Jordan Whittington is making a couple of changes for the upcoming 2020 football season. He will battle along with sophomore slot receiver Jake Smith for the starting job. Whittington was recruited to play running back but an injury forced Roschon Johnson into the position and the addition of Bijan Robinson has filled the void. The losses of Devin Duvernay and Colin Johnson left a hole at receiver. Whittington will now look to make his mark at the position once he is healthy again.
He did announce on Twitter another change for the upcoming year, a new number.
— Jordan Whittington (@J_Whitt3) July 30, 2020
Jordan will make the switch from 21 to the number four. Jersey numbers in college football are less traditional than those of the NFL. However, 21 feels like a number worn by running backs and defensive backs, not receivers. There have been several notable Longhorn receivers that wore the number during their time in Austin.
Roy Williams is the first to come to mind, the Longhorns all-time leading receiver wore it for his four seasons with Texas. He snagged 241 passes for 3,866 yards and 36 touchdowns over that span. Another name is Limas Sweed.
He also wore the number during his four year run at the University of Texas. Sweed hauled in 124 passes for 1,915 yards and 20 touchdowns. Can Whittington make a similar level of an impact? Possibly but the first thing he needs to do is stay healthy so he has the opportunity to compete for snaps at wide receiver.
On a related note, Michigan transfer Tarik Black will also have a new number and it is more on the odd side. Black wore the number seven for the Wolverines but will have the number zero on his jersey for Texas.
Sub Zero 🥶 pic.twitter.com/Z4NKR9hg6D
— Tarik Black (@LetmeRockk_) July 30, 2020