3 Alabama transfers Texas could land in January

Jahleel Billingsley, TE

Among the transfer portal entrants that came along since the weekend, the one that might stick out the most is the former blue-chip recruit and junior tight end Jahleel Billingsley. It was hard to get many bigger names in the transfer portal out of the SEC at the tight end position than Billingsley. Granted, his hype has died down a little bit since the College Football Playoff last season.

This was expected to be the breakout season for Billingsley coming off a nice run down the stretch during the 2020 season. There were some flashes that he showed at the outset of the season, including a 105-receiving yard and one touchdown performance in a non-conference win over the Southern Miss Golden Eagles.

But injuries and inconsistencies on the field prevented Billingsley from ever really reaching that potential we saw him flash late in the 2020 season.

Moreover, there still looks to be plenty of untapped potential in Billingsley. He will be more of a threat in the receiving game than as a blocker. But Texas has some other tight ends on the depth chart that can help to fill that void.

Sark is also familiar with calling plays for Billingsley. Flood is familiar with coaching him up in blocking schemes too from his time as Alabama’s offensive line coach.

With special teams coordinator/tight ends coach Jeff Banks on staff with the Longhorns, it makes a lot of sense that Texas would extend an offer Billingsley’s way now that he is officially in the transfer portal. Banks was one of the top recruiters pursuing Billingsley when he was coming out of high school during the 2019 recruiting cycle.