Indiana DL transfer Philip Blidi planning Texas OV

The biggest positional need for Texas football to scout in the NCAA Transfer Portal during the spring window is defensive tackle. Texas needs a proven defensive tackle who can make an immediate impact along this defensive front for the upcoming 2024 season in the SEC.

Texas football targeting recent Indiana DL transfer Philip Blidi

A recent portal entrant this spring that the Longhorns have already displayed interest in this week is the former Indiana Hoosiers and Texas Tech Red Raiders senior defensive tackle Philip Blidi. The two-time transfer defensive lineman announced on his X account on March 18 that he is entering the portal as a graduate transfer.

The 6-foot-3 and 295-pound Blidi should be a defensive tackle that most Texas fans could be familiar with from his time at Texas Tech a couple of years ago. Blidi spent three seasons at Texas Tech before transferring to Indiana last offseason.

Blidi has faced the Longhorns twice in live-game action during his time at Texas Tech in 2021 and 2022.

Since entering the transfer portal on March 18, many top Power Five programs have offered or at least made contact with Blidi, including the Washington Huskies and LSU Tigers. Multiple reports (including Inside Texas) in the last few days have indicated that the Longhorns have made contact with Blidi since he entered the portal as a graduate transfer roughly five days ago.

Blidi is reportedly working on scheduling an official visit to Texas for this spring. But no concrete dates for Blidi to officially visit Texas have been locked in as of the writing of this article on March 23.

He already has official visits scheduled for this spring to see the Arizona Wildcats, Washington, and LSU.

Texas is playing it patiently regarding any offer they extend to Blidi. He doesn't graduate for another couple of months and wouldn't hypothetically be on campus until the summer semester.

Proven transfer defensive tackles are a rarity in the portal during the spring window

Blidi checks many boxes that new defensive line coach Kenny Baker and the Longhorns are looking for from an experienced and proven defensive tackle in the portal this spring. He's got multiple years of proven live-game experience playing in the Power Five.

During his three seasons at Texas Tech, Blidi was a regular contributor taking over 150 defensive snaps along the defensive front each year.

Blidi also graded out as the second-highest-graded defensive lineman over double-digit starts and nearly 450 defensive snaps for the Hoosiers in 2023. He was also one of the 10 highest-graded defensive tackles in the Big Ten last season.

From a production and size standpoint, Blidi would be a natural fit as a three-tech at defensive tackle on the two-deep for the Longhorns along the defensive front. At 295-pounds, Blidi is a quick and violent defensive tackle who is disruptive as an interior pass rusher.

Blidi is good at locating the ball carrier and is quick enough to get them to the ground around the line of scrimmage in run defense.

While Blidi was a productive pass rusher regarding the number of quarterback pressures he's racked up in the last few seasons, he's had trouble getting home. Whether that's due to lacking supporting casts along the Indiana and Texas Tech defensive lines or something else, Blidi would almost assuredly improve his production in the pass rush with a better group playing around him at Texas.

Blidi registered 15 quarterback pressures at Indiana last season, leading the team among defensive tackles. But he didn't register a single sack, despite getting 11 hurries and four QB hits last year.

He could also provide a valuable boost to Texas's interior pass rush along the IDL rotation for this upcoming season, benefiting talented EDGEs like Trey Moore, Barryn Sorrell, and Colin Simmons.

We will continue to monitor Blidi's portal recruitment for updates regarding a potential offer and official visit date for him to see Texas this spring.

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