Breaking down 3 new portal targets Texas football has interest in

The talk of the town of the Forty Acres right now is what is going down on the recruiting trail for Texas football both in terms of the status of priority high school prospects and some early NCAA Transfer Portal targets. Texas is putting in work on the recruiting trail right now for both types of players, granted one is getting a bit more attention than the other this week.

With the Early Signing Period set to start in a little less than one week, head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns are affording more attention and energy right now to recruiting high school prospects than the early entrants in the transfer portal.

And while there is plenty of Longhorns fans interested in what’s going down right now on the recruiting trail among high school prospects, we do not forget about the portal either. There are some recent entrants in the transfer portal that the Longhorns are at least kicking the tires on in the last week or so.

Breaking down the fit for new portal targets Texas football has interest in

Here’s an early breakdown of three new portal targets for the Longhorns.

Kaden Prather, WR

One of the early names to watch in the transfer portal heading into the 2023 offseason is the former West Virginia Mountaineers 6-foot-4 and 210-pound sophomore wide receiver Kaden Prather. The former Longhorns Big 12 foe is someone that is getting a lot of interest from teams around the Big Ten and ACC.

But he’s also a name that Sark and wide receivers coach/passing game coordinator Brennan Marion, and the Longhorns could still kick the tires on this month.

Texas is clearly looking to add pieces at wide receiver by way of the transfer portal this coming offseason. And from the buzz we were hearing following the news that Prather entered the portal last week, he is certainly a viable option for the Longhorns.

Prather is someone that could fit a need on the outside for Texas. He’s got the ability to go up and get those contested 50/50 balls on the boundary given his leaping ability and 6-foot-4 frame. But Prather also has the scheme versatility to be multiple in different pre-snap looks on offense.

It’s worth noting that Prather averaged at least five yards per route run in targets behind the line of scrimmage, on short passes, and on intermediate throws during the regular season. That’s rare to see a wideout that has the physical gifts and the usual boundary receiver mold as Prather does.

If I had to peg a couple of favorites at the moment to land the commitment from Prather out of the portal, the Penn State Nittany Lions and Maryland Terrapins would be it. But this is still a race that Texas could get in on if the staff likes what Prather could bring to the table for this offense.

And if Texas gets involved late in the recruiting process for Prather out of the portal heading into the 2023 offseason, it wouldn’t be the first time that Sark and Marion could pull off a shocker. Texas made a late portal flip last offseason in the former Wyoming Cowboys redshirt freshman wideout Isaiah Neyor.

There was also a point in time when Texas was after Prather late in his recruiting process under former head coach Tom Herman. He has past connections with Texas under the former coaching regime and Sark when Alabama was looking at him out of high school.