Texas Football: 5 grand-prize portal targets for UT in early December

Walter Nolen, DL

The top-rated defensive lineman in the transfer portal this week in the 247Sports Composite is the former Texas A&M Aggies sophomore defensive tackle Walter Nolen. The No. 1 ranked recruit in the nation in the 2022 class in the 247Sports Composite is a first-round NFL-caliber talent. And he fits a position of need for the Longhorns at defensive tackle heading into the offseason.

Nolen has multiple years of eligibility remaining after spending two seasons in College Station with the Aggies.

Nolen’s father told Horns247 this week that Texas is one of the schools that has contacted Nolen since he entered the portal a few days ago. But the school that has generated the most buzz in this portal recruitment for Nolen late this week is Oregon.

Oregon is the only school Nolen has scheduled a visit to see. He will make the trip to Eugene to see head coach Dan Lanning and the Ducks this weekend.

Nolen hasn’t announced a top group of schools in the mix for him. But it sounds like there is a small group of schools that he’s realistically considering in the portal heading into this weekend, which includes Oregon.

Texas could be part of that group of schools, but we don’t know for sure yet.

What we do know is that the Longhorns and defensive line coach Bo Davis are being patient in the portal to address this positional need in the trenches. Given Nolen’s immediate interest from other top Power Five programs when he entered the portal this week, this portal recruitment could go by quickly.