Travis Shaw (North Carolina)
Losing redshirt freshman defensive tackle Sydir Mitchell to the transfer portal has left a big void for the Longhorns at zero-tech nose tackle in the defensive line rotation in the SEC for next season. Mitchell was set to be Texas's biggest and most powerful returning defensive tackle who could take live-game snaps at nose tackle for the 2025 season.
Texas replaced that absence in the shoes left by Mitchell's departure for the interior defensive line with former Purdue Boilermakers senior grad transfer defensive tackle commit Cole Brevard. The All-Big Ten Honorable Mention defensive lineman for Purdue gives the Longhorns over 500 career live-game snaps at nose tackle against P4 competition.
Finding "big humans" with proven experience in the trenches in the P4 to fill out the rotation for next season in the SEC is a top task for the Longhorns and Kenny Baker in late December in the portal. Former North Carolina Tar Heels junior transfer defensive tackle Travis Shaw is one of the top portal P4 DTs for the upcoming offseason.
Shaw was one of the most talented defensive linemen in the high school recruiting class of 2022.
The size and power that the 6-foot-6 and 330-pound defensive tackle from Greensboro, NC, brings to the table could check many boxes for the Longhorns to fill this positional need for depth and a proven body on the interior defensive line rotation for the 2025 season in the SEC.
While the Longhorns and Sarkisian have given us every reason to trust their patient strategy in the portal from the past few offseasons, there is a lot of uncertainty for how thin the defensive tackle room looks for the projected roster next season in the trenches.
With how limited the options are in the portal for defensive tackle help for the Longhorns for this upcoming offseason, Shaw at least could give Texas hypothetically a proven starter who has multiple years of starting experience in the trenches for a P4 program. According to 247Sports, Shaw is the No. 11 transfer defensive lineman for this portal cycle.