Tag: amari niblack

CFB analyst Josh Pate discusses Texas’ transfer portal haul

“When it comes to talent acquisition, Texas is rolling.”

Texas is reloading. The Longhorns look to be near as talented as they were last season with more experience at key positions. Most notably, starting quarterback Quinn Ewers and several offensive linemen enter their third seasons as starters in Austin.

This year’s transfer portal haul is what impresses one college football analyst. Josh Pate of 247Sports shared the following thoughts on how the Longhorns have filled needs outside of key returning players.

“When it comes to talent acquisition, Texas is rolling. They got six out of eight kids as blue chippers out of the (transfer) portal. They added three wide receivers. This was imperative. AD Mitchell is gone, Xavier Worthy is gone and they went and added three receivers that will be immediate impact guys.”

The receiving corps won’t be the same. You don’t lose unique NFL talents like Worthy and Mitchell and replace them with the same skill sets. Those players are one of a kind. The receiving corps should still be excellent. Pate continued, acknowledging what Texas added at receiver in the portal.

“I’m excited to see what (Alabama transfer wide receiver) Isaiah Bond is in that offense. They also got (Amari) Niblack, the tight end from Alabama. And so, they backfilled their pass catchers fairly effectively. Now, they gotta pan out. And as we have seen, portal acquisitions do not pan out at as high a hit rate as traditional recruiting for obvious reasons. But Texas has been really good at this.”

There are no guarantees when it comes to transfers. A handful of transfers have not panned out at Texas. Nevertheless, the Longhorns have done well in utilizing portal players like Ewers and Mitchell in recent seasons.

Texas appears to be reloading. It will look to put things all together in 2024.

Texas lands top tight end transfer from SEC program

Texas lands top tight end transfer from SEC program

The Texas Longhorns continued their offseason success through the transfer portal Thursday evening, as head coach Steve Sarkisian added another solid piece to his 2024 offense in Alabama transfer tight end Amari Niblack.

A former four-star prospect in the 2022 class, Niblack has spent the first two seasons of his collegiate career at Alabama. After catching only one pass in 2022 as a freshman, which went for a touchdown, Niblack had a breakout 2023 campaign this past fall in Tuscaloosa, catching 20 passes for 327 yards and four touchdowns.

Niblack is now the seventh transfer portal addition for the Longhorns so far this offseason, as well as the third from Alabama alongside Isaiah Bond and Kendrick Blackshire. The former four-star is also Texas’ first transfer addition at tight end, which was a likely position of need for the Longhorns after 2023 starter Ja’Tavion Sanders departed for the NFL.

A rising junior, Niblack is now set to join a loaded Texas pass-catching group next season, and should be one of the top targets for Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers.

Texas fans and players react to the Longhorns landing Amari Niblack

Sark and the Longhorns are on a roll this offseason.

This offseason has been Steve Sarkisian’s best so far, and it’s only January. Continue reading “Texas fans and players react to the Longhorns landing Amari Niblack”

Former Alabama TE Amari Niblack commits to Texas

Texas loves those Bama boys!

Steve Sarkisian and the Texas Longhorns have found themselves another former member of the Alabama Crimson Tide to join their team in 2024. This time it is former five-star tight end Amari Niblack.

Sark and the Longhorns have already lured away star receiver Isaiah Bond from the Crimson Tide and now, with Niblack’s Thursday night commitment, Texas has a new dynamic duo.

Niblack played sparingly as a true freshman for Alabama in 2022 before stepping into a much more prominent for the Tide in 2023 where he caught 20 passes for 327 yards and four touchdowns. Niblack had a sense for the big play too averaging over 15 yards per reception as a sophomore.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to monitor the NCAA transfer portal for more news and updates.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Stacey Blackwood on X (Twitter) @Blackwood89.

Texas football’s rise is a product of a perfect storm and perfect hire

Several factors have vaulted Texas into a legit national title contender in 2024.

There’s a national title contender in Austin, Texas. The Texas football program has vaulted itself to the top of the college football world as it approaches 2024.

Several circumstances have gone right for the Longhorns, and they converged at just the right time. The first was a perfect hire. What followed was a confluence of events that has put the team at a significant advantage.

Texas’ good fortune began when it hired head coach Steve Sarkisian. The former Alabama offensive coordinator and USC head coach proved himself one of the brightest football minds at the college level.

Unlike his two predecessors at Texas, Sarkisian hired the best assistant coaching staff money could buy. From there, the Longhorns began developing players at a level the program hadn’t seen in several seasons.

Making the right hire was significant, but other factors have gone in Texas’ favor since the hire. The Longhorns are a more potent recruiting powerhouse than they used to be. The program hired one of the best recruiting and developmental staffs in the country, bolstered its presence through name, image and likeness licensing, capitalized on an exciting offense in recruiting and made the College Football Playoff.

Now Texas is the hot name in the transfer portal. The Longhorns aren’t above rewarding players with generous name, image and likeness deals while some programs withhold such deals. In Austin, as will be evident by the upcoming NFL draft, you can get developed and still make money off your name, image and likeness while in college.

We have seen Texas recruit well, but we haven’t seen anything like what the team is doing in the portal right now. Sarkisian and company have added six proven starting-caliber players: Alabama receiver Isaiah Bond, Houston receiver Matthew Golden, UTSA edge Trey Moore, Clemson safety Andrew Mukuba, Oregon State receiver Silas Bolden and Alabama tight end Amari Niblack.

The team also added high upside Alabama linebacker Kendrick Blackshire. It is on the verge of adding elite Washington cornerback Jabbar Muhammad.

Some made much of the Longhorns’ departing players. However, of the four 2023 playoff teams, Texas is in the best spot by far. The Longhorns are set to return 14 starters and add at least six more Power Five caliber starters in the portal.

No other College Football Playoff participant from the 2023 season is set to return more than seven starters. That includes the national title winning Michigan Wolverines who Texas is scheduled to face in Week 2 next season.

Alabama loses legendary head coach Nick Saban, leaving a void atop the SEC opposite Georgia. Michigan could also lose Jim Harbaugh to the NFL.

As for Texas, the Longhorns seem most focused on winning it all in 2024. They return statistically one of the 10 best quarterbacks in college football: Quinn Ewers. He will play behind a line that returns four 2023 starters and another starter from a season before.

There are several circumstances converging into a perfect storm for Texas to compete for a title next season. Sarkisian and company look to increase the likelihood of a title run with continued success over the offseason.

Alabama transfer TE Amari Niblack commits to Texas

Texas adds Ja’Tavion Sanders’ replacement in speedy five-star Alabama transfer Amari Niblack.

Alabama transfer tight end Amari Niblack has committed to Texas. The No. 1 tight end in the transfer portal chose the Longhorns on Thursday night.

The athletic pass catcher is set to replace elite Longhorns tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders. Though we think highly of what Gunnar Helm brings the offense at tight end, Niblack is a huge get for a team that had no comparable replacement to Sanders in the fold.

Niblack possesses incredible speed at the tight end position. The sophomore tight end utilized his athleticism to bring in 20 receptions for 327 yards and four touchdowns in 2023. Against Texas last season, Niblack caught two passes for 45 yards and a touchdown.

There is no significant offensive fall off for Texas skill players heading into 2024. The team replaces talented receivers Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell, Ja’Tavion Sanders and Jordan Whittington with Isaiah Bond, Matthew Golden, Johntay Cook, Silas Bolden and Amari Niblack.

Niblack makes Texas a true contender heading into next season. The Longhorns look to continue building a championship contender over the offseason.

Texas receives prediction for Alabama transfer TE Amari Niblack

Amari Niblack is the No. 1 tight end in the transfer portal per On3.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian is seemingly landing whoever he wants via the transfer portal this offseason. Continue reading “Texas receives prediction for Alabama transfer TE Amari Niblack”

Alabama TE Amari Niblack enters transfer portal: Could Texas be interested?

Texas could add more TE depth with the departure of Ja’Tavion Sanders.

After a busy weekend and major events taking place for the Longhorns, another possible addition entered the transfer portal on Saturday. Continue reading “Alabama TE Amari Niblack enters transfer portal: Could Texas be interested?”

Alabama TE Amari Niblack enters NCAA transfer portal

Alabama tight end Amari Niblack entered the NCAA transfer portal. Niblack spent two seasons in Tuscaloosa.

Alabama has lost a handful of players to the transfer portal in recent days. The most recent entrant is Alabama starting tight end Amari Niblack. On Sunday, Niblack entered his name into the transfer portal.

In two seasons at Alabama, Niblack reeled in 21 receptions for 342 yards and five touchdowns. Despite a lack of volume, Niblack was one of the more productive pass-catchers for the Crimson Tide the past two seasons.

He was expected to play a vital role in Alabama’s offense for the 2024 season. He could choose to withdraw from the transfer portal and return to Alabama. Needless to say, it will be interesting to see which direction Niblack chooses to go.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow the latest news regarding the Alabama football program and its players who have entered the NCAA transfer portal.

Social media reacts to Alabama’s impressive opening drive at Kentucky

Jalen Milroe has Alabama fans excited after the Tide’s hot start in Lexington

After Alabama football fans held a collective sigh of relief after starting quarterback Jalen Milroe fell to the turf with a leg injury, Milroe returned and helped guide the Crimson Tide offense to a touchdown on their opening drive in Lexington to give Alabama an early 7-0 lead over the Wildcats.

Milroe was a perfect 5-5 on the drive for 51 yards including a 26-yard strike to Amari Niblack to get the Crimson Tide on the board.

After a quick stop from the Alabama defense, Milroe would then find Kobe Prentice for a 40-yard touchdown to expand the Tide’s lead to 14-0.

Despite the early kick, it didn’t take social media long to get hyped for Alabama’s impressive road start. Here are some of the top reactions from X (formerly Twitter).