Steve Sarkisian 'Really Impressed' With Growth of Longhorns Freshmen WRs

"They've come a long way," Texas Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian said of his three freshmen receivers.

AUSTIN, Texas -- Much has been made of the talent that the Texas Longhorns posses in their receiving room ahead of this season.

The return of Xavier Worthy and Jordan Whittington along with the injury comeback of Isaiah Neyor and the transfer addition of former Georgia Bulldog and College Football Playoff touchdown machine A.D. Mitchell makes it easy to get excited. It's a loaded group on paper.

But Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian made sure to acknowledge the development he's seen from Texas' three freshmen wideouts in Johntay Cook, DeAndre Moore Jr. and Ryan Niblett as well when speaking to the media on Monday.

If this trio can make their fair share of big plays this season, it'll raise an already elite receiving corps to greater heights.

"Our three young wideouts, they all didn't have the perfect day (Saturday), but they've come a long way when you talk about Johntay Cook, DeAndre Moore and Ryan Niblett," Sarkisian said. "Really impressed with those guys from where they're coming."

Cook, a five-star player coming out of DeSoto, is clearly the most notable of the three freshmen due to the likely impact he'll have out of the gate as a result of his effortless talent. In April's Orange-White game, he had three catches for 87 yards and a touchdown. 

Moore showed what he can do as well, finishing that game in April with five grabs for 44 yards.

But of course, as talented as the entire receiving room is, they're obviously far from perfect. Though Sark didn't point out anyone in particular, he said the pass-catching unit as a whole struggled with drops in Saturday's scrimmage.

"(We had) too many drops," Sarkisian said. "We had such a good camp up to that point of really catching the ball well and making plays. The ball just found the ground Saturday so we definitely have to clean that up."

There will be growing pains this season for the offense's young guns. But with potential that's through the roof and a confident acknowledgement from their head coach, the Texas freshman receivers could become an exciting watch for fans here in the next handful of weeks.

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You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7

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