Bobby Burton

Today is National Signing Day for non-football sports. Gerry, Jordan and the guys are going to be running a thread on the message board chronicling all the new talent headed to Austin in multiple sports. Make sure you check it out. ** We’re just a month and a half from the football transfer portal opening. So what are the plans of the Longhorns? As we’ve mentioned previously, retention will be priority one for the defense. There are multiple players who could move on that Texas would probably like to stay around (Derek Williams, Bo Mascoe, Colton Vasek, Rasheem Biles, etc.). On offense, they’ll be looking for pieces to the puzzle across the board. An older high-end receiver with route-running skills and explosiveness would make a lot of sense to pair with Emmett Mosley and Jermaine Bishop. Offensive line needs must be evaluated internally. And some of that evaluation is ongoing. Has Andre Cojoe played well enough to take over full time next year? Does Texas project Jackson Christian and Jordan Coleman as guys who are ready to start next season? It’s also likely Texas will need an older tight end to backfill the room. ** One key player on defense who could return is Bo Mascoe. Mascoe has proven invaluable to the Texas secondary because he can play corner and nickel. Mascoe seems currently inclined to go pro. Yet if he stays and plays nickel, it might allow Graceson Littleton to push back to the middle-field safety to replace Jelani McDonald. Littleton and Mascoe are Swiss Army knives. They can both play anywhere in the secondary and give Will Muschamp versatility and the ability to disguise coverages. We’ll have more and deeper portal coverage in the next couple of weeks as the time for it draws nearer. But it’s safe to say that behind the scenes, the Texas personnel department is already working overtime on it currently. Hook’Em!