Texas football: With portal, NFL draft entry closed, these key players will return

Posted by Admin January 16, 2025 Football

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With Quinn Ewers’ announcement Wednesday that he intends to forego his final year of collegiate eligibility and enter the 2025 NFL draft, Texas football can finally start some concrete planning for the offseason.

And those plans apparently include edge rusher Trey Moore, cornerback Malik Muhammad and every other Texas player that wanted to either declare for the NFL draft or submit his name into the transfer portal.

Players eligible for the draft that played on teams competing in the College Football Playoff semifinals had until the end of Wednesday to submit their names into the NFL draft pool.

All players competing in the playoff had five days from the end of their 2024 collegiate season to enter their names into the transfer portal, which meant the transfer deadline for Texas also came at the end of Wednesday since the Longhorns fell to Ohio State 28-14 Friday in an Arlington-based CFP semifinal.

Moore and Muhammad are two notable Texas players apparently coming back, although a spring transfer window will open for 10 days starting April 16. Moore said in a meeting with reporters during the 2024 season that playing in the NFL remains a goal, but he never indicated whether he intended to enter the 2025 draft.

A 6-foot-3, 245-pound fourth-year edge player, who has one more remaining season of eligibility, Moore arrived with high expectations from UTSA and quietly delivered a strong season with 36 tackles, 10½ tackles for a loss and 6½ sacks, starting all 16 games for Texas. He was projected as a late-round pick or an undrafted free agent in 2025 by various draft analysts.

Muhammad, a 6-foot, 190-pound sophomore, enjoyed a breakout season in his first year as a full-time starter opposite All-American Jahdae Barron. He tallied 36 tackles and broke up eight passes without an interception. Although several crypic social-media posts hinted at NIL concerns, Muhammad will apparently serve as an anchor in the secondary alongside safety Michael Taaffe, an All-American who announced earlier this week that he intends to return for his final year of eligibility.

Texas lost several starters to early entry into the NFL draft, including Ewers, receivers Isaiah Bond and Matthew Golden, offensive lineman Cameron Williams and running back Jaydon Blue. Taaffe and offensive lineman DJ Campbell were the NFL players with projected draft opportunities that announced this week they planned to return to Texas.

The deadline to opt out of the NFL draft for those players who previously declared eligible is Feb. 7.

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