The Isaiah Bond Conundrum

The Texas Longhorns have been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the transfer portal’s meteoric rise in the past few seasons, especially at the wide receiver position. After the 2022 season, Texas was desperate for a third wide receiver, hoping to not have to rely on true freshman Johntay Cook II or Casey Cain to play pivotal roles alongside Jordan Whittington and Xavier Worthy in a potential playoff push.

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Texas snagged the No. 1 receiver and No. 4 overall player in the portal, Georgia’s Adonai Mitchell, and never looked back. Mitchell’s 11 receiving touchdowns led the Big 12, and his 10 catches for 141 yards and two touchdowns in the team’s final two games nearly brought Texas to a national championship game appearance.

Now in 2024, Houston transfer Matthew Golden was far from a household name when he moved northwest to central Texas, but his 738 yards and eight touchdowns are both comfortably the highest on the team, and only LSU’s Kyren Lacy has hauled in more touchdowns this season in the SEC.

But Sarkisian hasn’t been perfect in the portal. Agiye Hall was the definition of a bust coming out of Alabama, Tarique Milton was a non-factor, and injuries devastated the potential of Isaiah Neyor.

Alabama transfer Isaiah Bond joined Golden in that portal class ahead of the 2024 season. He’s recorded 33 catches for 532 yards and five touchdowns along with a rushing score. But the question is, what category will he fall into when the dust settles on the 2024 season?

Bond came in with all the hype in the world in 2024. The former top-60 recruit was the No. 2 wide receiver in the portal after a solid true sophomore year in Tuscaloosa, and Pro Football Focus labeled him as a top-25 NFL prospect in their Preseason Top 150. Even with Golden and Oregon State veteran transfer Silas Bolden also joining Bond from the portal, it seemed like there would be an obvious head honcho in the receiver room this season.

Fast forward 11 months after Bond’s commitment and things have not gone as anticipated. The box scores haven’t looked pretty, as the speedster has only caught three passes for 49 yards in his last three games. Those are numbers expected from TE2, not arguably the most talented receiver on the team.

Looking at the tape, things aren’t much better ahead of the College Football Playoff. Bond has had an abysmal last two contests against Texas A&M and Georgia. His run blocking has always been a problem, and it has continued to be so, but that was always a given with a highly talented NFL prospect who mimics one of the most famous movie characters of all time. 

It’s worth noting Bond is dealing with an ankle injury that has visibly hampered him in much the same way Quinn Ewers has been hampered. And after Bond left the SEC Championship game with a boot, his availability going forward remains an open question.

But Bond has been put on the field in spite of his limitations and has struggled to power through his pain. In the last two games, Bond has only been targeted six times.

Some blame may be attributable to Ewers or even head coach Steve Sarkisian for poor play-calling, but the Longhorns need more from their starting receiver as Texas looks to make a run to the national championship.

Here’s how those five targets went.

Target 1: On the first offensive play of the game for Texas against Texas A&M, Sarkisian dials up a play action drive concept, with only three routes going out. Two from the field side run deep crossers, hoping to get Bond 1-on-1 with a defender downfield. Ewers throws up the deep ball and looks to have placed it well, falling past the cornerback but far out of reach of the safety. Bond, however, seemed to have run the wrong route, opting for a stutter step before the streak itself. Bad miscommunication between Ewers and his target.

Target 2: Bond doesn’t see a target again until there are seven seconds left in the half. Bond dekes the press corner and beats him easily, but Ewers and the receiver couldn’t connect. It’s hard to place the blame on this one. Bond needs to get his second arm free of Will Lee who is not interfering, and Ewers needs to throw a better ball. Overall missed an opportunity for an easy seven.

Target 3: Bond draws pass interference on another deep shot, does his job to beat the man and BJ Mayes makes a business decision.

Target 4: Ewers entrusts Bond with a pivotal third down and everything about it looks good. The defense respects Bond’s speed and is playing off, meaning Bond is wide open on the comeback. This is a play where Bond’s injury history seems to get to him, as he ran the route at about 75% speed. Ewers also needs to place it better. Incomplete on what should’ve been 15 yards on third down. 

Target 5: A SEC Championship game pass intended for Bond was misplayed by the Longhorns wideout and tipped up in the air before it was intercepted by Daylen Everette.

Target 6: Bond was targeted just one other time against Georgia, and it was a nice reception. Bond felt the zone on a crosser and worked for 22 yards in Georgia territory. 

In the Georgia game, Bond also committed three separate penalties, two of which were accepted for a combined 30 yards of lost offense. In a game where Texas was already shooting itself in the foot, the theoretical top receiver on the team lost the Longhorns eight yards. His blocking left a lot to be desired as well.

Fresh off of his two worst games of the season, and after re-aggravating his ankle again on a Quintrevion Wisner run against Georgia, there are still question marks on whether he will play next week against Clemson.

The main one being, is Bond effective enough to continue to deploy?

Bond’s is the team’s worst run blocker on a squad that is desperate to get the run going in each game remaining against Playoff competition. He also has just 152 receiving yards in his last five games, looked terrible against Georgia and can’t seem to get over an injury he suffered two months ago. But when healthy, his speed is undeniable, and the respect defenses assign to him offer the Longhorn offense a significant number of benefits.

The tough part is that outside of Golden and recently DeAndre Moore Jr., Sarkisian doesn’t have many a ton of options outside of true freshman Ryan Wingo. Cook is officially in the portal, and Bolden has certainly been earning more playing time but seems pigeon-holed to the slot in Texas’ offense. Deploying varying personnel like 12 and maybe even 21 could be a solution.

Sarkisian has a conundrum on his hands. There should be a way to get a player still projected to be a first-round pick involved if healthy. If not, is his presence on the field a positive?

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One thing Texas knows is that it can’t only be Golden and Moore out there functioning as threats against Playoff defenses. Whether Bond is the solution to that problem will strongly influence just how far the Longhorns go.