The Texas Longhorns’ hot streak in the transfer portal suffered a huge setback on Saturday when former Washington Huskies cornerback Jabbar Muhammad chose the Oregon Ducks over the Longhorns and the Alabama Crimson Tide after visiting Eugene.
Last week, Texas looked to be on the edge of signing Muhammad when head coach Steve Sarkisian allegedly assumed the lead in Muhammad’s recruiting, making him a top priority for the team and attempting to secure his commitment to avoid the lockdown corner taking other trips.
Instead, Muhammad followed through with his intentions to meet his old head coach Kalen DeBoer at Alabama before traveling to Oregon, where he was able to solidify his commitment.
“Honestly, who’s going to be able to compete?” As a competitor, you always want to be among the last ones standing. I want to make it to the final twelve, the playoffs. “I want to be in a system where I can be used in a variety of different ways to demonstrate my abilities,” Muhammad told Ducks Digest about what factors influenced his decision.
“And I want to play for a really fantastic football team. As I mentioned last year, truly excellent teams are critical for progressing to the next level. That’s also what I want to do. I also want to be in a position where I’m motivated and ready to go to the NFL.”
Muhammad, a consensus three-star talent in the 2020 class, was ranked outside the top 1,000 players nationally when he chose Oklahoma State over five other offers, including from Colorado and Texas Tech. Muhammad appeared in 31 games for the Cowboys, starting 13 of them, and recorded 71 tackles, one interception, and one forced fumble, all of which occurred in 2022, when he was promoted to full time starter.
After moving to Washington, the 5’10, 183-pounder established himself as one of the nation’s greatest cornerbacks, with 46 tackles, three interceptions, two sacks, and one fumble recovery.
With Muhammad’s missed opportunity, Texas will have to address a residual need at boundary cornerback via the transfer portal during the spring window. Despite securing a number of high-profile recruits through the portal, Oregon got the best of Sarkisian and his staff in Muhammad and Houston defensive lineman transfer Ja’Marree Caldwell, preventing the Longhorns from collecting their dream bunch of transfers.
