Texas Football: 3 former blue-chips to pursue in the portal this spring

Ethan White, IOL

The interior offensive line is still a question mark for Kyle Flood and the Longhorns post-spring camp. Texas wasn’t able to find an answer at starting right guard during spring ball as sophomore interior offensive lineman DJ Campbell didn’t make all the strides the coaches were looking for. Simultaneously, last year’s starting right guard, freshman Cole Hutson, missed the entirety of spring ball due to injury.

It looks like there are more questions than answers for the interior offensive line coming out of spring ball than any other group on this side of the ball.

Given the questions that the Longhorns are still facing along the interior offensive line heading into summer workouts and fall camp, I don’t think it’s the worst idea to find a more proven option out of the portal to bring more confidence and assured depth to this group. Flood and the Longhorns want a top group of eight offensive linemen they can feel good about heading into the fall.

And with Flood trotting out junior Hayden Conner as the second-team center instead of the first-team left guard (which is where he played last season), Texas is left with some seriously unproven first-team guards until Hutson and Campbell return.

One interesting option in the portal the Longhorns could consider this spring is someone who had an interesting journey on the transfer market, to say the least, this offseason. Former Florida Gators senior interior offensive lineman Ethan White is available in the portal once again this offseason after he was essentially released by the USC Trojans this spring.

It sounds like head coach Lincoln Riley and the Trojans wanted to keep at least a couple of scholarship spots open on the roster following the conclusion of spring ball. White could be one of the casualties that won’t be enrolling at USC to keep a scholarship spot open for Riley and his staff to do some portal shopping.

As long as the rest of the situation checks out to Flood and the Longhorns staff, I like the idea of adding more proven depth along the interior offensive line with a grad transfer like White. He checks a lot of the boxes in terms of what Flood likes out of his interior offensive linemen.

White is a big body, with a 6-foot-4 and 335-pound frame. His strong base and larger frame allow him to consistently move bodies off the line of scrimmage in run blocking.

And in terms of his ability as a pass blocker, White was one of the best among interior offensive linemen in the SEC last season. He was one of the 10 highest-graded starting interior offensive linemen in pass blocking last season. White was also one of just three guards in the SEC last season to not only a single QB hit or sack.

White has the potential to be a gem of a find that falls into the lap of another Power Five school this offseason after he didn’t enroll at USC this spring. And while that school may not be Texas, White has the type of resume of a proven guard that is hard to ignore if Flood is still looking for options to round out his top eight offensive linemen heading into the fall.