Former Texas tight end Jahleel Billingsley will enter the 2023 NFL Draft, per Matt Zenitz. News came Nov. 25 that Billingsley was no longer with the Longhorns, though his next move at the time was unknown. Billingsley appeared in just four games and caught three passes for 38 yards in his lone season at Texas.
Billingsley last saw the field during Texas’ win at Kansas State earlier in November. Billingsley previously played in 36 games with five starts over three seasons at Alabama with 37 receptions for 559 yards and six touchdowns before transferring to Texas. Billingsley sat out the first six games of the season while suspended for an NCAA matter stemming from his time at Alabama during the 2021 season.
Billingsley played in all 15 games for Alabama during the 2021 season, making one start, and caught 17 passes for 256 yards and three touchdowns. He finished sixth on the team in receiving in a year where many expected him to have a bigger impact following a breakout second half to the 2020 season.
The move to Texas ahead of the 2022 season reunited him with head coach Steve Sarkisian, who was the offensive coordinator at Alabama prior to taking the Longhorns job in January 2021.
Billingsley signed with Alabama in 2019 out of Chicago (Ill.) Phillips Academy. He ranked as the No. 15 tight end and No. 6 prospect in the state of Illinois.
Sarkisian guided Texas to an 8-4 record in his second season with the Longhorns. They came just short of earning a berth in the Big 12 Championship after closing the season with a win against in-state rival Baylor.
Texas’ next test comes in the Alamo Bowl against No. 12 Washington, which won 10 games in its first season under coach Kalen DeBoer.
“I think in the end, being in a bowl game is a great opportunity,” Sarkisian said this week of Texas’ bowl game. “We’re playing a heck of a team, man. University of Washington is a top-10 opponent. We have a great opportunity ahead of us. It’s going to take everybody dialing into what we need to do. But it’s a great challenge for sure. We have to make sure we’re prepared, we’re focused and we’re doing the things necessary to perform.”
One transfer that did play a major role for Texas this season was starting quarterback Quinn Ewers, who missed a few games with a shoulder injury. He passed for 1,808 yards with 14 touchdowns and six interceptions this season.
“I think at the end of the day our ability to be functional passing the ball, we have not been good enough growth-wise from a program perspective of our ability to throw the ball down the field,” Sarkisian said during a pre-Alamo Bowl press conference. “That takes time, that takes effort, that takes work. Whether it’s Quinn, wideouts, tight ends, we’ve got to put in the work to make sure we’re growing in a positive direction to be the best program that we can be. Throwing the ball nowadays is, like, I feel like that’s the norm. It used to be running the ball back in the day, now it’s throwing the ball. How do we get better at it, continue and improve. That’s what we’re doing.”
Dean Straka contributed to this report.
