Why Emmett Mosley and Jack Endries Could Be Game-Changers for Texas

The Texas pass-catching corps entered the offseason in a tricky spot for head coach Steve Sarkisian and his respective position coaches.

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The Longhorns spent much of the 2024 offseason shoring up depth in the wide receiver room, adding three transfers—two of whom were expected to start. At that time, the sentiment around this wide receiver corps was that Matthew Golden had a chance of staying one more year in Austin, creating a fierce quartet of Golden, rising juniors Johntay Cook and DeAndre Moore, and rising sophomore Ryan Wingo.

But we all know what happened. Cook’s tenure at Texas didn’t make it through his second season, and Golden performed so well that he became a first-round pick. Texas would end up losing seven of the nine receivers or tight ends to the draft, graduation, or the transfer portal.

Without Cook or Golden to work in tandem with Moore and Wingo for the future, Texas’ wide receiver corps seemed like an immediate weakness for the 2025 season—even with the best receiver recruiting class in the nation for 2025. That doesn’t even account for tight end, where true sophomore Jordan Washington was expected to go from zero career targets to a starting role.

This made the spring transfer portal additions of former Stanford WR Emmett Mosley V and Cal TE Jack Endries that much more impactful. Now, a team relying on players with 118 combined career targets brought in a duo of pass catchers who caught 104 passes in the ACC by themselves.

Outside of the fact that Endries and Mosley, from a pure numbers standpoint, are upgrades for this team, Sarkisian made a conscious effort to add two players who fit perfectly into the playstyles of what they already had. Wingo and Moore are game-wreckers—players with good size and speed who can make it a nightmare for the defense on high-percentage passing downs and deep balls. A perfect duo to have for Arch Manning. This doesn’t even mention Parker Livingstone, a 6-foot-4 burner expected to play a lot of football this year, mostly streaking down the sidelines looking for the next Manning bomb.

Mosley, though, fills in exactly what Manning needed in a safety blanket. Just three Power Five freshman receivers had more first downs than Mosley: Jeremiah Smith and the Clemson duo of Bryant Wesco Jr. and T.J. Moore. Mosley was only outpaced by Playoff team players and still outdid Ryan Williams in that respect. Not only does Mosley work as a chain mover for the Horns, but he is also committed to run blocking, a trait that seems to be a strong point for all four receivers in the room. Mosley is the epitome of a dirty-work WR who makes life easier for everyone on the offense.

With all that said, Endries may be the real prize of the portal-plucking season. Our own Eric Nahlin noted that he was Texas’ top portal addition: “Expectations: Start. Catch 50 balls. Declare for NFL Draft.” Sounds about right!

Endries is one of just three returning TEs with over 600 receiving yards, a 75 or better PFF grade, and 2 or more yards per route run in Power Five play. Only four TEs in total hit those numbers last year. Few teams have shown the ability to find the tight end more than Texas. The Longhorns are the only team that has had a top-three receiving season from a tight end in the last two years, and they did it with two different players with two very different backgrounds.

Endries follows in the footsteps of Gunnar Helm more than he does Ja’Tavion Sanders, starting out as a walk-on and making his way into a high-motor, high-impact football player. He is a menace on slip routes similar to Sanders but has the size and willingness to block that Helm possessed. This year’s playbook and quarterback may be less friendly to TE play than in years prior with Quinn Ewers under center, but Endries will be able to join Mosley as a safety blanket underneath while still providing early-down value as a blocker and mover in space.

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What once felt like a big flaw of this Texas team quickly turned into a strength in a span of four days thanks to the portal. In an era where college football recruiting has increasingly become a bidding war for the wealthiest (or most delusional) suitor, Sarkisian’s ability to address needs and find solutions through the portal has become one of Texas’ greatest assets as a program.