The Transfer portal has become almost as important as high school recruiting. If a school loses a player to the NFL, graduation or transfer, the portal can help fill those holes.
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian did just that this offseason, bringing in several key transfers to replace players and beef up the overall team talent. ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy says, “I think the weapons (on Texas) were really well reloaded.”
đ”đ. 4⣠â @TexasFootball
Texas lost a lot but reloaded well. Expect the Longhorns to compete atop the SEC in their first year in the league đ€#HookEm | #Longhorns | #HornsUp pic.twitter.com/V3ZH3fH2dS
— Always College Football (@AlwaysCFB) August 28, 2024
As if to emphasize that point, ESPN is out with its 2024 Preseason All-Transfer team. Three Longhorns made the first team: Isaiah Bond, Trey Moore and Andrew Mukuba.
Sark discussed this year’s transfer portal strategy with the media during the spring, “I donât know if Iâm necessarily going to the portal to say weâve got to get something, but Iâm sure as weâll monitor there will be some decent players that go in, and then do they fit us. One of the challenges with the portal is how do you get to know the player, not just whatâs on tape, but the person. … We just want to make sure that we do our homework on anybody that we bring into the program this late in the game.â
Bond, Moore and Mukuba all seem to fit that mold. Here’s what ESPN’s Max Olson had to say about each player.
WR:Â Isaiah Bond, Texas (via Alabama)
Steve Sarkisian adding one of the fastest receivers in college football to Texas’ offense should be fun to watch. The 5-foot-11, 180-pound wideout caught 48 passes for 668 yards for Alabama last season, and all four of his touchdown catches came on throws of 30-plus yards. Among SEC receivers, only LSU’s Brian Thomas Jr. produced more TDs on those deep shots. The Longhorns brought in a ton of talent at receiver this offseason and have an extremely competitive room, but Bond should see lots of targets from Quinn Ewers. — ESPN’s Max Olson
DE:Â Trey Moore, Texas (via UTSA)
The 6-foot-3, 245-pound edge rusher earned AAC Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore after racking up 14 sacks (third-most in FBS) and 46 pressures last year with the fourth-best pressure rate (19.9%) in the country. The former zero-star recruit turned Freshman All-American is ready to be a difference-maker in the SEC on a Texas team with national title aspirations. — ESPN’s Max Olson
S:Â Andrew Mukuba, Texas (via Clemson)
After starting 31 games over three seasons at Clemson and earning Freshman All-America honors in 2021, the Austin native opted to transfer home for his senior year and chase a national championship with the Longhorns. Mukuba has produced 129 career tackles, 13 pass breakups and one interception and brings an important veteran presence to a Texas secondary with a ton of young blue-chip talent. — ESPN’s Max Olson