4 players Texas must convince to return for 2025

This week, we've started to see a handful of Texas football players decide to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal during the winter window. In this day and age of college football with NIL and the transfer portal, player retention and roster management are just as important as upgrading your roster in the transfer portal.

Texas football key players facing upcoming NFL Draft decisions for 2025

With so many players entering the transfer portal in college football now, it can be a challenging process to retain top talents on your roster, depending on the size and financial resources of the program.

Over the past few offseasons, we've seen head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns prioritize roster management and player development/retention over adding pure quantity numbers from portal players.

Texas has multiple players with NFL Draft and/or transfer portal decisions to make for the upcoming offseason. The players we're discussing on this list are those for the Longhorns who have at least one year of eligibility remaining.

Here are four key players the Longhorns must retain for the 2025 season.

Jaylon Guilbeau, NB

Junior defensive back Jaylon Guilbeau has been very successful in the move to playing the star position full-time as a starter this season. Guilbeau's development this year allowed Texas to move senior Jahdae Barron to corner in the secondary.

Guilbeau has contributed to Texas's top-ranked pass defense in the SEC this season. He's been very reliable and productive, ranking among Texas's top three defensive backs in combined tackles and defensive stops.

Assuming Guilbeau returns next season, he'll be among the key senior leaders in the secondary alongside safety Michael Taaffe.