks. That connection could be very relevant in the coming weeks and months.

It also sounds like (per 247Sports report on Banks’ transfer) that he would like to stay closer to home at his next landing spot. That would make Texas an ideal landing spot for a number of reasons next year.

Texas could be losing multiple cornerbacks due to expiring eligibility next year. That namely includes the likes of seniors D’Shawn Jamison, Josh Thompson, and Darion Dunn. Additional depth could be handy at the position.

And getting someone that this new Texas coaching staff could potentially feel is a better culture fit than other transfer portal targets at the cornerback position makes a lot of sense.

Banks did get limited snaps, though, in his last couple of years with Alabama. In roughly five games played in the last two seasons, Banks registered eight combined tackles and one interception. His lone career pick came in a win back on Sep. 11 over FCS Mercer.

Most of the snaps Banks did get with the Crimson Tide in his college career came on special teams. He’s got nearly 200 snaps under his belt from his few years with Alabama. He’s got roughly 80 more snaps on special teams than he did on defense with Alabama since 2019.

There already looks to be a big board of some sort emerging for the Longhorns in the transfer portal at this point of the fall. It will be interesting to see if Texas lands any 2022 transfer commits prior to the turn of the calendar year.