Tabbing which players will break out for Texas in 2024

Texas returns several starters and add transfers to a team that should be a contender in their new conference and in the country this season. Still, after losing some key pieces as well, the Longhorns will also need some of those to step forward.

Inside Texas’ Joe Cook spoke with Kaiden Smith on the ‘On3 Roundtable’ last week about some potential new names to watch down on The 40 Acres. In his answer, he gave two offensive players and two defensive ones.

On offense, Cook went with a pair of transfer wide receivers in Silas Bolden and Isaiah Bond. Each has over 65 catches in their respective careers at an average of 13.5 yards per reception or more with 14 touchdowns between them. That led to a ranking of Bond as the No. 2 WR and Bolden as the No. 29 WR per On3’s 2024 Transfer Portal Top Players.

Now, while the duo are different players, they’ll both bring their skillsets to the group of receiving targets in Austin.

“Silas Bolden, wide receiver transfer from Oregon State. He’s about five-foot-eight, 160 pounds,” said Cook. “Despite that size, he’s someone that is able to do a lot of different wide receiver things. He’s not a gadget player, he’s not a specialty player. He’s someone that does a lot of different great things on the football field. They’re really excited about what he may bring to a loaded wide receiver corps.”

“The other player, of course, is another transfer and that’s Isaiah Bond,” Cook continued. “Texas had a lot of speed at receiver last year between Adonai Mitchell and Xavier Worthy. They think Bond can bring that level of speed, that level of take the top off the defense that really works well in Steve Sarkisian’s system.”

From there on defense, Cook examined one returning player and then another transfer for Texas.

That started with LB Anthony Hill, their leading returner in tackles and second-returning leader in sacks, who will now take on a larger position in the middle of the unit. He then noted the addition of Trey Moore, the No. 27 transfer and No. 4 DE, with how his development could continue with the Longhorns.

“Anthony Hill – #0 there in the middle of the defense. He was an off-ball linebacker last year but he’s playing a little bit different role. Little bit more responsibilities in pass coverage and just also being the middle linebacker – being the leader of the defense, being the guy with the in-helmet communication device. Like, he’s adding a lot of responsibilities,” said Cook. “Even Pete Kwiatkowski, the defensive coordinator, has said Anthony Hill has made a considerable amount of progress. They’re going to look to him as an every-down player.”

“They’re also going to look to Trey Moore. He’s an edge player who comes from UTSA. Every step of his career has been an improvement. Had a standout season during UTSA’s Conference USA Championship season in ’22. The Roadrunners go to the American Athletic Conference and then he ends up winning AAC Defensive Player of the Year,” Cook said. “Texas went out for the local product. Was a little bit, I say this – he wasn’t injured but he was on the shelf. They felt like they had something special in him during the spring. Then, over the course of the summer and the fall, he has been playing fantastic at that position. Sark even talked the other day about how he gives a future first-round pick in Kelvin Banks issues.”

That’s four players from Cook who could make their own difference on how this season goes for Texas. They’ll be worth keeping an eye on in how the Longhorns adjust and follow up what they did last fall.