Alabama WR transfer Tyler Harrell could be what Texas football needs

We are drawing close to the closing of the current NCAA Transfer Portal window, giving Texas football just a few more days to scout out new entrants ahead of spring ball. New transfer portal entrants are allowed in the current 45-day window until Jan. 18 (next Wednesday).

One of the biggest positions of need for head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns in this portal cycle is at wide receiver. And considering that Texas has yet to add any receivers out of the portal in the 2023 class, it looks like there’s still a lot of work to do for this staff at the position.

A name that emerged in the portal this weekend that could bring some intrigue to the table, though, for Sark and the Longhorns is the former Louisville Cardinals and Alabama Crimson Tide redshirt junior wide receiver Tyler Harrell. After spending just one season in Tuscaloosa playing for wide receivers coach Holmon Wiggins and head coach Nick Saban, Harrell elected to put his name into the portal for the second time in as many years.

Harrell announced on social media on Jan. 14 that he is “officially in the transfer portal”.

When Harrell first arrived on campus at Alabama last year, there was a lot of hype surrounding his addition to the Tide offense. The 6-foot and 195-pound wideout brings a lot of speed to the table and was an established deep threat thanks to his breakout 2021 campaign at Louisville.

Texas football could have a potent WR option in the portal in former Alabama and Louisville speedster Tyler Harrell

Harrell was reportedly clocked running a sub-4.25 second 40-yard dash time a couple of offseasons ago.

And he put that speed to good use during his only fully healthy season in college to date in 2021, where he led the entire country in yards per catch (29.6). Harrell was also very productive in the deep passing game a couple of seasons ago.

He ranked among the top five wideouts in the ACC in 2021 in yards after the catch per reception on deep balls, and touchdowns, and he led the ACC in average depth of target on the deep ball.

Harrell wasn’t only a threat on the deep ball, though. He was a pretty explosive weapon that Louisville could get the ball to in space in multiple different parts of the field. Harrell wound up leading the ACC in yards after the catch per reception and missed tackles forced per catch on intermediate targets in 2021.

However, Harrell wasn’t able to have the same impact on the Alabama offense last season as he was at Louisville in 2021. Nagging foot injuries limited him to just two targets over the course of a half-dozen games played in the season that was. He wasn’t even able to make his season debut at Alabama until Week 8 against the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

The same nagging injury would keep Harrell on the sidelines for much of the remainder of the season, even after making his Alabama debut in Week 8.

Yet, if Harrell is healthy and ready to go for the 2023 campaign, he is going to be one of the most explosive and elusive weapons at the wide receiver position that surfaces in the portal this offseason. This is why he catches my eye as a possible Texas target.

Given how speedy and elusive Harrell is in space, he checks out as a potential fit in Sark’s offense at Texas. Harrell can give Sark and the Longhorns another legitimate deep ball threat, which could act as an insurance policy if rising junior wideout Xavier Worthy is still struggling in that phase of the game in 2023.

Harrell is also a wideout that Sark can utilize in different ways to get him the ball in space. He showed during his time at Louisville that he can be effective when lined up as a de facto x-wide receiver (94 percent of his snaps at Louisville were out wide in this spot) or coming out of the slot.

Working between the numbers was something that Harrell was very effective at doing in 2021. He averaged an insane 28.3 yards after the catch per reception on intermediate targets between the numbers during the 2021 campaign.

Harrell can also be motioned around pre-snap to act as a decoy to open up space for another skill guy given the amount of attention he commands from opposing defenses. As long as you give him some time and space to find some daylight, it doesn’t really matter what spot on the field you get the ball in his hands.

The ability to make defenders miss in the open field and the big play threat could also mean that Harrell poses a big-time threat in jet sweeps and the screen game.

Texas needs to add a big-time playmaker at the wide receiver position to really ensure this group will be effective next season. Harrell would give the Longhorns that go-to playmaker that could take some of the attention and pressure away from the likes of Worthy and rising junior tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders, among others.

Among all the wide receivers available in the portal at the moment, I think Harrell could make the most sense for the Longhorns to offer before this transfer window closes in a few days.

One factor that could change the dynamic of what the Longhorns are looking for out of the portal at wideout could be the decision that Sark makes to replace Brennan Marion as WR coach. If Texas were to hire someone like Wiggins away from Alabama, that could be a possible connection to watch that could draw Harrell to the Forty Acres as long as that relationship is still solid.

Texas finished up last season with a record of 8-5 (6-3 Big 12) following a 27-20 loss in the Alamo Bowl to the No. 12 Washington Huskies on Dec. 29.