Team Building: Where Texas football goes from here after portal losses
The football season isn’t over yet, but free agency has begun in college football. Multiple Texas players announced that they are looking for new homes on Tuesday.
Hudson Card headlines the group of departing players. Card played solid football in his game action this season and could garner plenty of interest from teams in need of a quarterback.
Other notable departures include Andrej Karic, Jamier Johnson and Troy Omeire.
The losses in and of themselves aren’t program killers but the loss of quality depth is suboptimal for the Texas staff. The reality is, every team will deal with portal casualties and the Longhorns could see more players depart.
The likelihood is that Texas will end up with a net gain of talent this offseason. Given their resources and improved on-field play this season, Steve Sarkisian should be able to improve the roster before next fall.
Let’s look at where Texas might add talent and depth in the offseason.
Wide receiver
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Texas should have plenty of talent in house to field a strong receiving corps. Xavier Worthy, Isaiah Neyor, Agiye Hall, Casey Cain, Brenen Thompson and Savion Red are a few names that stand out for the Longhorns.
That said, there were some who thought adding Jordan Addison would be overkill after bringing in Isaiah Neyor and Agiye Hall. It turns out, Steve Sarkisian and company could have greatly benefitted from adding Jordan Addison. Texas can stand to add a proven player at the position.
Backup Tight End
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Ja’Tavion Sanders could be an All-American tight end next year. It wouldn’t hurt to add another tight end to the mix after Jahleel Billingsley’s departure. If they are unable to bring in Duce Robinson, they could address tight end through the portal.
Defensive line
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Keondre Coburn will be a huge loss for Texas and the Longhorns will need more from the edge position opposite Barryn Sorrell. Justice Finkley should step into the other edge role seamlessly with Ethan Burke, Colton Vasek and Derion Gullette pushing for playing time among others. They might add a player or two up front.
Linebacker
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Texas might have to replace more than Ovie Oghoufo, DeMarvion Overshown and Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey at linebacker this offseason. Pete Kwiatkowski and Jeff Choate should do everything they can to bring back Jaylan Ford for another year. Adding Anthony Hill could fill one starting vacancy, but Texas might look to add another linebacker.
Secondary
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Texas might be set in the secondary. Ryan Watts, Jahdae Barron and Terrance Brooks would make for an excellent group of cornerbacks. Jerrin Thompson figures to be the answer at one of the safety spots. Kitan Crawford and Jaylon Guilbeau will each be difficult to keep off the field. Nevertheless, Texas might look for help at safety to fill Anthony Cook’s starting vacancy.
