Texas Football: How does Bru McCoy’s transfer affect Longhorns?

Could Texas football find a replacement quickly for Bru McCoy after he entered the transfer portal? Let’s see who can replace the star freshman.

Bru McCoy had a change of heart after signing with USC out of high school, switching his allegiance to Texas.

The move shocked just about everyone, especially since the Santa Ana, Calif., native looked like he wanted to stay home and play for the program he had been most familiar with. He felt that Tom Herman and the Longhorns provided him the best opportunity, though.

The Longhorns landed a top-10 recruit and former five-star and he looked to be inserted into the starting lineup right away, making big moves in spring practices. But it didn’t take long for him to feel a sense of home-sickness, entering the transfer portal on Friday afternoon, officially, and being tabbed as a lean to USC.

Yes, from USC to Texas and back to the Trojans again. It’s been a whirlwind of a first few months of a collegiate career for McCoy, but it looks like Clay Helton will soon receive some good news.

But that’s not what Herman and the rest of the staff is worried about, they’re more concerned with how this departure is going to directly affect the Longhorns in 2019. First off, it won’t affect recruiting one bit because Herman is one of the best in that regard in college football, so that notion has been completely thrown out the window.

As for the depth chart, it does leave a hole in the starting lineup. McCoy was a projected starter on a loaded roster with Collin Johnson and Devin Duvernay.

Who could replace McCoy? It’s actually tough to use that phrase because freshmen who have yet to play a single live snap of college football can’t necessarily be “replaced” but it’s a different case when they are projected starters with No. 1 target potential.

The favorites have to be Josh Moore or Brennan Eagles, a couple of sophomores. They combined for just eight catches for 88 yards and a touchdown a season ago, but were both highly-regarded as recruits. They are more than capable of taking on larger roles, especially with Lil’Jordan Humphrey gone, but they obviously won’t have the fanfare of a McCoy.

Should Texas be worried about the offensive outlook after this loss? It hurts, but it’s not going to ruin any potential the offense had for 2019 with the depth the Longhorns have at receiver.