Longhorns Coach Steve Sarkisian Revisits 'Bright' Future of Young WR Trio
The Texas Longhorns have a fortunate problem on their hands after another successful offseason of recruiting additions.
Steve Sarkisian's offense took some major hits due to NFL departures, but Texas reloaded through the portal and now has arguably the deepest receiving room among SEC teams as they prepare for their inaugural season in the conference. The Longhorns added veteran transfers in Alabama's Isaiah Bond, Houston's Matthew Golden, and Oregon State's Silas Bolden.
But while these transfer grabs were necessary, it creates a logjam at the position with incoming and second-year recruits. Many fans could be left wondering why the Longhorns recruited so many multi-star receivers in the first place, something Sarkisian addressed during National Signing Day on Wednesday when talking about second-year pass-catchers Johntay Cook II, DeAndre Moore, and Ryan Niblett.
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"They're all very talented young players or we wouldn't have recruited them," Sarkisian said. "They've got size. They've got speed. They've got ball skills. Their future is very bright. But to think I was going to go into a season with three scholarship wide receivers, that would have been malpractice."
This past season as freshmen, Cook finished with eight catches for 136 yards while Moore played in nine games but didn't record a catch and returned just one kickoff for 15 yards. Niblett appeared in just three games, which maintains his potential redshirt as a sophomore.
In the era of the portal, a lack of playing time and/or targets for any of those three could understandably lead to a departure. And if the 2024 Texas offense is anything like it was this past season, there may not be tons of targets to go around. The Longhorns' passing game lead heavily on Adonai Mitchell, Xavier Worthy and tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders with some Jordan Whittington sprinkled in. Whoever ends up being WR4 in the pecking order next season could face a potential transfer decision.
"That room is going to be really solid," Sarkisian said. "We've just got to find that right group of guys once September rolls around."
Fans will get their first look at the new receiving corps during the Orange-White Game on Saturday, April 20.
