Discover the overlooked portal gems bolstering Texas Football's championship aspirations. These acquisitions are poised to make a significant impact.
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian entered this offseason looking to take the Longhorns from a good team to a championship-level one.
He started by making tough decisions on his coaching staff, like firing longtime defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski and bringing back Will Muschamp to replace him.
Sarkisian then followed that up by bringing in the nation's third-ranked Transfer Portal class (according to 247 Sports), acquiring experienced elite talent across the entire squad.
The Longhorns' offseason was a statement of intent - they're all in for a national championship this season.
Guys like WR Cam Coleman, RB Hollywood Smothers, and LB Rasheem Biles are the highlights of Texas' portal signees, but it also landed a few players flying under the radar.
Here are three players the Longhorns acquired from the portal who are not getting the love they deserve
CB Bo Mascoe
Texas' secondary was a mess last season.
With guys like Michael Taaffe, Malik Muhammad and Jaylon Guilbeau leaving, it needed to bring in a defensive back with experience to challenge a rather young group of players.
Mascoe is just that.
The 5-11, 185-pound corner from Rutgers started every game for the Scarlet Knights last season, totaling 53 tackles, four pass breakups, one interception and two tackles for loss.
His stellar season earned him Honorable Mention All-Big Ten honors.
Mascoe checks the boxes on many of the most important boxes you look for in CBs, and he's in line to be one of the Longhorns most important players on defense.
OT Melvin Siani
Texas' biggest need in the offseason was an offensive lineman, and yet, when he was signed, it felt like Siani didn't get the hype from Texas fans that he deserved.
Maybe it was the fact that he was the consolation prize to Jordan Seaton (now committed to LSU), but if that's the case, he's a dang good consolation prize.
The 6-6, 302-pound beat at tackle started every game for Wake Forest last season, becoming one of the nation's best pass-blockers, allowing 0 sacks in 486 pass block snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.
That's well... pretty freaking good.
The Longhorns have one of, if not the best quarterback going into 2026 in Arch Manning.
Protecting him is an absolute priority, and surrounding him with tackles like Trevor Goosby and Siani addresses that and then some.
TE Michael Masunas
Masunas stats don't fly off the stat sheet, but his best attribute can't be seen through stats.
The 6-5, 259-pound TE from Michigan State specializes in run-blocking, an area Texas is looking to improve this season, especially after bringing in two elite running backs in Hollywood Smothers and Raleek Brown.
Masunas also became more of a threat in the pass game last season, catching 24 passes for 270 yards and three touchdowns.
Sophomore Nick Townsend is expected to fill more of the pass-catching role for the Longhorns this season, but it doesn't hurt to have two sure-handed TEs, especially for two-TE sets.
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