Texas Football: Breaking down UT's room with Isaiah Bond

Texas football continues to reload the receiving corps. On Jan. 14, Texas and head coach Steve Sarkisian added another immediate impact starter at wideout via the NCAA Transfer Portal in the former Alabama Crimson Tide standout sophomore wide receiver Isaiah Bond.

Bond's commitment gives the Longhorns another top-end wide receiver talent to help reload this position group entering the SEC in 2024. The No. 1 transfer wide receiver in the 247Sports Composite joins the former Houston Cougars sophomore wideout Matthew Golden as the two portal commits at the position for the Longhorns in the 2024 class.

Isaiah Bond and Matthew Golden give Texas football two proven top-notch starters in the receiving corps

Both Bond and Golden are expected to join Texas as spring enrollees to participate in camp in a couple of months.

These two big-time portal additions for the Longhorns join a receiving corps that is very green, but loaded with talent and depth. Of the nine scholarship players the Longhorns have at receiver, only two of them have at least one catch in an FBS game for Texas.

Texas have plenty of potent talent in the receiving corps to replace what its losing with all three starters headed to the NFL Draft this spring. Junior boundary receiver Adonai Mitchell, junior field receiver Xavier Worthy, and redshirt senior slot receiver Jordan Whittington all declared early for the 2024 NFL Draft.

Here's a breakdown of Texas's wide receiver room after the addition of Bond on Jan. 14.

Slot receiver

Starter: Johntay Cook II, Soph.

While it might be hard to believe, the top returning wideout for the Longhorns in 2024 is sophomore Johntay Cook II. The former elite five-star recruit from DeSoto High School in the DFW Metroplex received rotational reps for Sarkisian and the Longhorns at wideout during his true freshman campaign in 2023.

Cook hauled in eight catches for 136 receiving yards and no touchdowns in 2023.

He's sure to get a major uptick in reps as Cook slides into a bigger role in the receiving corps in 2024 with Mitchell, Worthy, and Whittington gone to the NFL.

Backup: DeAndre Moore Jr., Soph.

Fellow sophomore wideout DeAndre Moore Jr. joins Cook as the only two returning receivers for the Longhorns who caught a pass in a Texas uniform last fall. Moore was being groomed for the starting slot receiver position for 2024 following the departure of Whittington.

But the additions of Golden and Bond will heighten the competition to get first-team reps at wideout entering spring ball. Moore will be a key part of the receiving corps this year after another year of development as a receiver and blocker in Sarkisian's offense.