Texas Football: Grading every portal addition for the Longhorns thus far

The NCAA Transfer Portal activity has really picked up of late for head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Texas football program. On Jan. 9, Texas landed its third addition by way of the transfer portal this offseason with a commitment from the former Arkansas Razorbacks All-SEC redshirt junior safety Jalen Catalon.

Following the conclusion of the College Football Playoff National Championship Game on Jan. 9, with the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs beating up on the No. 3 TCU Horned Frogs by a dominant score of 65-7, the transfer portal movement is spiking this week. That is at least before this transfer portal window closes on Jan. 18.

And it looks like the Longhorns are keeping the foot on the gas pedal in terms of the activity in the transfer portal after landing Catalon on Jan. 9. Texas appears to still be pursuing portal players at a few positions of need ahead of spring ball.

A few positions of need that the Longhorns could still address in the portal are at edge rusher, wide receiver, and running back.

Granted, it’s nice to see Texas addressing some other positional needs on special teams and in the secondary.

Grading Jalen Catalon and the three portal pickups for Texas football so far in the 2023 class

With that in mind, here’s a look at the grades for each of the three portal additions for the Longhorns so far this offseason.

Ryan Sanborn, P

The lone addition to the special teams unit for special teams coordinator/tight ends coach Jeff Banks and the Longhorns this offseason by way of the portal is the former Stanford Cardinal senior punter and grad transfer Ryan Sanborn. The highest-graded punter in the PAC-12 last season was also the first portal commit for the Longhorns as part of the 2023 transfer class.

While a lot of the box score stats for Sanborn won’t blow anyone away (averaged 41.5 yards per punt in four years at Stanford), the finer points of his technicality are pretty impressive. He was the only punter in the Power Five during the 2022 regular season to have at least 20 punts downed inside the 20 without having a single touchback.

Texas clearly did a nice job upgrading the special teams unit after the punting game was so up and down throughout much of the 2022 campaign. While former Texas Wesleyan transfer Daniel Trejo graded out among the bottom 20 punters in the Power Five this season, Sanborn was one of the best.

It’s hard to find a better situation for Texas to upgrade the punting game than with a punter that graded out among the top five players at his position in the Power Five in 2022. He will give Banks and the Longhorns a more reliable option in the punting game that can help command the field position in a way that Trejo and/or Isaac Pearson couldn’t this past season.

Grade: A