Texas Longhorns Receiver Isaiah Bond Tabbed As One Transfer Under Most Pressure

The Texas Longhorns revamped their wide receiver room in the transfer portal, and Alabama wide receiver Isaiah Bond is at the forefront.

Texas Longhorns wide receiver Isaiah Bond during football spring practice at the Frank Denius / Ricardo B. Brazziell/American-Statesman

Losing one NFL-caliber wide receiver is never ideal in college football, simply because you never know where you get that production from when they are gone.

For Texas, heading into the 2024 season they are set to lose not one, but three NFL-caliber wide receivers. In fact, to take it to another level, Texas is losing two projected first-round in receivers Adonai Mitchell and Xavier Worthy, and Jordan Whittington who was a five-star and had very bright moments, but was plagued by injury.

To replace all of this talent, head coach Steve Sarkisian went into the transfer portal and landed three of the best receivers. One of which, Isaiah Bond, is drawing the most eyes this offseason, and maybe the highest expectations.

Texas Longhorns wide receiver Isaiah Bond during football spring practice at the Frank Denius / Ricardo B. Brazziell/American-Statesman

In a recent article by 247Sports, Grant Hughes broke down who he felt were the 10 transfers under the most pressure, and among them was Bond. It doesn't come as much of a surprise considering the former top-50 recruit is fresh off of a career year at Alabama that saw him nab 48 passes for 668 yards and four scores, but he will have huge shoes to fill in Austin.

"Texas' offense has to replace two potential Day 1 NFL Draft picks Xavier Worthy and AD Mitchell, and is putting a lot of that responsibility on Bond. Like other programs on this list, its championship-or-bust for Texas after star quarterback Quinn Ewers opted to spurn the pros and return to Austin. He'll have plenty of new toys to play with next season, and Bond is expected to be the de facto No. 1 target despite entering his junior season with less than 900 yards receiving in his career," wrote Hughes.

Luckily for Bond, he will have a much-proven pass in Quinn Ewers throwing him the ball, and Ewers is expected to take another massive step forward in his development as it is. Bond also won't be alone as the player that Texas needs big numbers from, as Oregon State transfer Silas Bolden and Houston's Matthew Golden are both there to ease the pressure. It is also worth noting that fans shouldn’t sleep on Johntay Cook II who is going into his second year, and will make a case for being one of the best receivers as well.

For Texas and Bond, it's a great situation to be in. They each had so much success last season, that people are now expecting that and then some from them. They are the product of their own success, and when a program like Texas is looking to reemerge as one of the powers of the sport, pressure is something that they will be dealt, and have to ignore on a daily.