Texas Football: 3 new portal entrants to keep an eye on in late December

We are back in the cycle where a good number of Power Five players are entering the NCAA Transfer Portal around the college football landscape in the midst of bowl season, which is something that Texas football will be monitoring. While it doesn’t sound like there will be much proactive scouting done in the transfer portal by the coaching staff in the next few days (at least until the conclusion of the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 29), if the right name shows up in the portal, the staff will make a move.

Head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns have hauled in two commitments out of the transfer portal so far in the 2023 class. Texas signed the former Stanford Cardinal senior punter and grad transfer Ryan Sanborn and Wake Forest Demon Deacons redshirt sophomore cornerback Gavin Holmes during the Early Signing Period last week.

After signing both of their portal additions as part of the 2023 transfer class, Sark and his staff will soon be looking forward to what could come up on the transfer market in the next few weeks. Texas likely still has at least a half-dozen portal spots left in the 2023 class after signing Sanborn and Holmes.

Late December portal entrants to keep an eye on for Texas football

With that in mind, here’s a look at three new portal entrants to watch for the Longhorns in late December.

Jack Sullivan, DE/EDGE

One of the biggest remaining positions of need in the portal for the Longhorns is at defensive end/edge rusher. In fact, the entire defensive line will be a need for Texas to address in the portal, along with edge rusher during the upcoming offseason.

And a recent portal entrant among defensive ends/edge rushers that could catch the eye of the defensive coaches for the Longhorns is the former Purdue Boilermakers senior Jack Sullivan. The fourth-year 6-foot-5 and 275-pound defensive end/edge player certainly looks the part of someone that Texas would offer in the portal.

Sullivan had the most productive season of his collegiate career for Purdue this fall. He registered 38 combined tackles, seven tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, 23 stops, just one missed tackle, 36 quarterback pressures, one batted ball, and one forced fumble.

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What I really like about Sullivan’s game is how disruptive he could be while maintaining his gap. The fact that Sullivan missed just one tackle while registering nearly 40 combined tackles on the season, is a pretty remarkable feat.

It’s also worth noting that Sullivan ended his season at Purdue on a high note. He was the second-highest-graded pass rusher among edge rushers in the Big Ten in the last three weeks of the season, only behind Ohio State star Zach Harrison.

Sullivan has the measurables and year-over-year improvement in production that Texas would be looking for out of an instant-impact pass rusher. He could be an intriguing offer for the defensive staff.