After unexpectedly losing four wide receivers at various points the past two months, Texas had suddenly become a little thinner at the position than they were comfortable with.
As a result of the attrition, a young member of the Longhorns’ defense will get a chance to see how life is on the other side of the ball.
A school spokesperson confirmed to Randy Riggs of the Austin American-Statesman that defensive back Bryant Jackson will be moving to wide receiver in an attempt to alleviate the lack of depth. Jackson is a redshirt freshman who, obviously, sat out the 2010 season.
As noted by Riggs, however, he does have experience at the position; in high school, he was a two-way player who, as a senior, caught more than 50 passes for nearly 750 yards. While the collegiate level is certainly a different beast, Jackson would appear ready based solely on high school stats to infuse some much-needed and talented depth at the position.
Arguably* the two most important departures of the offseason were Marquise Goodwin and Malcolm Williams. The former decided in early July to take a redshirt season in 2011 so that he could concentrate on a burgeoning track career, while the latter left the team earlier this past week and gave up football due to family issues. In addition to those two, former four-star recruit Cedric Timmons and Brock Fitzhenry left at various points during the past two months.
(Writer’s note: yes, I purposely began that last sentence with “Arguably” so as I could say that every single paragraph in the post began with the letter “A”. That’s just how I roll.)