Predicting Texas football’s next transfer addition after P Ryan Sanborn

On Dec. 13, Texas football and head coach Steve Sarkisian got their first addition out of the NCAA Transfer Portal as part of the 2023 class. Texas landed a commitment out of the portal from the former Stanford Cardinal senior punter and grad transfer Ryan Sanborn via an announcement on social media on the afternoon of Dec. 13.

While Sark and the Longhorns staff are looking to take the patient route in the portal heading into the upcoming offseason, Sanborn was an exception. Texas needed to address the punting game, and it’s clear that special teams coordinator/tight ends coach Jeff Banks found his guy in Sanborn.

Sanborn was the highest-graded punter in the PAC-12 during the regular season. And he was one of the top two highest-graded punters in the PAC-12 in each of the last two seasons. Sanborn will help to upgrade the punting game next season after an up-and-down 2022 campaign for the former Texas Wesleyan transfer Daniel Trejo.

Who could Texas football nab next out of the transfer portal after former Stanford P Ryan Sanborn?

Who will be next for the Longhorns out of the portal heading into the 2023 offseason? Here’s a look at three names to watch.

Kaden Prather, WR

Wide receiver is currently one of the deepest positions among the players available in the transfer portal. And one more impact receiver was added to the portal early this week when the former West Virginia Mountaineers 6-foot-4 and 215-pound sophomore Kaden Prather announced his intention to transfer out of Morgantown.

After having a breakout 2022 campaign with the Mountaineers, Prather elected to enter the transfer portal with two years of eligibility remaining.

Prather might be one of the most gifted wide receivers in the portal at the moment. He’s got NFL measurables to go with agile feet and a pretty insane vertical for a receiver of his size and stature.

The problem for Prather was that the way West Virginia utilized him during the regular season didn’t really play to his strengths. Prather is a physically-dominant receiver that should be getting the ball on the outside where he can make a play on contested 50/50 passes or in the intermediate part of the field where he’s got a large window for the quarterback to throw to and he can pick up yards after the catch.

Instead, Prather was utilized in the short passing game more than anything else. A whopping 56 percent of Prather’s targets during the regular season were either on screens or short passes, despite showing some real effectiveness when he was targeted on intermediate passes between the numbers.

Moreover, it looks like there could be some interest that wide receivers coach/passing game coordinator Brennan Marion and the Longhorns show with Prather in the portal. A lot here will depend on how long Prather will draw out the recruiting process in the portal.

Prather has already drawn some interest out of the portal, namely from the Penn State Nittany Lions, with a visit to State College a real possibility in the near future.

But if the Texas staff really pushes for a commitment from Prather out of the portal, I think he could be a good fit as a wideout that can play on the boundary or at the x spot with four wideouts on the field.