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Ja’Tavion Sanders is leaving Texas early to pursue his dream of playing in the NFL, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
Sanders is a projected 1st-round draft pick after the season he had with the Longhorns. He led all Texas tight ends with 682 yards receiving and was 3rd on the team in that stat. Sanders was a big target for Quinn Ewers in the Texas passing attack.
Texas star tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders tells ESPN he’s leaving school early to enter the NFL Draft. He’s ESPN’s No. 2 ranked tight end and projects as a first round pick. He had 45 catches for 682 yards and two touchdowns for Texas this year. pic.twitter.com/BP7YMMuUen
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 6, 2024
The Texas TE started his career on special teams in 2021, playing in 12 games. He started in all 13 games last season and finished with 613 receiving yards. He ended with a career high in receiving yards as he now prepares for the next level.
Sanders wasn’t originally a tight end before committing to Texas. He actually committed to Texas as a 5-star athlete in the 2021 class. He was an in-state product out of Denton (TX) Ryan.
The Longhorns lost to Washington in the Sugar Bowl after a solid 2023 campaign. Texas marched its way into the red zone with under 1 minute remaining and was stopped on 4 downs to end the game.
It appears that the Longhorns will be without Sanders as they begin their move to the SEC next season.
Grant Bricker was a former freelancer for The News TN in his hometown of Nashville, Tennessee. He now freelances for Saturday Football. Follow on Twitter @GrantBricker.