Alabama lost the national championship on Monday night as Bryce Young threw an ill-advised pick-six to Georgia’s Kelee Ringo to ice the game.
Less than a day after the hard-fought loss, Alabama has lost five players to the transfer portal.
- OL Tommy Brown
- TE Jahleel Billingsley
- LB King Mwikuta
- LB Drew Sanders
- QB Paul Tyson
Texas should have an advantage in recruiting a few of the Alabama transfers if they chose to reach out. These players will have some familiarity with the Texas staff containing multiple former Alabama assistants. The Longhorns were able to land running back Keilan Robinson from Alabama last offseason.
Robinson sent out a cryptic tweet after the news dropped.
👀
— Keilan Robinson (@__keilan) January 11, 2022
It would make sense for Texas to target Billingsley, Mwikuta and Sanders as tight end and linebacker are positions of need in Austin.
Billingsley would fit right in at tight end at Texas. The former four-star played in eight games this season while he totaled 256 receiving yards and three scores. He should already have a strong understanding of Sarkisian’s offense as he played in it last season.
Touchdown Alabama 😁🔥
Jahleel Billingsley with a Touchdown 🔥pic.twitter.com/2FqFaOoEHg
— Alabama DieHards 🥋 (@DiehardsAlabama) September 18, 2021
Linebacker is a position Texas needs to see major improvements from if they want to have a bounce-back 2022 season.
Drew Sanders is a former five-star from the state of Texas who was injured most of the 2021 season. He is an edge rusher who would fit the “Jack” position in Texas’ defense.
Drew Sanders can bring the boom for @AlabamaFTBL. pic.twitter.com/ruyN68imGJ
— SEConCBS (@SEConCBS) September 18, 2021
This marks the second trip to the transfer portal for Mwikuta. The third-year linebacker was a former top 150 prospect but has been stuck in a special teams role at Alabama.
Texas will welcome Alabama to Austin in Week 2 of the 2022 season. Potentially an intriguing storyline if any of the former tide players end up at Texas.