Alright, fine, let’s break down Choice’s RB recruiting at Texas.
First, the context:
- He inherited Robinson, Johnson, Robinson, Brooks, Blue, and Red. 4 of them went pro after three years, which means the backs that he recruited played earlier in their careers than would be expected of other positions.
- NIL: It’s not my impression that Choice has lacked appropriate support (hence Baxter and Gibson) but we’ve also heard that some RBs have been taken off the board due to their asks (e.g., Davison). That is probably something that’s especially important to consider for his RB2 takes.
The signees:
- 2023: Baxter (#1 RB in the class), Wisner (#28)
- 2024: Gibson (#3), Clark (#42)
- 2025: Simon (#9), Stewart (#58)
Total production:
Some scattershooting takeaways based on the six player-seasons we’ve seen from his signees so far: He signed a top ten RB recruit every year. 2 of the player-seasons were lost to injury. Baxter was the first ever true freshmen RB to start opening day for Texas and was a solid contributor on the 2023 team. Wisner contributed on special teams and had a couple flashes as a true freshman that he then translated to a 1000 yard season as RB3. Gibson looked really good but had fumble issues. They are all culture fits. There were some understandable frustrations with Baxter’s and Gibson’s freshman years due to injury and fumbles. Gibson looks really good as a short yardage back.
I just don’t see a reason to complain about his recruiting. That one guy completely missed Choice’s point when he said he didn’t want to recruit a guy from the portal. It wasn’t about not wanting to recruit a college player; it was about liking his guys better. I’m sure NIL is also a factor there. Do you want to go pay for a guy to compete with Baxter, Gibson, and Wisner, or do you want to retain Manny Muhammad/add Travis Shaw/sign Justus Terry?