4 new portal entrants Texas football must offer in January

A few days ago, Texas football picked up its third commitment out of the NCAA Transfer Portal as part of the 2023 class. Head coach Steve Sarkisian and safeties coach Blake Gideon picked up a portal commitment on Jan. 9 from the former Arkansas Razorbacks redshirt junior All-SEC safety Jalen Catalon.

Sark and the Longhorns have now picked up commitments out of the portal in the 2023 class from the likes of Catalon, Wake Forest Demon Deacons redshirt sophomore cornerback Gavin Holmes, and Stanford Cardinal senior punter Ryan Sanborn.

These three portal additions for the Longhorns so far this offseason are solid. But there are still some outstanding positional needs that Texas must address in the portal before the summer.

Some of the biggest positional needs for the Longhorns are at wide receiver, edge rusher, and running back. Texas could also look to add one more player at either linebacker or defensive back or both.

I am not worried as much about linebacker or defensive back, though, as I am wide receiver and edge rusher.

Gary Bryant Jr. and the new portal entrants Texas football could offer in mid-January

With that in mind, here’s a look at four new portal entrants at positions of need that Texas should offer in January.

J. Michael Sturdivant, WR

There aren’t all that many impactful wide receivers in the portal at the moment. Most of the better wide receivers that put their name in the portal so far this offseason have already found another home.

One of the names that do stick out to me, though, at this point of the offseason is the former Cal Golden Bears 6-foot-3 and 200-pound redshirt freshman J. Michael Sturdivant.

Texas needs a boundary receiver, and Sturdivant is one of the best available in the portal at the moment. The second-year wideout was really productive at Cal in his first season as a starter and could compete for a starting spot at Texas depending on how the recovery process goes for Isaiah Neyor in the next six months or so.

If nothing else, Sturdivant could give Texas that uber-important fourth receiver that Sark needs to be confident in this position room heading into the 2023 season. Texas needs another guy that can give the offense some solid reps at the position.

Moreover, Sturdivant’s size and large catch radius would also be valuable to this offense given how redshirt freshman quarterback Quinn Ewers is more effective at getting the ball to taller wideouts (i.e. tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders). If he had options like Sturdivant and Neyor to get the ball to next season, that would be a great situation for the rising third-year sophomore.