Texas Football: Breaking down 3 transfer targets as portal window opens

Dominic Lovett, WR

Upon the portal window opening on Dec. 5, one of my personal favorite players that the Longhorns could nab is the former Mizzou Tigers breakout sophomore wide receiver Dominic Lovett.

This standout 5-foot-10 and 185-pound slot receiver is one of the best players at his position in the portal at the moment. And I would imagine that he winds up being one of the best slot receivers that enter the portal at any point for the upcoming offseason.

It looks like there is already some interest from the likes of Sark, Marion, and the Longhorns that is being shown to Lovett. If contact wasn’t already made between the Texas staff and Lovett, I imagine that will take place in the very near future.

Lovett can fill an immediate need for Texas in the receiving corps in 2023 if it loses redshirt junior wideout Jordan Whittington to the NFL Draft.

In fact, I would go so far as to say that Lovett could be a more impactful slot receiver in Sark’s offense than Whittington. Lovett might not be as versatile as Whittington, but he is more potent in the role of a pure slot receiver.

Lovett proved how impactful he can be for Mizzou during the 2022 regular season. He was the highest-graded SEC receiver during the regular season in slot targets and in terms of overall receiving grade.

I also don’t want to undersell Lovett’s versatility. While he is great working between the numbers out of the slot, he’s also a bona fide deep threat. Lovett actually got most of his receiving production this season by way of the deep ball.

During the regular season, Lovett hauled in a dozen deep targets, good for nearly 500 receiving yards and two touchdowns. He was also one of the highest-graded receivers in the Power Five on deep ball targets.

Adding that deep ball threat out of the slot to this offense would give Sark just another dynamic to threaten opposing defenses next season.

Some of the other positives to Lovett’s game include his reliable hands, in-air adjustments, and diverse route tree. I mentioned Lovett’s versatility a moment ago. He really can run a multitude of different routes effectively to get open in space at all levels of the field.

Lovett also didn’t have any drops during the regular season. He was the only Power Five receiver with at least 70 targets this season to not have a single drop.

To sum this up, Lovett might be my favorite of the possible portal targets for the Longhorns upon the transfer window officially opening up on Dec. 5. I hope to see Sark and Marion make Lovett a real priority out of the portal.