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Texas will take a full 25 if they can land the guys they want. And they may take 25 anyway. With 60% of the class currently committed and another commitment imminent in the next couple of days...
— Bryan Carrington (@BCarringtonUT) August 4, 2018
...it’s time to look at how the rest of the class fills out.
The current class:
Offense
(8 current commitments, adding 4-5 more)
QB Roschon Johnson
The Longhorns are done at QB. They’ll seek a two man class in 2020.
RB Currently none
They’ll take one RB. It should be a two man class in 2020.
OL Tyler Johnson, Javonne Shepherd
The Horns need two more OL, at the barest minimum. The staff will build some out-of-state relationships and scour September/October senior film for late-blooming Christian Jones types closer to home.
TE Jared Wiley, Brayden Liebrock
Done.
WR Jordan Whittington, Demariyon Houston, Jake Smith
Texas will take one or two more. The current bunch is a stout group, but the Horns have been whipped in-state with the elite prospects. Herman needs to take a hard look at why.
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Defense
(7 commitments, will add 4-6 more)
DB Marques Caldwell, Chris Adimora, Kenyatta Watson
Texas will take another DB. Likely a safety, but they’re looking for corners as well.
DL T’Vondre Sweat, Peter Mpagi
The Horns need two more. A JUCO will certainly be in consideration.
LB Marcus Tillman, De’Gabriel Floyd
Texas will add two more if they can. Expect one from in-state, another probably from California or a JUCO.
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I didn’t comment on many specific prospects for a reason. Aside from names like DB Jalen Catalon or LB David Gbenda that Texas has been courting for some time, the staff has been relatively sparing in its offers and in evaluation for the remainder of the class. After they land 3-4 known prospects, they’ll close with names that are lesser known (not necessarily lesser prospects, just guys they get in on late) and fight to flip some in-state commitments down the backstretch.
As for in-state, out-of-state mix, this Longhorn class will finish with at least 40% from outside the borders of the Lone Star State. To my knowledge, the highest percentage in school history.
That’s healthy and perfectly in keeping with other elite national recruiting programs with comparable home state wealth. This is now a national game. The days of Mack Brown recruiting 8.4% of the class from out-of-state (which he did over his last six classes at Texas) are dead and buried.
Texas will never adopt the Urban Meyer model at Ohio State of 80% of out-of-state recruits, but expect a sizable portion of Longhorn classes to be national going forward. If you have a problem with more players like Ricky Williams, Eric Metcalf, Bryant Westbrook, Pat Fitzgerald, Jordan Hicks, Major Applewhite, Jeff Leiding, Lyle Sendlein, and Lamarr Houston donning the Orange and White, it’s time to broaden the old horizons a bit beyond the Cracker Barrel in Weatherford.
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2018 Texas Longhorn Football Preview: The 6th Annual Thinking Texas Football
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