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Texas Recruiting Notes 2020


Reese Bennett

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34 minutes ago, Machinator said:

Cornerback: Rogers, Crawford, save a spot for Ringo

I'm not as certain on safety but I think Thompson and Washington are the top priorities and I feel that the staff would make room for Ransom no matter what. Where Alford fits in I'm not so sure. Four safeties feels like overkill.

This is where I am. All this talk about Alford has me a little baffled, but it sure sounds like he will be in the class if we believe the 9.95ers.

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52 minutes ago, Bevo said:

I have questions about all the secondary guys mentioned in the update. I'm not sure that they are all takes with Washington, Thompson, Ransom, Ringo, Crawford and other highly ranked guys still available. Rogers, I assume, will be in this class, though. What do you think our DB class will look like? I guess Ja'Quinden Jackson will be recruited as a QB/WR.

Pretty sure the staff is recruiting Jackson as an athlete who they'll give a shot at QB if he wants it (depending on how he looks this season and what other staffs say making that pitch necessary). Pretty sure they'd love for him to play LB. 

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25 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

Pretty sure the staff is recruiting Jackson as an athlete who they'll give a shot at QB if he wants it (depending on how he looks this season and what other staffs say making that pitch necessary). Pretty sure they'd love for him to play LB. 

Yeah, the staff likely has to recruit jackson as a QB to get him, but I'd hope he moves to LB by his second year. He could be an absolute monster at Rover. 

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Mike Roach: Previewing the first official visit weekend of the 2020 cycle

Official Visitors

S Chris Thompson, Duncanville – Texas will get the first crack at official visits for the four-star Duncanville safety. Texas has been high on Thompson’s list since offering him early in the process, but Thompson plans to see some other schools, and he’s giving serious consideration to leaving the state. Auburn, Notre Dame and LSU are the other schools I expect to get official visits from Thompson, and it wouldn’t surprise if Florida was in there too. Thompson has a strong relationship with Texas safeties coach Craig Naivar and assistant wide receivers coach Ra’Shaad Samples, whose father Reginald is the head coach at Duncanville. It wouldn’t surprise me to see him try to take his visits in the summer and make a decision before his senior season.

DL Vernon Broughton, Cypress Ridge –Broughton is one of the top targets on the board for this cycle, and the Longhorns are doing everything they can to keep the edge in this recruitment. Texas established a big lead early on, but Texas A&M surged into this recruitment throughout the spring. The Longhorns still hold a lead, but the margin is small. Broughton will likely take his visits, but there is some confidence that the Longhorns can open up a huge lead coming out of this visit. Broughton grew close to several Texas commits during the spring game, and Texas will roll out the red carpet for one of their top prospects.

OL Chad Lindberg, Clear Creek – Texas hosted Lindberg several times this spring, and it would be fair to say the Longhorns hold an edge for the four-star tackle. While Georgia and Stanford have been involved as well, it would be an upset if Lindberg doesn’t end up at Texas. The Longhorns have been on him for quite some time, and his brother is a student in Austin. Lindberg is also close with Texas commits Jake Majors, Logan Parr and Hudson Card. Texas would love to add Lindberg to their impressive offensive line class, and present a case for Zach Evans to join them. I still expect Lindberg to take other official visits before making his decision, but I do think the Longhorns have a chance to close him on this visit.

OL Jake Majors, Prosper – Majors committed to Texas in January, and he’s been one of the top recruiters in the class. Majors is close with Lindberg, and he became acquainted with Broughton during the spring game. Majors will be relied upon to help recruit the uncommitted prospects on hand, and his solid commitment makes the early visit worthwhile.

OL Logan Parr, San Antonio O’Connor – Like Majors, Parr committed early, and he’s been focused on recruiting for Texas. Parr has been close with Lindberg for some time, and Texas benefits from surrounding one of their top targets with his friends. Like Majors, Parr is solid in his commitment, so taking an early OV isn’t a concern for Texas.

OL Jaylen Garth, Port Neches-Groves –Garth is one of the quieter members of the class, but he’s been able to make connections with the other recruits and do some work behind the scenes. Garth will be able to assist Majors and Parr in recruiting the others, and scheduling Lindberg with the three committed members of the offensive line class.

Unofficial Visitors

WR Mookie Cooper, St. Louis (Mo.) Trinity Catholic – Cooper’s recruitment was all Texas for a year until he decommitted shortly after making his junior day commitment. The four-star prospect is returning to Austin on an unofficial, but Texas still has work to do. Illinois is close to home and employs Cooper’s former high school coach on staff. Miami is surging in this recruitment, but Texas is encouraged by having the opportunity to host Cooper again. Texas will take this weekend as an opportunity to get back in the race and remind Cooper of why Texas led for so long.

RB Zachary Evans, Galena Park North Shore – The most high-profile recruit on the Texas board should be in Austin this weekend. Evans’ recruitment won’t matter until we get closer to signing day, but any chance to host the five-star running back is worth taking. Evans has been all over the map when it comes to talking about his top schools, and that’s the way he wants it. He’s a smart kid who likes to throw people off with his comments and keep them guessing. Hosting Evans with a group of committed offensive line prospects should pay some dividends for Texas, and they will need to focus on getting him to campus at every opportunity.

OL Damieon George, Galena Park North Shore – Texas hosted Evans many times over the last year, but visits from George have been few and far between. Evans has been adamant that his recruitment hinges on where George goes, and the four-star prospect is a high-ceiling project who could turn into a big-time player. The Longhorns will have the opportunity to take a step forward in George’s recruitment, and by extension, they will be able to make progress with Evans.

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34 minutes ago, Elmer_Fudd said:

Talk on here of Dorbah having a basketball mentality and being soft and needing to run us out of the stadium this year and make Texas look soft.

https://www.tigerdroppings.com/rant/lsu-recruiting/4-star-olb-prince-dorbah/83328827/

I love how cocky LSU fans are, hopefully the team is thinking the same way because this has the making of a classic Tom Herman ass whooping.

Edited by Not a Sock
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1 hour ago, Not a Sock said:

I love how cocky LSU fans are, hopefully the team is thinking the same way because this has the making of a classic Tom Herman ass whooping.

I don't know why anyone thinks that a Tom Herman team will get boatraced.  The data simply doesn't support it.  The data supports Tom Herman bringing the pain to his biggest opponents on the schedule year after year after year.  It's like he has a permanent hard on for big time games.  

LSU fans are just drunk.  I mean you can't drink all day if you don't start in the morning.

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47 minutes ago, Casual Encounter said:

This. I can’t believe anyone would question an institution that is such a pillar of integrity and whose primary focus is obviously academic excellence.

Exactly. How dare you sir?

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2 hours ago, Not a Sock said:

I love how cocky LSU fans are, hopefully the team is thinking the same way because this has the making of a classic Tom Herman ass whooping.

Quote
NashvilleTiger09 iconLSU.gif
LSU Fan
 
LSU needs to run Texas out of their own stadium this upcoming season. Will be a HUGE game for recruiting. Need to make Texas look soft.

Yeah, um.... good luck with that. I suspect there is going to be a significant amount of lumber laid on that day. Probably some of it even by the Texas quarterback, if I know anything about his character at this point.

Edited by Walden Ponderer
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10 hours ago, Machinator said:

IT

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

BY: IT STAFF

STATE OF RECRUITING 

Despite beginning the calendar with a win over vaunted Georgia, the early positive momentum, the success of the last two recruiting classes, and being in excellent standing with a handful of priority prospects, there is a sense of uneasiness with the lack of early 2020’s committed this cycle for UT. Well, within parts of the fan base at least. The staff...they're perfectly fine with where they sit. Even if you didn't trust our sources on that, their actions tell the tale: they're not forcing offers at positions of need, rather they're holding fast to their board. That will pay off, just perhaps not soon enough for some.

This weekend should be a productive piece of the puzzle, but we're not expecting fireworks in the immediate wake. 

WEEKEND VISITORS

The OLaw firm of Garth, Majors, & Parr will be in town to work on potential partners Chad Lindberg and Damieon George. This is the group of five players on the offensive line the staff has coveted since last fall. When you can get your ideal targets in the same place at the same time you can sell a consensus vision. There's no misunderstanding of who fits where. This makes it harder to negative recruit.

Lindberg, the four-star from Clear Creek, will use his official visit this weekend. There's a bit of optimism brewing that he could make a decision before using all of his official visits, however we still believe he'll at least see Georgia. Previously we had his timeline as end of summer but it could be expedited. We'll let Chad speak for himself on the other side of the weekend.

With George, he's a bit impressionable but we feel he's already maturing within the process. That's likely thanks to receiving good counsel from a North Shore staff accustomed to handling major recruits. We've likened him to Javonne Shepherd as a player, and there's a sense some of that could carry over to how his recruitment will play out in that he could commit in the summer but you'll still want to save his official visit until the days leading up to signing day. For Texas, they'll want to recapture the excitement it had with George in January, and because they've been hesitant to push for other o-linemen they have a great selling point for a player who doesn't want to be viewed as a Zach Evans throw-in. 

If Texas landed Lindberg this summer (very possible) and George (somewhat possible) it would be sitting on a good hand heading into the flop of Evans's recruitment.

On Evans, there's not much new. The recent discussion of proximity mattering has been brewing for a while, probably stemming from his personal experience of having trouble making it to campuses far away. He has said he doesn't want his grandma bouncing between airports to see him play. 

When we look back on the Evans recruitment we may see he dropped a lot of bread crumbs along the way, with proximity being one. Along with that he's mentioned the importance of a a good offensive line class, which Texas will have. He's also mentioned usage. Let's donate a paragraph to usage.

Evans is an interesting character in that he wants the exact right amount of carries. It's like trying to find the perfect temperature on the thermostat for your wife. It ranges somewhere between 75.4 degrees and 77.1. Anything on the wrong side of those number is entirely wrong. Zach wants his carries but at the same time he doesn't want to get beat up before the pay day. He has also mentioned wanting to be motioned out to receiver. With the Texas running back platoon, and two-back usage, the staff should be able to hit the right notes. We'll also see a lot of Whittington and perhaps Ingram sliding out to wide receiver as they motion from 20 to 10 personnel. Between recruiting well on the o-line and hitting two important boxes under the opportunity heading -- being a key part of the offense but not being over-worked and dynamic usage -- the staff is putting itself in good position to land the nation's top back.

Texas will have the three biggest pieces to the 2020 puzzle on campus this weekend as Vernon Broughton will also use his official visit. We recently went in depth on this recruitment, but the short story is the staff has to make a compelling, full-bodied sell about helping Vernon mature into a person as much as a football player. His mom being a former college basketball coach helps her cut through the pomp looking for what's real. Thus far Oscar Giles and Tom Herman, who took on a prominent role in this recruitment long ago, are making headway. Broughton wants to make a decision by the end of summer. There's been some discussion about Alabama but I have trouble seeing that because of distance and Bama's football first, second, and third reputation. 

I hesitate to write this because Aggie will tell Vernon the Texas staff wants to make him a left tackle, but the current o-line commits as well as Hudson Card have done a good job recruiting Big Vern.

Duncanville safety Chris Thompson is also officially visiting this weekend. More on him below.

The weekend may not yield an immediate recruit, but weekends like this lead to your favorite types of articles: commitment ones.

WIDE RECEIVER

It's the deepest position on the team so numbers are low this cycle. The targets at this time are clearly defined.

The inside guys are identified. Mookie Cooper, who will be in Austin today (Friday) remains a priority. The staff has a lot of time and effort invested in the St. Louis product. Fort Bend Marshall speedster Devon Achane was recently offered as the staff looks to cast a wider net. Carthage wide receiver Kelvontay Dixon also holds an offer. Barring a surprise, the staff will likely only take one.

For the outside guys, Troy Omeire, Johnny Wilson, and Quentin Johnston, are the clear targets, but don't forget about Oklahoma product JJ Hester who remains in contact with the staff. I feel like two of the three really like Texas and should both be considered hard leans, especially T.O. 

LINEBACKER

Linebacker has been a point of consternation but the latest issue can be attributed to bad luck more than bad planning. De'Gabriel Floyd's issue was unforeseeable and to the staff's credit they recruited Lakia Henry late. 

Texas has been hunting the Portal and JUCO ranks for good fits and good players. UF’s Kylan Johnson looks like a take if he’s accepted into grad school in Austin, not an easy task. We're a bit dubious on him being an impact player if he does make it to campus but at least he would be immediate help.

On Thursday the staff offered Butler CC (same school as early enrollee Jacoby Jones) three-star MLB Juwan Mitchell. The 6-foot-2, 225-pound inside backer could be a gap-filler, run stuffer, and get to the edge guy. Jucos often have interesting stories: Mitchell's is, "I went to a prep school and went off the map. So I figured I'd go to the SEC of JUCO and show the world what I got." He's excited about the offer.

In the high school ranks you have the usual suspects OOS - Flowe (Mac or Rover), Smalls (B-backer or d-line), Sellers (B-backer), Kourt Williams (Rover). The hyper-athletic Williams was recently offered but I wouldn't get your hopes up. He says he'll visit if he can fit it into his schedule. Texas needs to get these guys to make summer unofficial visits.

Staying in-state has Brennon Scott, but there’s no hurry to push there. At B-backer, it’s Prince Dorbah and Robert Wooten. I’d like to see Texas take both, and try Wooten inside. As for Dorbah, it’s down to Texas and LSU, and I think he’ll decide before he takes a senior snap. Orange house, IMO. 

Now in 2021, Texas has identified a handful of linebacker in-state prospects like Jadarius Thursby, Clayton Smith, Trevion Sneed and others. The relationships are being established and progressing to a point you'll see some offers in the next month or so.

CORNERBACK

The staff is ultra-high on John Tyler's Kitan Crawford. Talk about a great early evaluation. They have him as the #1 or #2 corner in the state. He's sparring with Georgia commit Jalen Kimber. 

Texas is also in favorable position for Arlington quarter-turned-cornerback Jahari Rogers. Rogers will be at Arkansas this weekend for his official visit. 

Both Rogers and Crawford will take officials to Texas on the weekend of June 21st to hear the 'you're our guys' speech. We expect it to work.

The staff is of course still working on Kelee Ringo and everyone within his circle. He's the alpha at the position. His teammate, Jacobe Covington says he's in constant contact with Jason Washington. There's a chance the corner number goes to three regardless of what happens with Ringo. Their thinking is likely, if they're going to recruit Ringo through the whistle they might as well work on Covington as well. It'll be tough to navigate. Mildly interesting: Covington followed both Eric and Justin on Twitter. This often happens when a recruit is trying to get a sense for a program.

SAFETY

Duncanville's Chris Thompson is another official visitor for the weekend. There's been some talk that schools are telling Thompson they thought he was a silent commit to UT. Of course that's utter bull**** masquerading as an excuse for why those schools haven't offered. The Texas staff will reverse that hold this weekend I'm sure.

Thompson does want to look around and take all five visits, though. He'll be at Notre Dame in June. He also likes LSU, Auburn, and Florida. We still think it'll be Texas in the end. He's a sensational fit for Joker and a good fit for boundary safety.

The further C.E. King's Bryson Washington gets from his OU official visit the better UT's chances get for the state's top safety. He'll visit the same weekend as Crawford and Rogers and decide on July 4th. Getting he and his mother back on campus will be big. Win over Mama and this one swings quickly to UT's favor.

Shadow Creek deep safety Xavion Alford recently dropped a top-ten but we see it as a top-two between UT and LSU. This could be a summer decision. Previously he mentioned deciding closer to NSD1.

We expect Lathan Ransom to visit in the next month or so. The big question will be whether it's for an unofficial or an official. The staff would prefer unofficial and then get him to campus early next season, likely for the LSU game so he can watch the UT safeties help shut down the LSU run game. Ransom is probably the best safety on the board but the staff really likes the others as well.

 

Why does Eric have to start off every edition with “why are you fans so whinny and impatient? “

He does realize how he makes his money, right? 

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6 minutes ago, Newy25 said:

Why does Eric have to start off every edition with “why are you fans so whinny and impatient? “

He does realize how he makes his money, right? 

To try and get idiots to stop whining about not having recent commitments?

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2 minutes ago, Fud said:

To try and get idiots to stop whining about not having recent commitments?

Those idiots pay his fucking mortgage. I am not defending the people demanding commitments I am calling out the bizarre business strategy of continuously calling out your paying customers. 

It also smacks of Mack Brown level thin skin. 

Edited by Newy25
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1 minute ago, Newy25 said:

Those idiots pay his fucking mortgage. I am not defending the people demanding commitments I am calling out the bizarre business strategy of continuously calling out your paying customers. 

It also smacks of Mack Brown level thin skin. 

How many customers do you think he lost from that line?

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Those idiots pay his fucking mortgage. I am not defending the people demanding commitments I am calling out the bizarre business strategy of continuously calling out your paying customers. 
It also smacks of Mack Brown level thin skin. 

He’s acknowledging their unease (bitchessedness) and then telling them everything they want to hear. That’s how it’s done.
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On 5/2/2019 at 9:09 AM, TommyGufano said:

99% sure Adam Ulatoski was mocked as #10 pick going into his senior year. That's gotta be on a short list of the all time swings and misses for an early mock.

My favorite McShay mock moment was this:

https://www.offtackleempire.com/2019/5/2/18526856/congratulations-to-this-years-mitch-leidner-memorial-future-first-round-draft-pick-drumroll-idiots

Mitch Leidner! 

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8 minutes ago, PNWhornsfan said:

This year's candidate:

I think my favorite comment about him was "More than half the comparisons to Roethlisburger are because of the uniform."

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Re: TFB Inside Post

It sounds like the staff isn't pushing very hard for Quentin Johnston. I'm inclined to trust them on evaluations and receiver recruiting, but, if they aren't pushing, I really hope it doesn't come back to bite us later. Maybe they are recruiting him more than is being reported - I have no idea. Because not only does Johnston appear to be a perfect fit for what they've been doing on offense, he also seems like the kind of kid whose stock could skyrocket during his senior year. 

Just a thought. Like I said, I feel like the staff has earned some trust when it comes to recruiting receivers.

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2 hours ago, campcrunk said:

Re: TFB Inside Post

It sounds like the staff isn't pushing very hard for Quentin Johnston. I'm inclined to trust them on evaluations and receiver recruiting, but, if they aren't pushing, I really hope it doesn't come back to bite us later. Maybe they are recruiting him more than is being reported - I have no idea. Because not only does Johnston appear to be a perfect fit for what they've been doing on offense, he also seems like the kind of kid whose stock could skyrocket during his senior year. 

Just a thought. Like I said, I feel like the staff has earned some trust when it comes to recruiting receivers.

Honestly I'm shocked Omeire seems to be ahead of QJ for us.

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1 hour ago, texifornia said:

Honestly I'm shocked Omeire seems to be ahead of QJ for us.

That's kind of my thought as well. Johnston seems to have better speed, athleticism, and size - or at least height - than Omeire. But again, I'm willing to defer to the staff. As long as it doesn't wind up looking like post-2008 Mack and Bobby Kennedy are drawing up our WR board, I'll be mostly happy for the moment. 

But I still think Johnston looks like he's got a ton potential.

 

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