Texas Football: An injury update for WR Isaiah Neyor

What was possibly the costliest injury that head coach Steve Sarkisian and Texas football suffered in 2022 was unfortunately dealt to the former Wyoming Cowboys redshirt sophomore transfer wide receiver Isaiah Neyor. Early in fall camp, Neyor and senior interior offensive lineman Junior Angilau both suffered season-ending lower-body injuries in a scrimmage.

Prior to the season-ending knee injury that Neyor suffered in a fall scrimmage, he was expected to be an immediate impact boundary wide receiver starting alongside sophomore Xavier Worthy and redshirt junior Jordan Whittington.

Neyor was supposed to take this receiving corps to the next level in 2022 and give redshirt freshman quarterback Quinn Ewers a big-time weapon to target on the outside in the passing game.

Following the unfortunate knee injury, though, the Texas faithful would have to wait until 2023 to see what Neyor can do in this Sark offense.

Texas football WR Isaiah Neyor reportedly set to return to running drills within the next month

But it does sound like Neyor’s rehab efforts are moving in the right direction lately. An injury update from Bobby Burton and Gerry Hamilton of On Texas Football/Inside Texas mentioned that Neyor is supposed to get back into running drills within the next month or so.

This update comes roughly one month after Sark provided some positive news regarding Neyor’s recovery in a press conference in late November.

"“Isaiah’s done a nice job kind of with his recovery,” Sarkisian said. “You think about the timetable of just simple math, what does nine months look like out? He should put himself in good position to get himself ready for next season. We’ve got high expectations for him. He’s got a great work ethic, great drive. Do I think he could have helped us this year? For sure, but that’s part of football, sometimes things happen.”"

From everything we’re hearing regarding the recovery timeline of Neyor is encouraging that he could make a return to live-game action by the start of the 2023 season.

That is obviously great news for the Longhorns given that Neyor could be one of the biggest parts of the offense next fall. Down the stretch this season, the offense was clearly lacking that big-time boundary receiver that could give Ewers another outlet in the passing game besides guys like sophomore tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders and Worthy.

Assuming Neyor is able to make a full recovery, or at least get back to something close to the pre-injury version of himself on the field, he will be a huge addition to this offense. The 6-foot-3 and 210-pound Neyor should be a great fit in this offense and has the frame and skill set that should mesh very well with Ewers.

Texas finished up the 2022 season with a record of 8-5 (6-3 Big 12) following a tough 27-20 loss in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 29 at the hands of the No. 12 ranked Washington Huskies. The 2023 season will open up at home at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Sep. 2 against the Rice Owls.