Texas Football: 3 wide receivers UT is targeting early in transfer portal
The NCAA Transfer Portal is going wild on the first week of the December window opening, and Texas football has found quite a few targets that head coach Steve Sarkisian and his staff are showing interest in. Texas had four players announce they will be entering the transfer portal heading into the offseason.
As of the writing of this article on the evening of Dec. 6, Texas has lost sophomore safety BJ Allen Jr., junior interior offensive lineman Sawyer Goram-Welch, senior safety Jalen Catalon, and redshirt freshman cornerback X’Avion Brice to the transfer portal.
Early December window portal targets at wideout for Texas football
Texas is allowing many of these players entering the transfer portal to stick around and participate in team activities, with the No. 3 Longhorns preparing and practicing for the College Football Playoff semifinals on Jan. 1 against the No. 2 Washington Huskies.
Among the positions of need Texas is focusing on in the transfer portal this cycle are wide receiver, defensive back, tight end, edge rusher, defensive line, and potentially linebacker.
Wide receiver is the position of need for Texas that had the most targets appear in the transfer portal early this week. Multiple worthy portal wideouts have surfaced on the transfer market in the last couple of days.
Here are three portal receivers the Longhorns have are reportedly targeting on the transfer market early in the December window.
Juice Wells
Among the first high-profile wideouts to enter the transfer portal this week was the former South Carolina Gamecocks and FCS James Madison Dukes redshirt junior Antwane “Juice” Wells Jr. Wells entered the transfer portal for the second time in his collegiate career entering the offseason after transferring from JMU to South Carolina a couple of years ago.
Wells spent most of this season dealing with injury issues after playing just three games. He suffered a lower-body injury that has kept him out since South Carolina’s Week 3 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs.
When he was healthy at South Carolina last season, Wells emerged as one of the big breakout wideouts in the SEC. He nearly registered 1,000 receiving yards on 68 catches (13.6 yards per catch), along with seven touchdowns, during his first year at South Carolina in 2022.
Wells is a proven and experienced wideout at multiple levels of college football. He has reliable hands (ranked in the top five among SEC wideouts in drop grade in 2022) and is an excellent route runner.
On3 reported on Dec. 5 that Texas and the Tennessee Volunteers are two of the top “schools to watch” for Wells out of the transfer portal this offseason.
Wells could be the immediate impact starter the Longhorns are looking for in the portal entering the offseason to fill the void left by three starters who are expected to leave school for the NFL Draft next spring. Texas is expecting to lose redshirt senior slot receiver Jordan Whittington, junior field receiver Xavier Worthy, and junior boundary receiver Adonai Mitchell.
During his two seasons at South Carolina, Wells played slot and field receiver. He could compete for the starting job at either spot were he to commit to Texas out of the portal.