Second-year tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders is emerging into a star for the Texas Longhorns.
The former five-star spent much of his freshman season developing from the sidelines. Sanders has quickly become the alpha in the tight end room and is excelling in Steve Sarkisian’s offense.
Sanders is starting to get recognition for his efforts this year. He was named John Mackey Award tight end of the week for his two-touchdown performance against West Virginia. Sanders graded out as the Longhorns’ best player in the win.
Coach Sarkisian had glowing remarks about Sanders’ development in his Monday press conference.
“I love JT. I said it before and I’ll say it again; I’ll give him a lot of credit. In this day and age of the five-star recruit, it’s instant gratification. He’s supposed to walk in the door and become a starter the day that he gets here, because that’s what he hears on social media and that’s what everybody writes about, and all those things. When in reality, there’s this idea of development and developing players. I think JT put in a lot of work last year with Coach Banks.”
Texas has a special talent in Sanders. He is an exceptional pass catcher with improving blocking skills. No. 0 is on track to play football at the NFL level in the future.
Ja'Tavion Sanders has been named the John Mackey Award Tight End of the Week! 🤘 @Jatavionsanders pic.twitter.com/EdBwywSTEP
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) October 5, 2022
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