Former Oregon State wide receiver and special teams weapon Silas Bolden gives Texas football a third top-notch playmaker for the wideout room in 2024.
Texas football and head coach Steve Sarkisian are on fire recruiting wide receiver talent in the NCAA Transfer Portal early this offseason. Texas picked up their third commitment from a portal wideout on Jan. 16 from the former Oregon State Beavers redshirt junior slot receiver Silas Bolden.
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Bolden committed to Texas over other schools that displayed interest in his portal recruitment, including the Washington Huskies, Arizona Wildcats, and USC Trojans, among others.
The commitment from Bolden in the portal comes just a couple of days after his official visit to Texas wrapped up last weekend. Texas was the first and only school that we know of that Bolden visited before he made his decision.
He took a multi-day official visit to Texas last weekend. And he was also expected to visit Washington, USC, and potentially Arizona. But Texas sealed the deal with his portal recruitment before any of the other visits transpired.
Landing two impact wideouts in the portal in former Houston Cougars sophomore Matthew Golden and Alabama Crimson Tide sophomore Isaiah Bond didn’t stop Sarkisian, wide receivers coach Chris Jackson, and the Longhorns with Bolden. Texas got another weapon to shore up the offense and special teams unit with the addition of Bolden in the portal.
Inside Texas reported that special teams coordinator/tight ends coach Jeff Banks was a critical part of Texas’s pitch to Bolden. His ability in the return game will be one of the ways Texas expects him to contribute this upcoming season.
Bolden was very effective in the return game for Oregon State last season. He was the highest-graded returner in the PAC-12 last season, registering over 400 kick return yards and also a punt return for a touchdown.
The 5-foot-8 and 155-pound fourth-year wideout Bolden gives the Longhorns another elusive weapon who can be utilized in a multitude of different offensive looks pre-snap. He’s a versatile and elusive wideout who can line up in the slot, out of the backfield, or in the motion/jet sweep game for the Texas offense.
I’d like to think Sarkisian can utilize Bolden in some different specialty packages and motion sets on offense. Combine the different motion looks out of the backfield and the elusiveness in space with someone like Texas running back Keilan Robinson and the change of direction in space almost like what Sarkisian had in Adoree Jackson roughly a decade ago at USC.
Moreover, Bolden has the speed, reliable hands, and developed route-running ability to work in those tight windows and short areas between the numbers out of the slot. When he was utilized from the slot last season at Oregon State, Bolden registered 14 catches on 17 targets for nearly 200 receiving yards, one touchdown, and zero drops.
Motion wasn’t an element that former Oregon State head coach Jonathan Smith utilized in his offense in Corvallis as much as Sarkisian will with Bolden at Texas. Nonetheless, when Smith did incorporate motion in his offense on passing plays, Bolden was the primary target. He led Oregon State in motion targets (8) last season.
