Texas Football: 5 portal targets on UT's Christmas wish list
Evan Stewart, WR
From the perspectives of fit and impact in Sark's offense, the former Texas A&M Aggies sophomore wide receiver transfer Evan Stewart would be a tremendous addition for the Longhorns heading into the offseason. Stewart is an insanely explosive athlete with good hands, tremendous body control, and fantastic straight-line speed.
Despite having a revolving door at quarterback that never ranked in the top half of the Power Five in passing explosiveness, Stewart was able to be a big play threat consistently for the Aggies. He led all Texas A&M receivers in explosive plays since the start of the 2022 campaign.
The issue with Texas pursuing Stewart sounds like it would be the potential fit with the program. On3's Pete Nakos reported this week (paid content) that Texas isn't expected to be one of the programs pushing hard for Stewart's commitment in the portal.
Thus, Stewart fits the bill on this list of the type of elite talent Texas would love to have in the receiving corps to make an immediate impact on this pass offense in the SEC next season. There are other factors in this portal recruitment that will likely cause Stewart to end up somewhere other than Texas.
Jahmal Banks, WR
Potentially a more viable option at wideout in the portal for the Longhorns heading into the offseason is the former Wake Forest Demon Deacons redshirt junior wide receiver Jahmal Banks. The 6-foot-4 and 205-pound fourth-year boundary receiver Banks is among the most proven outside receiving threats avaiable in the portal.
This could be a good fit between Banks and Texas since the Longhorns need to replace multiple boundary receivers entering the offseason. Texas is expected to lose its three top boundary receivers either to the portal or the NFL Draft. That includes starting boundary receiver and junior standout Adonai Mitchell, who is expected to enter the NFL Draft next spring.
Banks could be a potential target for the Longhorns to evaluate to replace some of the depth and talent lost at boundary receiver heading into the offseason. He wouldn't be an immediate star in this offense who could be moved around to different receiver spots, given his limited top-end speed.
What Banks would be is a more proven and sure-handed wideout similar to what Texas thought they were getting a couple of offseasons ago in Wyoming WR transfer Isaiah Neyor.
Banks has an enormous catch radius as a bigger receiver on the outside, which is known to be what redshirt sophomore Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers likes to target through the air, given his higher release point throwing the football.
He can high-point the football and bring down those tough contested 50-50 balls. Banks reeled in nearly two dozen contested catches at Wake Forest in the last two seasons, ranking among the top five receivers in the ACC in that category.
Banks isn't the fastest receiver regarding straight-line speed. But he does have good acceleration and is physical enough to create separation at the first point of contact with the DB to get open on intermediate and deep route concepts. If he's left one-on-one on the outside, Banks will win those matchups on 50-50 balls and deep targets more often than not.
I like the idea of giving Ewers a true boundary receiver who brings down any ball that's thrown within the vicinity of his catch window.