Steve Sarkisian finally ready to expand the Texas WR rotation (2024)

After three wide receivers — AD Mitchell, Xavier Worthy, and Jordan Whittington — played 2,278 of the 2,533 snaps logged at the position for the Texas Longhorns last season, nearly 90 percent, head coach Steve Sarkisian said on Wednesday at SEC Media Days in Dallas that he plans on finally expanding the rotation at the position with Mitchell, Worthy, and Whittington all preparing for their first seasons in the NFL.

“I think it’s twofold,” Sarkisian said. “We are going to play more receivers. I think the length of the season, and because of not having all of the rapport with Quinn [Ewers], some of that we’ll have to feel out as games go. It is a very talented room for sure, and we’ve got three great transfers.”

In addition to the 12 regular-season games, Texas could potentially play five extra games if it makes the SEC Championship game and receivers a five seed or lower in the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff format that debuts this year, putting an emphasis on depth across the program.

The question of rapport looms large over the Longhorns, too — sophom*ore Johntay Cook is the only returning receiver with a catch last season and of his 125 snaps, many of them came in blowouts when starting quarterback Quinn Ewers, now a redshirt junior, was already out of the game.

And while Ewers looked in sync with his new and returning receivers during the brief portions of practice open the media this spring, which notably didn’t include any team periods, his Orange-White game appearance to cap spring was not only short by design, but Alabama transfer wide receiver Isaiah Bond didn’t seem like he was on the same page with his quarterback, including a dropped pass on a crossing route that Ewers delivered off platform while climbing the pocket.

As a third-year starter and one of the nation’s top quarterbacks, Ewers should be comfortable with his new group of receivers once the season starts, but the extent to which he has rapport with individual receivers could impact how deep the rotation goes and how snaps are allocated among that group.

It’s the deepest group Sarkisian has had in his four years at Texas and one with a unique profile, made up of the three transfers that the Longhorns head coach mentioned, three second-year players, and four freshman, all of whom enrolled early.

Given Sarkisian’s reputation as an offensive mastermind and one of the best play callers in football, building depth at wide receiver was an ongoing struggle for Sarkisian after inheriting a roster heavy on scholarship wide receiver as Texas went through three coaches at the position in three years and suffered some notable misses on the recruiting trail. Of those 14 wide receivers on Sarkisian’s initial roster, 12 entered the transfer portal or otherwise left the program with Worthy and Whittington the only two who stuck.

The result was a heavy load placed on Worthy over his first two seasons, when he played 1,434 snaps and served as the team’s lone deep threat. The addition of AD Mitchell from Georgia relieved both burdens on Worthy last season, making for a more complementary wide receiver corps even though the group still lacked depth, forcing Sarkisian to continue deploying heavier personnel groupings with multiple tight ends.

Now Sarkisian has a new problem with preseason camp approaching — choosing which players will be in the rotation. Based on the players Sarkisian mentioned at media days, he already has a strong idea about which players are best positioned to make the expanded rotation.

“When you talk about Isaiah Bond, Matthew Golden, Silas Bolden, three really good experienced football players that came from good football programs,” Sarkisian said. “We had signed a very good class the year before with Johntay Cook, DeAndre Moore, and Ryan Niblett. Then with this incoming class, I think it’s pretty fair to say Ryan Wingo is a really good player for us.”

Getting snaps for that many receivers might not be possible, though, especially once conference play begins.

“To think I’ve got seven quality players there. Now, is it going to be a seven-man rotation? That will bear itself out, but I do think we’ll play more players than we have in the past, we’ll rotate more guys than we probably have in the past, and then as we work ourselves through the season — when you start playing this many games, I’d love to tell you we’re not going to get injuries. Injuries are going to occur, so we’re going to play more players probably early in the season than we have just because you don’t have some of that experience that we lost from a year ago,” Sarkisian said.

The three transfers bring versatility in addition to their experience since Bond split his snaps nearly equally between slot and outside alignments with Alabama in 2023, Golden played inside on 30 percent of his snaps, and Bolden has slot attributes even though he lined up outside on more than 80 percent of his snaps last year at Oregon State.

Bond showcased the explosiveness that made him Georgia’s 100-meter champion in high school on his 75-yard touchdown catch on the Orange-White game, the type of play the Longhorns and every other observer expect to translate to the field with frequency this fall. There’s a reason why some early 2025 mock drafts note Bond’s potential to play himself into the first round with a big 2024 season.

At media days, Bond’s former quarterback Jalen Milroe reflected on the loss of his top target.

“Great receiver. What a great player, very explosive, detail-oriented. He’s a team guy. So to see him go was tough, but I’m very excited for him,” Milroe said.

Golden and Bond both add further versatile with their playmaking ability on special teams — Golden, the Cougars transfer, returned two kickoffs for touchdowns last season and the former Beavers standout, has career return touchdowns in both phases.

Considering the at-times shaky quarterback play and lingering foot injury that limited Golden last season, Golden isn’t facing the same level of expectations as Bond, even largely flying under the radar on discussions at media days, but there’s no question that he has the potential to have a true breakout season to because of his ability to win routes as an outside receiver.

“Two things we were looking for in the portal at the receiver position was 1. an experienced play-maker on the outside,” Sarkisian said of Golden on Early Signing Day last December. “He has good length, he’s really put together. He made a lot of big plays over two years at Houston, clearly in our game catches two touchdowns.”

Beyond special teams, Golden adds extra value as a strong perimeter blocker, capable of setting the edge in the running game or springing receivers like Bolden and Bond for yards after the catch.

Even though Bolden arrived in Austin for summer conditioning, he quickly drew some concise praise from redshirt freshman quarterback Arch Manning last month for his speedy acclimation process.

“He’s a dog. He’s really good,” Manning said.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Bolden’s game — his ability to win 50-50 balls despite his diminutive 5’8 frame.

Of the four young receivers, the freshman Wingo is drawing the most buzz after signaling his arrival at the Orange-White game, catching four passes for 81 yards and two touchdowns, including a 55-yard score.

In the process, Wingo showcased a diverse skill set that have him poised to make an early impact — an ability to extend naturally out of his frame to catch passes, an ability to win routes off the line of scrimmage, and the ability to track the football over his shoulder.

Star Missouri wide receiver Luther Burden, a St. Louis product like Wingo, is certainly on the hype train, predicting an All-SEC season for the 6’2, 210-pounder.

And last year’s signing class? Moore had a big-time moment in the Orange-White game with his 75-yard touchdown pass, but Niblett seems further behind his classmates and the most likely exclusion if Sarkisian opts for a six-man rotation. Cook has plenty to prove in preseason camp with the new competition from the transfers and Wingo drawing so much justified praise.

Taken as the whole, Chris Jackson’s position room has a different look from the short-rotation, Worthy-centric start for the wide receiver group opening Sarkisian’s tenure on the Forty Acres.

“This group is very talented and by far and away our deepest receiver corps that we’ve had in four years.”