Texas has interest in UL transfer LB Lorenzo McCaskill

Texas football is very active in the NCAA Transfer Portal here in the last couple of weeks. After closing out the period ahead of, and during, the Early Signing Period on a strong note it’s time for second-year head coach Steve Sarkisian and his staff to fill their various positional needs via the transfer portal for the rest of the offseason.

And one of the bigger looming needs for the Longhorns out of the transfer portal this offseason is at the linebacker position. Texas now appears to have interest in a new linebacker target out of the transfer portal at this point of the offseason.

According to a report from 247Sports during the holiday weekend, the Longhorns do have interest in the former Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns senior linebacker, Lorenzo McCaskill, out of the portal this offseason. This does look to be a proven and experienced target that Texas can find to fill a positional need in the portal in 2022.

It wasn’t all that long ago that McCaskill originally put his name in the transfer portal. He entered the portal back on Jan. 14 after a post on his Twitter timeline that morning.

https://twitter.com/bhadda/status/1482026161106468867

Texas football reportedly interesting in former Louisiana transfer LB Lorenzo McCaskill

Some of the programs that look to have legitimate interest early on in pursuit of a commitment from McCaskill out of the portal are the USC Trojans, Mizzou Tigers, Miami Hurricanes, LSU Tigers, and Mississippi State Bulldogs, among a few others.

It doesn’t look like Texas has yet to officially offer McCaskill. But that could be coming before too long depending on what happens with other linebacker targets in the portal in the days and weeks ahead.

The three programs that are confirmed to have offered McCaskill since he put his name in the portal last week are USC, Mizzou, and the Miami (OH) Redhawks. It wouldn’t be all that surprising, though, to see other programs such as Texas, LSU, and Miami (FL) get an offer out to McCaskill in the next few days.

McCaskill was the leading tackler for head coach Billy Napier and Louisiana during the 2021 season. He also brings a plethora of experience to the table for the Longhorns linebacker room that could really use the help.

During his four years playing for Louisiana, McCaskill registered nearly 240 combined tackles, eight tackles for loss, four sacks, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery. He was also among the most sure-tacklers at linebacker in the Sun Belt in the last few seasons and one of the smarter players at this position.

McCaskill is a reliable tackler in the open field that can also make a positive impact in rushing the passer and pursuing the ball carrier. He also came up with one of the better pass coverage grades of any regular starting linebacker in the Sun Belt last season.

Texas hosted a linebacker target in the transfer portal on a visit in Austin during the holiday weekend in the former Alabama Crimson Tide senior and under-the-radar three-star recruit Jaylen Moody. McCaskill and Moody could now be two of the more significant linebackers to watch that Texas is going after in the portal in January.