Texas Football: Projecting the 2023 WR depth chart with AD Mitchell
Texas football and head coach Steve Sarkisian landed a massive addition to the 2023 transfer class on Jan. 21. The former Georgia Bulldogs sophomore wide receiver AD Mitchell committing to Texas out of the NCAA Transfer Portal was a great way for Sark and his staff to begin a massive weekend on the Forty Acres.
Sark and the Longhorns now have a seriously formidable group in the wide receiver room as they are in the midst of a coaching search to replace the recently-departed wide receivers coach/passing game coordinator Brennan Marion. The new WR coach will now have a chance to work with a two-time National Champion in Mitchell that has caught some big passes in the College Football Playoff in the last two years.
The addition of Mitchell will give the Longhorns a true immediate-impact playmaker that can compete for starting reps at the boundary receiver position. This is huge given how redshirt sophomore boundary receiver Isaiah Neyor is still working his way back from a season-ending knee injury he suffered in fall camp last year.
AD Mitchell and Isaiah Neyor on the boundary highlight Texas football’s new projected WR depth chart
What will the wide receiver room look like for Texas now that Mitchell has joined the mix?
Jordan Whittington is a Swiss army knife and not JUST a receiver. Sark needs to use him more creatively. Here he gets a good block from Tarique Milton and makes defenders miss. pic.twitter.com/kXBgv9rEhw
— Dr. Dan Weiner, Internet M.D. (@ReallyDanWeiner) January 13, 2023
H-wide receiver/slot
Starter: Jordan Whittington
Backup: Savion Red
Slot receiver should be solidified in terms of who the starter will be for the Longhorns in 2023. The return of redshirt junior wide receiver Jordan Whittington for the 2023 season should mean that the Longhorns are set at this spot.
Whittington’s return means that Texas is getting a proven playmaker that was really good out of the slot last season. He is also the most natural receiver in terms of the personnel that Texas has in the mix that can thrive when working between the numbers in the passing game.
Where the question marks come into play at slot receiver is with the backup spot. I think the easy answer for the two-deep heading into spring ball will be for redshirt freshman Savion Red to get the second-team reps.
But we could also see the likes of incoming freshman wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr. and fellow true freshman Ryan Niblett competing for the backup job coming out of spring camp.