New Texas football WR Tarique Milton’s speed living up to the hype

The hype in Austin this weekend surrounding the Texas football program pretty much solely lies with the official visit that starts on June 17 with the elite five-star Isidore Newman quarterback Arch Manning. But there are other looming storylines with the current Texas team in the midst of summer workouts, including the status of the new additions to the program.

Second-year head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns added a number of key players out of the NCAA Transfer Portal and by way of the 2022 recruiting class among the summer enrollees this offseason. And one of the key additions that came about post-spring ball by way of the transfer portal is the former Iowa State Cyclones senior wide receiver Tarique Milton.

Texas added a commitment out of the portal from Milton to add to an already talented wide receiver room that will be very potent this coming season. He joins the likes of the former Wyoming Cowboys redshirt freshman Isaiah Neyor, Alabama Crimson Tide freshman Agiye Hall, and Montana Grizzlies senior Gabe Sulser (preferred walk-on) among the additions to the receiving corps by way of the portal so far this offseason.

Milton is the most experienced and productive throughout his collegiate career among the new additions at wideout for the Longhorns. Naturally, there are going to be at least decent expectations as to the contributions that Milton will be able to make this fall.

One of the major question marks surrounding the level of contributions that Milton can make for the Longhorns this fall concerns his health. Milton experienced multiple challenging injury issues in the last few years in Ames.

Texas football getting to see the speed of transfer WR Tarique Milton in summer workouts

But it sounds like the injuries that Milton experienced in the last few seasons aren’t really slowing him down at the outset of summer workouts with the Longhorns. A report from Inside Texas ahead of this weekend detailing some observations from summer workouts thus far noted that Milton is looking fast with this team in the last few weeks.

Combine that interesting nugget with some other interesting notes we’ve heard coming out of summer workouts and it sounds like Milton is transitioning into the program nicely this offseason. The fact that we’re hearing this about Milton already is likely a signal of more positive things to come from the Big 12 grad transfer this year.

Moreover, what made Milton so special during some of his most productive seasons with the Cyclones (i.e. 2019) was his elusiveness and speed in the open field. He was a dangerous slot receiver that could make big things happen after the catch at Iowa State when healthy. That was evidenced by the fact that he ranked in the top 10 in the country and second in the Big 12 in 2019 averaging 20.6 yards per catch.

That ability for Milton to be a reliable option that is more of a threat than some opponents may originally anticipate could make a real impact on this passing game out of the slot. A healthy and productive Milton would be a real game-changer in terms of the depth in this wide receiver room behind redshirt junior Jordan Whittington.

Milton comes onto the Forty Acres with one year of eligibility remaining as a graduate transfer. He and this upstart Texas team will open up the 2022 regular season on Sep. 3 at home against Louisiana-Monroe.