Texas Football: Stanford TE transfer Benjamin Yurosek visiting UT

In the last 10 days or so, the activity has been nonstop for Texas football and head coach Steve Sarkisian in the NCAA Transfer Portal. Over the weekend, Texas landed a huge portal commitment in the former Alabama Crimson Tide standout sophomore wide receiver Isaiah Bond.

The Longhorns also hosted a handful of other top transfer targets for visits on campus last weekend, including former Alabama junior linebacker Kendrick Blackshire and Oregon State Beavers redshirt junior wide receiver Silas Bolden.

Texas appears to have another key transfer target in its sights at a position of need at tight end.

Texas football targeting Stanford TE transfer Benjamin Yurosek as a possible replacement for Ja'Tavion Sanders

Former Stanford Cardinal senior tight end and grad transfer Benjamin Yurosek is the newest portal target to watch for Sarkisian and the Longhorns coming out of the big visit weekend. Pete Thamel of ESPN reported on his Twitter/X account on Jan. 15 that Yurosek is scheduled to visit Texas.

Yurosek is also reportedly scheduled to visit Athens to see the Georgia Bulldogs.

The Georgia visit will be this weekend, and a date hasn't been announced yet for the Texas visit. We will continue to follow this portal recruitment for visit schedule updates with Yurosek and the Longhorns.

Texas continues to target quality impact players at positions of need in the portal

Sarkisian and the Longhorns staff have done a great job of upgrading the roster with immediate impact starters at positions of need instead of just throwing out offers left and right. Texas is in a spot as a program now where they can afford to pick and choose the right portal targets to upgrade the roster in key areas instead of having to throw numbers at depth issues.

Texas targeting Yurosek follows that trend of Texas's staff finding an impact player who can start immediately at a position of need this year. Special teams coordinator/tight ends coach Jeff Banks and the Longhorns are losing All-Big 12 junior tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders to the NFL Draft this spring.

Sanders was Texas's top receiving tight end in 2023. Texas does return junior tight end Gunnar Helm, who started many games alongside Sanders last season. Helm is a quality blocking tight end and a reliable receiver. But Helm is nowhere near the receiving threat that Sanders poses at tight end.

Yurosek was a premier receiving TE in the PAC-12

The 6-foot-5 and 235-pound Yurosek is an athletic and proven tight end who was one of the best at his position in the PAC-12 in the last few seasons. He was among the most productive and consistent tight ends in the PAC-12 in 2021 and 2022.

He led Stanford in receptions and receiving yards in 2021 and ranked in the top three in both categories in 2022.

Yurosek got off to a torrid start again in 2023, registering nearly 200 receiving yards on 13 catches, with one touchdown in the season's first two games. But injuries limited Yurosek's production as he missed or was physically-limited for the entire second half of the 2023 campaign.

Since 2021, Yurosek and former Utah Utes star Dalton Kincaid are the only two tight ends in the PAC-12 to register at least 100 catches for over 1,000 receiving yards. That's great company for Yurosek to be in as Kincaid was a first round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.