Cam Coleman bolsters Texas WR room looking to take the next step

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The Texas Longhorns did some renovations in the wide receiver room over the offseason. 

Nearly 33 percent of the Longhorns receiving yards and 10 of their 28 touchdowns left when DeAndre Moore, Jr. and Parker Livingstone hit the transfer portal after the 2025 season. However, with the Longhorns putting up 3,259 passing yards in quarterback Arch Manning’s first season as the starter — a 1,200-yard drop from the year before — it may prove to be a welcome change. 

Of the many splashes made by Texas in the during the lone portal window, none were as big as landing Auburn transfer wide receiver Cam Coleman, the No. 2 player in the portal and one of just six five-star transfer prospects. From the staff’s perspective, the production addition will be great, while his contributions to the culture are an added bonus. 

“Everybody sees the highlight plays, the play-making ability, the physical ability that he has. What I love is the person,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said at SEC Media Days. “This guy is a great human being. He’s a guy that is a great teammate. He’s one of our hardest workers.”

While Sarkisian tries to lean into the person, you cannot ignore the highlight plays from Coleman that made him a must-get for the Longhorns. Despite Auburn’s inconsistent quarterback play over the last two years, Coleman racked up more than 1,300 yards and 13 touchdowns at a pace of 14 yards per reception. That run includes a massive 143 yards against Vanderbilt in an overtime thriller a year ago and a 128-yard outing against Texas A&M as a freshman. 

Coming off of a year in which Texas needed better performance from its outside receivers, one of the most eye-popping stats was his 13 contested catches, according to Pro Football Focus, the most in the SEC. The Texas passing game saw issues creating separation and coming down with the ball, as well as diminishing returns in the red zone, so his 6’3, 204-pound frame and catching ability can fix one of the things that ailed the Texas passing game a year ago, especially in the red zone, where he’s scored five of his 13 career touchdowns.

With Manning limited during the spring after undergoing offseason foot surgery, Coleman’s persistent work ethic has helped the two establish the critical rapport that will determine their upside together this season.

“The good thing about Cam and how we built our relationship is he always wants to throw, he always wants to meet extra,” Manning said in Tampa. “And I think anytime you get a guy like that, it’s easier for me to become close with.”

It’s not all about the new face in the room — the Longhorns also retained last year’s leading receiver in Ryan Wingo, who can light up the scoreboard in his third season on the Forty Acres. 

“I think people forget he was a second-team All-SEC receiver a year ago. Very explosive player,” Sarkisian said. “Obviously Ryan will be in his third year with us, knows the system, knows the scheme. Really came on last year.”

Wingo was a massive recruiting win for the Longhorns in the 2024 class and had a truly breakout year leading Texas in receiving a year ago, putting together 834 yards and seven touchdowns while averaging more than 15 yards per catch. With 10.55 100-meter speed, Wingo is dangerous in the screen game, gaining 287 yards on passes behind the line of scrimmage in 2025, as well as working over the middle on intermediate and deep routes that produced five of his seven touchdowns.

The overall operation in the screen game wasn’t always efficient, however — Wingo had to break nine tackles to pick up those 287 yards, an indication of how closes many of those receptions were to ending as negative plays.

While Wingo was the most dangerous deep threat for the Longhorns in 2025, often drawing bracket coverage, the presence of Coleman will ensure that Wingo gets more one-on-one matchups.

“Not every coverage is going to have to get rolled his way,” Sarkisian said in May.

The key for Wingo will be consistency and focus after dropping a few massive passes in key spots for Texas a year ago with PFF crediting the St. Louis product with seven total drops.

Overall, the Longhorns dropped 22 of Manning’s pass attempts a year ago.

However, Texas needs more from the room than production from Coleman and Wingo, and there’s a lot of opportunity for Texas players to make a name for themselves in the rotation, most notably Emmett Mosley V, who was set to be an early contributor for Texas a year ago, but was hampered by an injury and missed his first four contests with the Longhorns. After his return, he turned in six multi-reception games and capped off the season with five catches for 51 yards in the bowl win over Michigan before undergoing offseason ankle surgery.

“He is playing at a high level for us right now,” Sarkisian said.

The top three receivers for Texas give position coach Chris Jackson impressive physical profiles to deploy.

“We love our wide receiver room,” Sarkisian said. “I think all those guys are 6’2-plus. All those guys are over 200 pounds. They’re physical. They’re fast. They’ve all played a lot of football.”

More than that, they’ve all taken a selfless, team-first approach, starting with Wingo’s acceptance that adding Coleman will make him better, too.

“All those guys have dropped their ego,” Sarkisian said. “Now, don’t get me wrong, they’re competitive — they want the ball, they want to go make their plays, but they understand they’re going to be better the better the guy across the ball is from them. They’re going to be better, the better their rapport is with with Arch at quarterback. And so I think all in all, those guys have all taken a professional approach.”

Behind those three, Texas boasts a bevy of talented but inexperienced receiving options who can piece together a wildly successful room if they live up to the billing.

Returning from last year’s recruiting class are second-year receivers Kaliq Lockett and Daylan McCutcheon, a pair who combined for just 13 receptions in the 2025 campaign. Lockett was one of the biggest wins for Texas in the 2025 recruiting cycle, a sprinter for Sachse who also racked up nearly 2,700 yards and 29 touchdowns in his varsity play. McCutcheon was no slouch himself, just outside the top-100 recruits, an explosive athlete who could add another speedy target in the room.

McCutcheon took advantage of the early-season injuries to Moore and Mosley to factor into the rotation, gaining valuable experience in playing 173 total snaps while recording seven catches for 74 yards.

More raw as a route runner and faced with more competition on the outside, Lockett didn’t flash until recording an impressive 30-yard touchdown catch in the Citrus Bowl win over Michigan.

One of the most electric players in Jackson’s room is one who hasn’t taken a snap for Texas yet — freshman Jermaine Bishop.

While he may not be an every-down receiver for Texas in 2026, keeping him completely off the field in 2026 seems like both a long shot and a waste. He was a three-sport star, three-phase player, and multi-positional marvel for Willis through his career. While the majority of his time was spent as a receiver and running back, where he amassed nearly 6,000 yards and 72 touchdowns, he also logged eight pass attempts as a senior, three of which were scores.

He also managed to get varsity reps on the sprint relay team — as a freshman.

Bishop’s prep career was so sensational that watching his high school highlights left Manning in awe.

“He’s a really good player. Smart, wants to be good. That’s kind of the big thing with that freshman class is I look around, all these guys are hard workers. They want to be good, coachable, so it’s been fun,” Manning said.

The question for receivers like McCutcheon, Lockett, and Bishop is whether Sarkisian will finally expand his famously short rotation at the position without being forced to do so by injuries or if they will have to wait until 2027 to make a real impact.

Beyond that storyline, when Sarkisian first arrived on campus, he talked about having multiple fast cars in the garage. Now, it seems like they could have the fastest set of rides during his time on the Forty Acres. In what could be Manning’s last year, Texas seems to have the right set of wheels for him to drive the offense.

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