Where do you think we end up on the DL and OL? Numbers and quality?
Texas is already at three offensive line commitments and the Longhorns will certainly take one more, possibly even two. Texas currently sits at two defensive line commitments. That group is a little tougher to predict. There’s an obvious need there for more interior defensive line help, but there just aren’t a ton of in-state options (again). Zion Williams remains the most likely. D.J. Sanders is still a possibility and Texas is set to bring in some out-of-state guys for official visits in June (Kevin Wynn, Josiah Sharma). I’d look for Texas to take at least one more interior guy and probably one more defensive end/edge type as well. As for the quality, on the offensive line it all comes down to whether or not Texas can land a big fish like Michael Fasusi. On DL, Texas is targeting some big names from out-of-state but we’ll see if they can close the deal with any of those players. The jury is still out on how D-line recruiting will look when the dust settles.
Is it possible to recruit and take too many elite WRs
There’s no such thing as having too many elite of anything. Texas is trying to create that “problem” by landing the likes of Dakorien Moore, Jaime Ffrench and Kaliq Lockett. I wrote a few weeks ago that if I’m looking at those three individually, I’d label Texas as the leader for all of them. But when I look at that trio as a whole, I still feel it’s going to be tough to get all three on board. Best guess is that Texas lands two of the three.
What will be the highest rated position group not named WR in the 2026 class?
I’m assuming you mean the current 2025 class. Quarterback would be a pretty easy choice if KJ Lacey maintains his top-50ish ranking. I’ll go with a wildcard pick and say defensive end. Texas already has one player who I think will finish the cycle rated very high, and maybe the Longhorns can pull a rabbit out of the hat and flip someone like national top-50 prospect Javion Hilson.
Does TX eventually get a commitment from Michael Terry ATH?
There’s some thought that Terry could come down to an in-state battle but I’m just not sure how he fits at Texas if the Longhorns recruit the wide receiver position the way most think they will. Right now, I don’t have him penciled into the final class but it’s certainly a possibility.
What is happening, if anything, on DB recruiting? Does Texas lead with Brew, Phillips or Chester?
Of those three, I’d rate Texas’ chances from best to worst as Caleb Chester, Dorian Brew and Kade Phillips with the notation that Brew is a complete wildcard because he rarely talks about his recruitment. I do think Texas leads and will land Chester and I’d put UT’s chances with the other two you mentioned at close to 50/50. Aidan Anding and current Auburn commitment Devin Williams are two other names to follow closely because Texas has a solid chance to land one or both of those guys.
With the new NIL and transfer portal landscape, is it fair to assume the higher tier teams will spend more time in the portal as opposed to trying to develop their young talent? Not sure I worded that correctly but "not sweat" if underclassem*n bolt because they can poach other solid players from the portal?
You basically just laid out the method @Ketchum says a school like Texas should utilize, and it’s not a bad strategy. Instead of reaching on mid-level players like three stars, let them go to a non-Power 5 school, see which guys pan out and then try to get them through the transfer portal. The issue with that is that every coach thinks every evaluation he makes is going to hit, so you’ll probably have a hard time telling a college assistant to pass on any player they’ve offered.
Would you have expected more blue chip athletes to have us in there top 3 or committed to us by now considering g the success.
In short, yes. Texas’ recruiting efforts will be fine in the long run. This staff has earned that benefit of the doubt. But yes, I expected the Longhorns to have more early momentum than they’d had in pervious classes after the season Texas had last year. This staff usually does its heavy lifting in June, July and August. That will be the case again this year, but I did think we’d have a few more high-profile guys openly favoring Texas in the spring or even committing in the spring.
Who is the most overrated player in the state and most underrated player?
How many DT do they end up with in this class?
I really don’t want to get in the business of calling guys overrated … that doesn’t really do me any favors when I’m having to try to interview these kids and gain their trust. As for underrated, Lance Jackson probably headlines that list for me. Rivals currently has him at 128 and I just don’t get that ranking. I’d look for him to get a bump in the rankings update this week. Caleb Chester being ranked as a three-star is another mistake in my eyes.
Texas has one (soft) defensive tackle commitment in Brandon Brown. I look for the staff to try to bring in two more, while also having to fight to hang onto Brown’s pledge.
At 6’ 6”, what are the chances of Lance Jackson putting on some bulk, and spinning down to being an effective DT ?
We need some serious help at this position.
I don’t see that happening. Despite being 260 pounds, Lance has a pretty lean frame and I expect he’ll just continue to add more lean muscle mass as he gets into college. Never say never because his body could change but I expect he’ll stay on the outside of the d-line.
It seems to me that losing both Justin Williams and Joseph Jonah-Ajonye to Georgia is the least discussed major catastrophe for Sark. Why did both these Oak Ridge kids go to Georgia? Seems like Joseph just dragged Justin along with him. Can you imagine how good our defense would look with both of those added? All anyone talked about was Terry Bussey who we barely needed and not these two. Do you have any insight? Born in Nigeria, I just don't see Joseph's ties to Georgia. Or is someone at Oak Ridge the problem?
I don’t really have a clear answer for you other than neither guy really ever had much of a liking for Texas for whatever reason. Texas was able to get them both on campus a couple of times for unofficial visits but that was really about as far as things ever got. Georgia was able to get in on them both and got them both to commit in the summer and pretty much shut things down. Williams did talk about possibly visiting Texas at some point but that never materialized.
What the hell do we need to do around here to get some war daddy’s defensive tackles?
It would help if the state would start producing more elite-level defensive tackles. Beyond that, I’m not sure what the answer is other than hit every high-profile out-of-state DT and offer them some amazing NIL package that’s just too good to pass up. It’s been a while since we’ve seen a really deep and talented in-state DT crop so Texas can’t afford to miss the next time a DJ Hicks type of player comes along. Hit on a couple of those guys and things can kind of snowball but Texas needs to land the first one to get things started.
If Texas closes with D.Moore, Ffrench, Lockett, Fasusi, Pettijohn, Zion Williams, Armstrong, Simon and Brew, where does the Texas class rank nationally?
If those players all held their rankings (which will be updated tomorrow), you’d have three 5-stars in the class in Dakorien Moore, Jaime Ffrench and Michael Fasusi. Guys like Dorian Brew, Riley Pettijohn and Kiotti Armstrong are all highly ranked in the Rivals100. That would be a pretty impressive haul that would probably be a top-three class nationally.
