Predicting Texas's first portal commitment this spring

Isaiah Raikes, DL

A recent portal entrant among proven Power Five interior defensive linemen is the former Texas A&M Aggies and USC Trojans senior defensive tackle Isaiah Raikes.

For the second time since last fall, Raikes entered the portal after spending just a few months with head coach Lincoln Riley at USC. A few months ago, Raikes transferred from Texas A&M to USC to shore up the depth along the Trojans' rebuilding defensive front.

But a small portal exodus where USC lost multiple upperclassmen on the defensive side of the ball to the portal in the last week saw the Trojans' depth along the front seven take a hit. Raikes was one of those players expected to be on the two-deep along USC's defensive front for this upcoming season in the Big Ten that entered the portal in the last week.

It was rumored last week that junior defensive tackle Bear Alexander would hit the portal. But Alexander shut down those rumors, and it looks like he could ultimately stay at USC a few months before preseason camp.

The 6-foot-2 and 320-pound Raikes appeared in a dozen games for the Aggies as a rotational defensive tackle in each of the last two seasons. He registered 4.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, and 34 combined tackles since 2022 for the Aggies.

One big reason why the Longhorns could pursue Raikes in the portal this spring is that he has proven experience playing over the football in the SEC over multiple years.

We've talked about Texas's need to add experience and size at zero tech this spring. And Raikes has over 200 defensive snaps playing in a true nose technique for Texas A&M in the last two seasons.