Texas Football: 4 early positions of need for UT in the portal this offseason
Wide receiver
The position group on Texas’ offense that will lose the most key pieces this offseason is wide receiver. Texas is expected to lose all three starting receivers to the 2024 NFL Draft. Junior wide receivers Xavier Worthy and Adonai Mitchell are projected to be early-round picks in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Senior slot receiver Jordan Whittington has another year of eligibility if he wants to return to school for one more season. But Whittington said well before Senior Night that this is his last year on the Forty Acres.
Sark, wide receivers coach Chris Jackson, and the Longhorns will utilize a mix of developing underclassmen, portal players, and incoming freshmen from the 2024 class to replace the departures in the receiving corps this offseason.
At field receiver, true freshman Johntay Cook II is expected to take Worthy’s mantle as the do-it-all threat in Sark’s offense. Cook has flashed this season, and the sky is the limit for him in Sark’s offensive scheme.
Mitchell was a gem find for the Longhorns in the transfer portal last offseason from the defending back-to-back National Champion Georgia Bulldogs. When Texas got Mitchell from the portal, it was done with the assumption that he would be in Austin for one season before heading to the NFL.
When Mitchell departs, Texas could turn to the portal to fill the void. Or, the former Wyoming transfer and redshirt junior wide receiver Isaiah Neyor could finally step up and take that mantle on the boundary.
At slot receiver, Texas has a few options to replace Whittington. They could turn to the portal to find an immediate impact starter in the slot. Or, a true freshman on the current roster, such as Ryan Niblett or DeAndre Moore, could move into that spot with a solid run in camp next offseason.
Also, don’t forget about the immediate impact the elite five-star St. Louis University (MO) wide receiver commit Ryan Wingo could make at wideout for the Longhorns. Wingo is the highest-rated wide receiver signee for the Longhorns in the 2024 class, and he will be an early enrollee on campus this spring.
I’d expect Texas to take two portal receivers this offseason, assuming that they lose three starters to the NFL Draft and potentially one more as a transfer out.