Texas football gets proven slot depth in transfer WR Tarique Milton

Not only are second-year Texas football head coach Steve Sarkisian and new wide receivers coach/passing game coordinator Brennan Marion getting an experienced wideout to fill depth out of the NCAA Transfer Portal, but they’ll also be doing so with a familiar face. Texas landed a commitment out of the transfer portal on the evening of May 23 from the former Iowa State Cyclones senior slot wide receiver Tarique Milton.

As a portal entrant from a good while ago, Milton took to a very patient process on the transfer market. In fact, Milton’s name emerged in the portal more than six months ago, specifically back in late November. But it looks like he found his next landing spot in a place where he could make an impact both on and off the field.

Sark, Marion, and the Longhorns should get a lot of value out of Milton. At this point of the spring, there literally weren’t any other more experienced wideouts in the portal than Milton.

Once new head coach Billy Napier and the Florida Gators added a commitment out of the portal last weekend from the former Arizona State Sun Devils senior wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, the other most experienced transfer at the position was gone.

Moreover, the news surfaced on the Twitter timeline of Milton on the evening of May 23 that he will officially be transferring to Texas. This was met by a big reaction from the Longhorns faithful on social media.

https://twitter.com/ElamarDaGreat/status/1528862026097098753

Sark, Marion, and the Longhorns are getting their third wideout by way of the transfer portal so far this offseason by landing a commitment from Milton. He is the most experienced of the three, though. The other two portal wideout additions for the Longhorns so far this offseason are the former Wyoming Cowboys breakout redshirt freshman Isaiah Neyor and Alabama Crimson Tide touted freshman wide receiver Agiye Hall.

Milton will actually be the most productive receiver for the Longhorns in 2022 in terms of career stats. During his four years playing for Iowa State, Milton registered 99 catches for 1,519 receiving yards (15.9 yards per catch), and seven touchdown catches.

The best years for Milton came at the beginning of his run with the Cyclones. During his first two seasons playing for Iowa State, Milton registered 69 catches for more than 1,100 receiving yards and four touchdowns.

But injuries would limit Milton during the 2020 campaign during the COVID-19 year. That trend came to a head last fall when Milton got a career-low 25 targets in a full season played for the first time in his career. It resulted in Milton only getting 15 catches for 278 receiving yards (18.5 yards per catch), and three touchdown catches in 2021.

That was a bit of a letdown too considering the preseason hype for Milton. He was expected to be a big-time slot wideout for Iowa State starting at the m-wide receiver spot heading into last season.

By season’s end, Milton was essentially looking up on the depth chart at freshman wideout Jaylin Noel, who is the projected slot receiver for the Cyclones this year. That is likely one of the reasons why Milton put his name in the portal in the first place late last fall.

Texas football adds valuable slot veteran WR depth in former ISU grad transfer Tarique Milton

What Texas will be getting out of the 5-foot-10 and 190-pound Milton is a shifty and reliable slot wideout that can be a load to take down at times. Milton likely won’t be the fastest wideout for the Longhorns by any means in terms of flat-out track speed. But he is one of the most agile and shiftiest wideouts in the mix for this coming season.

In fact, Milton registered more than 350 yards after the catch and a dozen missed tackles forced during the 2019 season. He also has 22 missed tackles forced for his career, 762 yards after the catch, and 56 first downs.

Milton’s open-field speed and ability to make tacklers miss right after the catch were special gifts that allowed him to thrive coming out of the slot in 2018 and 2019. Those aspects of his game could also help add a different dimension to this Texas offense when he’s on the field this fall.

If Texas can find some of that elusiveness and agility that Milton brought to the table for the Cyclones in 2018 and 2019, then he should be able to make a big impact for this passing game in 2022. He was surely electric for Iowa State in 2019, as evident in the many highlights he put up that season.

Another aspect of Milton’s game is how good he is on intermediate and deep routes coming out of the slot. Milton can be electric on deep targets, where he registered 279 receiving yards on seven catches, good for one touchdown, back in 2019. And nearly half of those receiving yards were yards after the catch that season.

Milton was specifically really good for Iowa State a few seasons ago between the numbers on deep balls (at least 20 yards). During the 2019 campaign, Milton registered more than 220 receiving yards and one touchdown, without a single drop or turnover when targeted, on deep balls between the numbers.

Texas now has someone behind the star sophomore wideout Xavier Worthy that can do some real damage between the numbers coming out of the slot and has some experience doing so in the past. Having Milton in the mix will add some valuable veteran depth behind Worthy and Whittington coming out of the slot.

But he can also give Quinn Ewers or Hudson Card another reliable target to look to in the middle of the field.

Redshirt junior Jordan Whittington can do damage between the numbers on deep and intermediate throws, but his health was in question for the last few years. If he can remain healthy this fall, that will change. But it’s good for Texas to add depth with someone that can do damage in the middle of the field such as Milton coming out of the slot.

Milton is likely going to come in and compete with the likes of Hall and incoming freshman wide receiver Brenen Thompson for the backup job at the h or x wideout spot. He can also provide Marion and the Longhorns with a true veteran mentor to help Hall and Thompson find their way as this pair of freshmen will be looking to prove themselves in the next couple of years.

All in all, you have to love what the Longhorns are getting out of Milton considering what was left in the portal after missing on the Biletnikoff winner Jordan Addison to USC last week. Milton was about the best the Longhorns were going to find at this point of the offseason, and he fills a large gap in this wide receiver room in terms of bringing a true veteran voice to the fold.

Texas now has six transfer portal additions so far this offseason, with half of them now being wide receivers. There are likely only a couple of scholarship spots remaining for Sark and the Longhorns staff to utilize in the portal this offseason.