Melvin Siani might be the 2026 transfer Texas fans talk about all year

As everyone knows by now, Texas gained the commitment of Melvin Siani, one of the top offensive tackles in the ACC in 2025.

Yes, the "goal" was to bring in Colorado's Jordan Seaton, but for multiple reasons Texas decided to go in a different direction. The most likely reason though is probably due to the financial side of things. The Longhorns have more money than most programs, but it doesn't make sense to pay an astronomical amount of money to a player who'll most likely only be with the team for one season.

To be perfectly honest, there's a good chance that Melvin Siani will provide 90% of what Seaton would've been able to at Texas.

Siani's an exceptional pass protector, evident by his blocking grades and statistics from the 2025 season. He didn't allow a single sack in 486 total pass pro snaps and only allowed 9 QB pressures on the year for the Demon Deacons. That's an insanely good stat line for an offensive tackle with that type of snap volume.

He had a PFF pass blocking grade of 80.7 on the year as well, which was good for top 12 in the league, and he was on PFF's ACC team of the week multiple times throughout the 2025 season.

Siani could end up being Texas' most impactful acquisition of the 2026 offseason, and one that Longhorn Nation consistently talks about all year long based on the simple fact that he's a monumental upgrade over Brandon Baker at RT. Arch Manning and the passing game should benefit from his presence immediately in 2026, which should lead to a more confident and smoother looking offense out of the gate.

This would be the opposite of what happened in 2025, when Arch Manning was back there running for his life throughout the first six games of the season.

The Longhorns may be done adding offensive linemen via the transfer portal now, but there's still a chance that they could bring in one more interior player with guard/center versatility.