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Texas Recruiting Notes 2024: Bags Don't Beat Bankrolls

texifornia

By texifornia
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RGBIII
RGBIII

Finally can tell my aggy story.    Have a good insight into this kids recruitment and I’m still laughing about his visit to aggy. Dude gets his player host (I’ll let y’all find who that is) and

closetojumping
closetojumping

How do you think this is helpful? Not being a jerk, just asking y'all to keep your shit together and use common sense. In any event, I know for a fact that nothing ever happens with Texas until a

closetojumping
closetojumping

He could have if he isn't. Play devil's advocate and tell us why you feel about this guy's overall approach to his recruitment and how that either translates to the next level or doesn't matter.

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Hook1997

Hook1997 5295

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2 minutes ago, texifornia said:

LJH, off the top of my head

He was WR..   I’m not saying it doesn’t happen but recent history say a big majority don’t end up contributing too much.   Go down the list of 4 star athletes that did nothing, it’s much bigger than ones that did.  

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SydneyCarton

SydneyCarton 47934

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Just now, texifornia said:

LJH, off the top of my head

He may have been listed as an ATH, but his projection was pretty clear. Just because he played RB in HS and was tall as fuck and obviously not going to be a RB or a DB in college doesn’t mean he was truly recruited as at ATH. Just my two cents. 

2 minutes ago, UnhappilyMarried said:

JT, Whitt. 

These fit. 

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Lonestar88

Lonestar88 4585

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LJH was listed as ATH, but yes, everyone knew he’d be a WR.

Jatavion Sanders was the #1 ATH of his recruiting class and that was very much legit as he easily could’ve ended up on defense. In fact, that’s where most people wanted him at the time.

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Wulaw Horn

Wulaw Horn 18985

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1 minute ago, Lonestar88 said:

LJH was listed as ATH, but yes, everyone knew he’d be a WR.

Jaravion Sanders was the #1 ATH of his recruiting class and that was very much legit as he easily could’ve ended up on defense. In fact, that’s where most people wanted him at the time.

Still sorta would have liked to see that I think.  If he could have been 80% as good of an edge as he was a TE I think I'd take him as a DE just because of the importance of that position as a lynchpin of the defense.  I think.  

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Lonestar88

Lonestar88 4585

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1 minute ago, Wulaw Horn said:

Still sorta would have liked to see that I think.  If he could have been 80% as good of an edge as he was a TE I think I'd take him as a DE just because of the importance of that position as a lynchpin of the defense.  I think.  

It was just all about want to. He didn’t want to play defense at the college level, and if the motivation isn’t there, then having him at TE was for the best.

If he wanted to play defense as much as he did offense, then yeah, I’m in the same boat as you. 

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Bodacious Bevo

Bodacious Bevo 3576

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ATHs we've taken since 2018: Jelani McDonald, X'avion Brice, Savion Red, Ja'Tavion Sanders, Juan Davis, Kelvontay Dixon, Jaden Hullaby, Bru McCoy, Jordan Whittington, Michael Williams

1 All-American, 1 good contributor, 2 guys contributing at other schools, 1 bust, and some young guys with the jury still out. Not too different than the rest of our recruits in the same time period.

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satyanash

satyanash 14282

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Eric Nahlin: Texas lands Daniel Cruz thanks to Kyle Flood's approach

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A common theme has blossomed during offensive line coach Kyle Flood‘s time at Texas: He is not afraid to go against the grain with early evaluations and prioritize unheralded recruits like they’re household names. We first saw this in the 2022 cycle when he offered Connor Robertson. Despite Robertson playing for a Westlake program everyone was familiar with, he was flying under the radar at the time of the offer.

This theme really came to the fore during the 2023 cycle where Flood was early and aggressive on Jaydon Chatman, Andre Cojoe, and Connor Stroh. Flood’s approach paid dividends as Texas landed all three in addition to Trevor Goosby and Payton Kirkland.

Now, in the 2024 class, we see more of the same with the commitment of four-star Daniel Cruz from Richland High School. While Flood wasn’t incredibly early to offer Cruz, he had been recruiting him long before he offered. Once the offer went out, the recruitment hit another gear. Cruz even received a visit from Sark immediately after the dead period was lifted at a time Texas was trying to close out it’s 2023 class.

In recruiting, prioritization pays off and being early gives you the advantage over other schools. Though Cruz wasn’t all that highly rated when Flood initially took interest, over time, Cruz’s recruiting profile began to correlate to the interest he was receiving. He took June official visits to Ohio State, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, and, of course, Texas.

While Cruz is considered an interior lineman, similarly to Robertson, he’s going to be groomed from his first day to play center. Jake Majors gives Texas a center of the present, while Robertson, Cole Hutson, and perhaps even Hayden Conner, give Texas centers of the future. Cruz now joins that second category, and probably has the most upside out of any of them for that position.

Cruz not only owns the requisite intelligence, but also tackle feet and guard size, including lower body strength to anchor against nose tackles. In addition, his 4.6 shuttle is evidence of the quickness required to play the position. That’s actually a tick faster than what NFL drafted IOL average at the combine. In my view centers are undervalued by the recruiting services. I just described a unique recruit and that should be reflected better in his rankings, though his On3 Industry Ranking of 91.42 is nothing to sneeze at. I just view him as a future NFL player, and I would rate players like that higher.

Texas now has a two-man offensive line class after Atascocita’s Nate Kibble committed on Sunday. Thanks to Kyle Flood, Texas is heading in the direction of reloading rather than rebuilding on the offensive line. This has been a long time coming.

Gerry Hamilton: Daniel Cruz through my eyes

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When first watching Daniel Cruz on HUDL following his freshman season at Richland High, it was obvious he was different. Freshman offensive lineman don’t often start on varsity at the 5A and 6A levels in the Lone Star State. And they very rarely are named Offensive Freshman or Newcomer of the Year in year one.

One thing was known at that point, the then 6-foot-3, 270-pounder was naturally strong. That was obvious on initial contact, and he has to be naturally strong to play as a freshman on the offensive line at the highest level in Texas. He followed with a 4-5A first-team selection as a sophomore, and first-team again as a junior. Seeing Cruz in person for the first time August 17, 2022, none of the awards and accomplishments were a surprise.

Cruz in person

In person, Cruz confirmed what I thought and much more. Talking with the Richland High coaching staff, it was easy to know Cruz was different. Every sentence included words such as very strong, quick, flexible, powerful, coachable, hard-working, loves the weight room, always looking to get better, will do whatever is needed to win. Players like Cruz help elevate a program, bottom line.

Watching practice August 17 and talking with Cruz during various water breaks, it was obvious the Richland High staff and the colleges that had already offered saw the special qualities. Cruz seemingly always has a smile on his face, but don’t get it confused. He makes contact with the idea of burying opponents and the man lined up across from him.

What I witnessed in person was left tackle level feet in a guard/center frame. The initial foot quickness, reactive quickness, ankle flexion, knee bend, powerful hands and initial strike, balance, football OL IQ and physicality came through immediately. Cruz on an official visit at Oklahoma June 16-18 standing next to Creed Humphrey illustrates the frame.

Cruz the worker

Daniel Cruz literally checks every box a college coach would look for. He’s a high-motor practice player, whether in drills or in live action. He’s not a “takes plays off” player or prospect. That’s not how he is wired. And that comes through on Friday nights. Cruz regularly started at left tackle, and would plays snaps at defensive tackle too. He works as hard in the weight room in the off-season, as he does on the field as a player during the season. Cruz also has wrestled, and competed in track and field during high school.

Cruz is a talent maximizer, period. That includes outside of sports. This summer, Cruz made four official visits in June along with holding down a job to help his family, and is going to summer school to ensure he grades high school in December. Every box is checked. For Cruz, there needs to be more boxes added to the equation – and then he would check those too. The goal for Steve Sarkisian and staff at Texas is to build a playoff and National Championship contending program. They took a step toward those goals today with the commitment of future center Daniel Cruz.

 

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Wulaw Horn

Wulaw Horn 18985

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53 minutes ago, Lonestar88 said:

It was just all about want to. He didn’t want to play defense at the college level, and if the motivation isn’t there, then having him at TE was for the best.

If he wanted to play defense as much as he did offense, then yeah, I’m in the same boat as you. 

Sure. Wasn’t suggesting we put a gun to his head or anything. Or that he could have been even close to as good at edge as he was at TE. 

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Ricky's one-hitter

Ricky's one-hitter 9084

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1 minute ago, TexasRenegade said:

Yeah that one went out way, but there have been plenty of recruits this board has convinced itself in the last 24 hours that we had a shot at flipping that ended up being nowhere close.

Your reference to “this board” is not founded. “This board” is a generally measured group that posts relatively informed news and opinions. What you’re describing is toxic football board runoff that feels compelled to share what they saw on Reddit. I’ll not be besmirched. 

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SydneyCarton

SydneyCarton 47934

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16 minutes ago, Elmer_Fudd said:

Suchomel forecasted Simmons to Texas.  Believe he's usually pretty conservative on his picks. 

I’m not sure I’d categorize “functionally retarded” as “conservative.” He sucks at his job so bad the only person who will employ him is Ketchum. His next stop is the Jason Howell model at Texags. 

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TheContractor

TheContractor 70

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1 hour ago, BurntOrange&White said:

Kibble and Cruz are both 4 year starters on varsity.

very good point and that too at a 5A/6A level which is even more impressive. 

53 minutes ago, Elmer_Fudd said:

Suchomel forecasted Simmons to Texas.  Believe he's usually pretty conservative on his picks. 

Has Mike Roach? haha

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Thiefery

Thiefery 4971

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41 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

I’m not sure I’d categorize “functionally retarded” as “conservative.” He sucks at his job so bad the only person who will employ him is Ketchum. His next stop is the Jason Howell model at Texags. 

Guess it should be no surprise that they are best friends (Howell and Suchomel)

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