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Texas Recruiting Notes 2021


Reese Bennett

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re: Myslinski 

An athletically maxed-out under-sized C prospect with a dad with an NFL pedigree? Fucking hell. I've had enough of Hand's eggshell dancing with fucking Blake. These recent dalliances with both Remington Strickland and Michael Myslinski while not offering Ezra Oyetade is blatant and ridiculous coddling for the Brock's benefit. It's like the mildest of pressure but with a clear "James is OUR GUY" signal to it. Oyetade is the best prospect out of those 4 guys by a large margin and it's clear that Texas isn't fully engaging him for "reasons". There's no reason to keep handling Blake with kid gloves at this point, because it's too late in this sped up COVID calendar.

Alabama sure as fuck isn't. Sounds very much like the Tide see William Parker as a player that could play multiple positions along the front line and is a guy they covet much more than his current rankings would suggest. I suspect that he's going to be in their class. I'm guessing that UGA and Bama end up splitting Ferguson/Josey and with tOSU already grabbing 2 OGs in this class, I'd be willing to be that Jager Burton could end up in their class as well. They wouldn't say no any of those 4 guys and if they take even 2 of them James' spot is tenuous. 

I don't know how much longer Hand can wait and put together a solid OL class - I know it's likely that there will be a ton of COVID related decommits but counting on them along the OL is highly unlikely IMHO. There's only one reason I can think of to loll around right now and not move on both Ezra Oyetade and Erick Cade. As it stands even if you take those 2 (along with Conner) you still have room for a late rising jumbo athlete, which we know this staff loves, and the Brocks. Byrd seems super unlikely at this point, but even so he'd honestly count as the jumbo athlete anyway because he's going to be a project at OT. If you don't start adding pieces now (it's July) and the Brocks grab their places at Bama before losing their spots, Texas is going to be left out and adding 4 players that will likely have very low floors. You can only factor in so many projects along the OL.  I think the class could all fall together in the end and work out but right now it looks a lot more like Hand is going to be left reaching. 

 

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5 minutes ago, golfclap said:

re: Myslinski 

An athletically maxed-out under-sized C prospect with a dad with an NFL pedigree? Fucking hell. I've had enough of Hand's eggshell dancing with fucking Blake. These recent dalliances with both Remington Strickland and Michael Myslinski while not offering Ezra Oyetade is blatant and ridiculous coddling for the Brock's benefit. It's like the mildest of pressure but with a clear "James is OUR GUY" signal to it. Oyetade is the best prospect out of those 4 guys by a large margin and it's clear that Texas isn't fully engaging him for "reasons". There's no reason to keep handling Blake with kid gloves at this point, because it's too late in this sped up COVID calendar.

Alabama sure as fuck isn't. Sounds very much like the Tide see William Parker as a player that could play multiple positions along the front line and is a guy they covet much more than his current rankings would suggest. I suspect that he's going to be in their class. I'm guessing that UGA and Bama end up splitting Ferguson/Josey and with tOSU already grabbing 2 OGs in this class, I'd be willing to be that Jager Burton could end up in their class as well. They wouldn't say no any of those 4 guys and if they take even 2 of them James' spot is tenuous. 

I don't know how much longer Hand can wait and put together a solid OL class - I know it's likely that there will be a ton of COVID related decommits but counting on them along the OL is highly unlikely IMHO. There's only one reason I can think of to loll around right now and not move on both Ezra Oyetade and Erick Cade. As it stands even if you take those 2 (along with Conner) you still have room for a late rising jumbo athlete, which we know this staff loves, and the Brocks. Byrd seems super unlikely at this point, but even so he'd honestly count as the jumbo athlete anyway because he's going to be a project at OT. If you don't start adding pieces now (it's July) and the Brocks grab their places at Bama before losing their spots, Texas is going to be left out and adding 4 players that will likely have very low floors. You can only factor in so many projects along the OL.  I think the class could all fall together in the end and work out but right now it looks a lot more like Hand is going to be left reaching. 

 

Myslinski isn't even a project. He has an obvious floor (which wouldn't start at Texas), and limited upside. I'm more worried about guard than anything else. There just isn't a plan there at all. We are out on Foster, I cannot be convinced otherwise. Jonah Miller may actually be a RT, and would be a tough flip unless Bijan really kills it this season and does some recruiting for us. Let's say we land the Brocks eventually. Brock 1-Conner-Brock2-?????-Byrd/??. I understand cloudiness around what happens if we whiff on the Brocks completely, I do not understand why there are question marks even if we did land them. 

Also, here's every oline offer for 2021

OFFENSIVE LINE
Tristan Bounds, Choate Rosemary Hall (Wallingford, CT) - MICHIGAN
James Brockermeyer, All Saints (Fort Worth, TX)
Tommy Brockermeyer, All Saints (Fort Worth, TX)
Jager Burton, Frederick Douglass (Lexington, KY)
Savion Byrd, Duncanville (Duncanville, TX)
Erick Cade, Braswell (Aubrey, TX)
Reuben Fatheree, Foster (Richmond, TX) - TEXAS A&M
Bryce Foster, Taylor (Katy, TX)
Donovan Jackson, Episcopal (Bellaire, TX) - OHIO STATE
Tristan Leigh, Robinson (Fairfax, VA)
Jonah Miller, Salpointe Catholic (Tucson, AZ) - OREGON
Michael Myslinski, Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville, FL)
Jaeden Roberts, Galena Park North Shore (Houston, TX) - AUBURN
Nolan Rucci, Warwick (Lititz, PA)
Bram Walden, Saguaro (Scottsdale, AZ) - OREGON
Matthew Wykoff, Magnolia High (Magnolia, TX) - TEXAS A&M

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9 minutes ago, Ricky's one-hitter said:

Also, here's every oline offer for 2021

OFFENSIVE LINE
Tristan Bounds, Choate Rosemary Hall (Wallingford, CT) - MICHIGAN
James Brockermeyer, All Saints (Fort Worth, TX)
Tommy Brockermeyer, All Saints (Fort Worth, TX)
Jager Burton, Frederick Douglass (Lexington, KY)
Savion Byrd, Duncanville (Duncanville, TX)
Erick Cade, Braswell (Aubrey, TX)
Reuben Fatheree, Foster (Richmond, TX) - TEXAS A&M
Bryce Foster, Taylor (Katy, TX)
Donovan Jackson, Episcopal (Bellaire, TX) - OHIO STATE
Tristan Leigh, Robinson (Fairfax, VA)
Jonah Miller, Salpointe Catholic (Tucson, AZ) - OREGON
Michael Myslinski, Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville, FL)
Jaeden Roberts, Galena Park North Shore (Houston, TX) - AUBURN
Nolan Rucci, Warwick (Lititz, PA)
Bram Walden, Saguaro (Scottsdale, AZ) - OREGON
Matthew Wykoff, Magnolia High (Magnolia, TX) - TEXAS A&M

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1 hour ago, golfclap said:

re: Myslinski 

An athletically maxed-out under-sized C prospect with a dad with an NFL pedigree? Fucking hell. I've had enough of Hand's eggshell dancing with fucking Blake. These recent dalliances with both Remington Strickland and Michael Myslinski while not offering Ezra Oyetade is blatant and ridiculous coddling for the Brock's benefit. It's like the mildest of pressure but with a clear "James is OUR GUY" signal to it. Oyetade is the best prospect out of those 4 guys by a large margin and it's clear that Texas isn't fully engaging him for "reasons". There's no reason to keep handling Blake with kid gloves at this point, because it's too late in this sped up COVID calendar.

Alabama sure as fuck isn't. Sounds very much like the Tide see William Parker as a player that could play multiple positions along the front line and is a guy they covet much more than his current rankings would suggest. I suspect that he's going to be in their class. I'm guessing that UGA and Bama end up splitting Ferguson/Josey and with tOSU already grabbing 2 OGs in this class, I'd be willing to be that Jager Burton could end up in their class as well. They wouldn't say no any of those 4 guys and if they take even 2 of them James' spot is tenuous. 

I don't know how much longer Hand can wait and put together a solid OL class - I know it's likely that there will be a ton of COVID related decommits but counting on them along the OL is highly unlikely IMHO. There's only one reason I can think of to loll around right now and not move on both Ezra Oyetade and Erick Cade. As it stands even if you take those 2 (along with Conner) you still have room for a late rising jumbo athlete, which we know this staff loves, and the Brocks. Byrd seems super unlikely at this point, but even so he'd honestly count as the jumbo athlete anyway because he's going to be a project at OT. If you don't start adding pieces now (it's July) and the Brocks grab their places at Bama before losing their spots, Texas is going to be left out and adding 4 players that will likely have very low floors. You can only factor in so many projects along the OL.  I think the class could all fall together in the end and work out but right now it looks a lot more like Hand is going to be left reaching. 

 

I think Vince Marrow closes on Burton. Hand could learn a lot from how Kentucky recruits the o-line. Obviously they look for a different type of lineman given the offense they run, but they close just often enough to where their line might be the second best in the SEC this year.

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57 minutes ago, Junior Bonner said:

Look, I'm pretty sure I read somewhere on here that we were going to clean up in OL recruiting this year. It was guaranteed. And I paid $9.95 for that guarantee. 

Ima need my money back... 

you don’t need your money back.  we will clean up.  every recruiting thread from every single year is pessimistic in June. 

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18 minutes ago, George Clooney said:

I think Vince Marrow closes on Burton. Hand could learn a lot from how Kentucky recruits the o-line. Obviously they look for a different type of lineman given the offense they run, but they close just often enough to where their line might be the second best in the SEC this year.

Agreed. Would be a huge get for UK. I love what they do with both sides of the LOS and I agree a lot of it is in evals (Wohlabaugh for instance, how is he not a mid-4 star guy?) but I think Edmond might be one of the best S&C coaches out there and is a really big part of UKs success. He's like Schmidt but without the racism and vomit eating. He's done a great job turning that team into a physical force. They have simply bullied a lot of comparable and even more talented teams and rarely do they look athletically inferior as the rankings would suggest.

 

 

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3 hours ago, golfclap said:

re: Myslinski 

An athletically maxed-out under-sized C prospect with a dad with an NFL pedigree? Fucking hell. I've had enough of Hand's eggshell dancing with fucking Blake. These recent dalliances with both Remington Strickland and Michael Myslinski while not offering Ezra Oyetade is blatant and ridiculous coddling for the Brock's benefit. It's like the mildest of pressure but with a clear "James is OUR GUY" signal to it. Oyetade is the best prospect out of those 4 guys by a large margin and it's clear that Texas isn't fully engaging him for "reasons". There's no reason to keep handling Blake with kid gloves at this point, because it's too late in this sped up COVID calendar.

Alabama sure as fuck isn't. Sounds very much like the Tide see William Parker as a player that could play multiple positions along the front line and is a guy they covet much more than his current rankings would suggest. I suspect that he's going to be in their class. I'm guessing that UGA and Bama end up splitting Ferguson/Josey and with tOSU already grabbing 2 OGs in this class, I'd be willing to be that Jager Burton could end up in their class as well. They wouldn't say no any of those 4 guys and if they take even 2 of them James' spot is tenuous. 

I don't know how much longer Hand can wait and put together a solid OL class - I know it's likely that there will be a ton of COVID related decommits but counting on them along the OL is highly unlikely IMHO. There's only one reason I can think of to loll around right now and not move on both Ezra Oyetade and Erick Cade. As it stands even if you take those 2 (along with Conner) you still have room for a late rising jumbo athlete, which we know this staff loves, and the Brocks. Byrd seems super unlikely at this point, but even so he'd honestly count as the jumbo athlete anyway because he's going to be a project at OT. If you don't start adding pieces now (it's July) and the Brocks grab their places at Bama before losing their spots, Texas is going to be left out and adding 4 players that will likely have very low floors. You can only factor in so many projects along the OL.  I think the class could all fall together in the end and work out but right now it looks a lot more like Hand is going to be left reaching. 

 

In other words, when the Brockermeyer's commit to Bama' in another month or 2, we'll offer Ezra, but it'll be to late.

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1 hour ago, golfclap said:

Agreed. Would be a huge get for UK. I love what they do with both sides of the LOS and I agree a lot of it is in evals (Wohlabaugh for instance, how is he not a mid-4 star guy?) but I think Edmond might be one of the best S&C coaches out there and is a really big part of UKs success. He's like Schmidt but without the racism and vomit eating. He's done a great job turning that team into a physical force. They have simply bullied a lot of comparable and even more talented teams and rarely do they look athletically inferior as the rankings would suggest.

 

 

It's funny how Edmond has been in the S&C program under each Stoops brother over the past two decades. Also, it's no coincidence how Kentucky started to really rise once Michigan State really began to fall. UK simply started beating out MSU throughout Northeast Ohio (and the rest of Ohio/even Michigan to an extent) in recruiting at various positions, and it shows. I would've been really high on Sparty for the future if Tucker had been able to get Marrow from UK. It's good for Kentucky that they're now at a point to where they're paying a TE coach $900K a year. 

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Just putting this out there from Looch today:

Does the current recruiting environment give us an edge with our coaches' ability to evaluate talent and make offers to kids that are a little under the radar as opposed to say texas who's staff has historically seemed to rely on others to help find talent, whether recruiting services or who Jimbo offers? 

I do believe so, yes. Just look at the guys they are looking at out of state. I think this cycle will really expose Texas and Herman when it comes to their (lack of) evaluation skill. Longhorns won't like hearing that today and will challenge it but I've seen it too much under his staff already and a lot of those times it's with guys that the Aggies either passed on altogether or were (and if you follow closely, you know who they are), at best lukewarm on. You won't see it right away because the national services have historically overrated their prospects and continue to do so today but you'll see it as the 2021 class gets into their second and third years on campus or via very early attrition.

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2 minutes ago, George Clooney said:

It's funny how Edmond has been in the S&C program under each Stoops brother over the past two decades. Also, it's no coincidence how Kentucky started to really rise once Michigan State really began to fall. UK simply started beating out MSU throughout Northeast Ohio (and the rest of Ohio/even Michigan to an extent) in recruiting at various positions, and it shows. I would've been really high on Sparty for the future if Tucker had been able to get Marrow from UK. It's good for Kentucky that they're now at a point to where they're paying a TE coach $900K a year. 

No doubt Marrow has been a huge part of their success recruiting that region, my Kentucky buddy thinks they have a real shot of pulling 5* Damon Payne out of Michigan. 
 

https://247sports.com/Player/Damon-Payne-46041148/

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7 minutes ago, texifornia said:

Just putting this out there from Looch today:

Does the current recruiting environment give us an edge with our coaches' ability to evaluate talent and make offers to kids that are a little under the radar as opposed to say texas who's staff has historically seemed to rely on others to help find talent, whether recruiting services or who Jimbo offers? 

I do believe so, yes. Just look at the guys they are looking at out of state. I think this cycle will really expose Texas and Herman when it comes to their (lack of) evaluation skill. Longhorns won't like hearing that today and will challenge it but I've seen it too much under his staff already and a lot of those times it's with guys that the Aggies either passed on altogether or were (and if you follow closely, you know who they are), at best lukewarm on. You won't see it right away because the national services have historically overrated their prospects and continue to do so today but you'll see it as the 2021 class gets into their second and third years on campus or via very early attrition.

3baeae4f7f482be2c0161037063acf3b.gif

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1 hour ago, texifornia said:

Just putting this out there from Looch today:

Does the current recruiting environment give us an edge with our coaches' ability to evaluate talent and make offers to kids that are a little under the radar as opposed to say texas who's staff has historically seemed to rely on others to help find talent, whether recruiting services or who Jimbo offers? 

I do believe so, yes. Just look at the guys they are looking at out of state. I think this cycle will really expose Texas and Herman when it comes to their (lack of) evaluation skill. Longhorns won't like hearing that today and will challenge it but I've seen it too much under his staff already and a lot of those times it's with guys that the Aggies either passed on altogether or were (and if you follow closely, you know who they are), at best lukewarm on. You won't see it right away because the national services have historically overrated their prospects and continue to do so today but you'll see it as the 2021 class gets into their second and third years on campus or via very early attrition.

I have to hand it to Looch.  He’s knows what his job is and he is willing to suspend all rational thought and logic in order to accomplish said job.  It’s pretty entertaining.  

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1 minute ago, stork642 said:

I have to hand it to Looch.  He’s knows what his job is and he is willing to suspend all rational thought and logic in order to accomplish said job.  It’s pretty entertaining.  

Your post really begs the question, can one actually suspend all rational thought and logic if one is not capable of rational thought and logic to begin with? 

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At some point when you were the guy claiming the Aggie 2002 class was better than the 2002 Texas class, Reggie was better than VY, and how A&M was really out recruiting Texas during the Mack Brown era, shouldn't Liucci or his customers maybe look back and do a little score keeping?

Mack Brown accomplished more in his career at Texas than A&M has in their history.  Shit, Herman has disappointed, but his 2018 final ranking would beat every A&M season in the last 25 years outside of the Manziel 2012 year.  No conference titles since Bill Clinton.  No back to back winning records in conference since the 90s.  

He is shilling for a cuck coach on his retirement gig who lost by 32 to a bad Boston College team his last year at FSU where he had a losing record.  Yeah, that's worth $75 million.  Not to mention all the posts he and his Texags ministry of information had to delete about Fisher enabling a rapist like Winston.  Texags was brutal on Fisher.  Then all those posts disappeared like a fart in the wind.

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3 hours ago, texifornia said:

Just putting this out there from Looch today:

Does the current recruiting environment give us an edge with our coaches' ability to evaluate talent and make offers to kids that are a little under the radar as opposed to say texas who's staff has historically seemed to rely on others to help find talent, whether recruiting services or who Jimbo offers? 

I do believe so, yes. Just look at the guys they are looking at out of state. I think this cycle will really expose Texas and Herman when it comes to their (lack of) evaluation skill. Longhorns won't like hearing that today and will challenge it but I've seen it too much under his staff already and a lot of those times it's with guys that the Aggies either passed on altogether or were (and if you follow closely, you know who they are), at best lukewarm on. You won't see it right away because the national services have historically overrated their prospects and continue to do so today but you'll see it as the 2021 class gets into their second and third years on campus or via very early attrition.

Liucci is a fucking window licker. 

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Their best days are always in the future—best seasons, qbs, recruits, Championships. Using hindsight and the present day as justification to shape reality doesn’t work on a faith based fan base.  They’ve been fattening up their players to play cube ball even though their conference is hiring offensive pass happy coaches. Aggy, yet again, will show up late.

in a nutshell, wouldn’t swap classes. Neither last year, nor this. I’m good with looch and co. continuing to play pretend. 

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9 hours ago, Mdhorn said:

Their best days are always in the future—best seasons, qbs, recruits, Championships. Using hindsight and the present day as justification to shape reality doesn’t work on a faith based fan base.  They’ve been fattening up their players to play cube ball even though their conference is hiring offensive pass happy coaches. Aggy, yet again, will show up late.

in a nutshell, wouldn’t swap classes. Neither last year, nor this. I’m good with looch and co. continuing to play pretend. 

350 lb DEs are the winning recipe ya stupid sip!

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30 minutes ago, texifornia said:

Is Hand going to follow every random 3-star OL in Texas? Could be: https://247sports.com/Player/Jasper-Lott-46054030/

Is he going to offer Oyetade in time? Ehhhh.....

Stop me if you've heard this one before ...  a maxed-out undersized OL with NFL ties. I'm actually amazed out how many of these guys there are.

 

If he's 243 pounds with a 23 inch vertical and his dad is the S&C coach for the Rams I think it's a safe bet that he's never going to have the size to play OT and the P5 level or the explosiveness to be a weapon at TE. I see TCU is in on him hard, so I'll assume inline TE with a possibility to transition to OT in year 4/5 in their system. 

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29 minutes ago, golfclap said:

Stop me if you've heard this one before ...  a maxed-out undersized OL with NFL ties. I'm actually amazed out how many of these guys there are.

 

If he's 243 pounds with a 23 inch vertical and his dad is the S&C coach for the Rams I think it's a safe bet that he's never going to have the size to play OT and the P5 level or the explosiveness to be a weapon at TE. I see TCU is in on him hard, so I'll assume inline TE with a possibility to transition to OT in year 4/5 in their system. 

I'll play devil's advocate.  I can see the benefit of Hand and other Texas staff kicking the tires of random 2/3 star players to artificially generate interest in a player with connections as a favor, whether for personal reasons or general networking.  On the flip side, not pursuing Ezra to appease the Brockemeyer's (allegedly) is a mistake.

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5 minutes ago, BruceVonClaude said:

I'll play devil's advocate.  I can see the benefit of Hand and other Texas staff kicking the tires of random 2/3 star players to artificially generate interest in a player with connections as a favor, whether for personal reasons or general networking.  On the flip side, not pursuing Ezra to appease the Brockemeyer's (allegedly) is a mistake.

Oh, I agree with all of that 100%. 

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AAS on LBs (it's not super illuminating): https://www.hookem.com/story/dotted-line-terrence-cooks-bust-texas-recruiting-2021-linebackers/

Spoiler

Recruiting linebackers has become a tricky proposition as the high school game has evolved toward spread offenses, which in turn required defensive coordinators to play their best athletes as edge rushers or safeties. Texas has struggled to recruit linebackers over the past decade because the state is failing to produce quality depth at an overlooked position.

 

The Longhorns’ highest-rated linebacker since signing Jordan Hicks in 2010 was De’Gabriel Brooks in 2019, an out-of-state prospect who was forced to give up football due to stenosis. Hicks also was from out of state. 

New defensive coordinator Chris Ash appears ready to de-emphasize the need for as many linebackers with the move to a 4-2-5 scheme that bases its success on rushing the passer and flooding the field with speed. Even one of the projected starters at linebacker this fall is DeMarvion Overshown, a former high school safety. Tyler Owens might also transition from safety to linebacker. 

Ash hopes his first linebacker commitment at Texas is the prototype for his vision at the position. Four-star outside linebacker Morice Blackwell chose UT over a dozen other Power Five offers, including Alabama and Georgia. The Arlington Martin product is the 22nd-ranked outside linebacker in the country, per 247Sports’ composite ratings. Blackwell recorded 128 tackles, including 13 for loss and two sacks, as a junior. He earned District 4-6A MVP honors last year and was the district’s sophomore of the year in 2018. 

Texas wants to add more quality around Blackwell and won’t stop chasing committed prospects like Clayton Smith, who chose Oklahoma over Texas earlier in the year or Arizona State pledge Jaydon Williams. Texas has offered only four middle linebackers and 11 outside linebackers. Only four of those 15 prospects live are Texans.  You won’t see Ash recruit the old-school middle linebacker prospects like Steve Edmond. 

Other linebackers Texas is looking at:

Terrence Cooks, OLB, Pearland Shadow Creek

FYI: 6-2, 210; three stars; No. 26-ranked outside linebacker 

Top schools: Texas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Alabama

Texas was one of Cooks’ last unofficial visits before the travel restrictions were put into place and he left that visit favoring the Longhorns due to his growing relationship with Houston-area commitments like Derrick Harris Jr. and Jalen Milroe. Cooks hasn’t pulled the trigger and is likely to wait until he can take official visits before making a college decision. Texas is also home to his former teammate Xavion Alford, who signed last December. 

Cooks is the Longhorns’ top priority at the position. He’s the perfect fit for what Texas wants its linebackers to be: Versatile, fast and aggressive. It’ll be as important to run down ball carriers and cover in space as it will be to plug the A-gap against teams trying to run. Cooks was a second-team all-district player for an Alvin Shadow Creek squad that claimed the Class 5A Division I state championship over Denton Ryan, which included a pair of future Longhorns in Billy Bowman Jr. and Ja’Tavion Sanders. Cooks finished the season with 72 tackles and three forced fumbles. 

Kendrick Blackshire, ILB, Duncanville

FYI: 6-2, 245; four stars; No. 7-ranked inside linebacker 

Top schools: Alabama, Oklahoma, LSU, Baylor, Illinois

Blackshire is the type of prospect that Texas’ new staff simply doesn’t covet in the same way as other defensive systems. Blackshire is an awesome prospect, and no one at UT would argue otherwise, but he’s not a fit within the Longhorns’ scheme. He is likely destined for the SEC, though the Dallas native is high on Baylor and Oklahoma. He missed his junior season with an injury, and the main question mark for coaches and scouts is whether he’s fast enough to cover running backs and get sideline-to-sideline against athletes in space. 

 

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Puff piece on G prospect, Jackson Anderson

Spoiler

For the Mineola senior, just being a part of the process is a blessing.

After watching his older brothers Riley and Austin sign with Texas A&M out of high school in 2016, he’s seen the recruiting game firsthand.

Last spring I visited Anderson, who was 6-foot-2, and maybe 265-270 pounds at the time. Over a year later, he’s 6-foot-4, 290 pounds.

The three-star, .85 composite rated offensive guard has made big strides over the last 12 months. His head coach, Heath Ragle, raves about his strength and work ethic.

In 2019, he was named first-team all-district as a junior. Earlier that spring, he was the Texas 3A regional qualifier in the discus as a sophomore (119-10 PR). He’s got the feet, bend, and point of attack to moves bodies at the D-1 level.

With 12 offers in hand - Colorado, Texas Tech, Kansas, Colorado State, and UNLV notably - he pledged to the Buffaloes of Boulder last month. Despite being solid to CU, coaches are still in contact with him, notably Herb Hand.

“It’s been a lot different from people (coaches) in the past because of the recruiting shut down,” said Jackson. “But it’s still good talking to coaches.”

When he committed to Colorado, I asked him if he’d be taking any other visits or if he had completely shut down the recruiting process.

“No,” said Anderson about taking official visits. “I am looking forward to playing for Colorado.“

After he appeared on the UT radar for 2021 offensive linemen, I asked the same question.

“(Hand) is a very good coach,” Jackson said. “I have talked to him a couple of times in the past. Relationships are very important in deciding a school. I want a good business school and good facilities.”

But what if Texas offered?

“I haven’t thought about it too much but I know an offer from Texas would take a lot of consideration and be hard to pass up.”

For Anderson, he’s staying in shape, and preparing as if fall camp arrives on schedule. If UT comes calling, it might be the program that makes him open back up his recruitment.

Always good to have backup plans. Watch the tape.

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1 hour ago, BruceVonClaude said:

I'll play devil's advocate.  I can see the benefit of Hand and other Texas staff kicking the tires of random 2/3 star players to artificially generate interest in a player with connections as a favor, whether for personal reasons or general networking.  On the flip side, not pursuing Ezra to appease the Brockemeyer's (allegedly) is a mistake.

Just call Ezra a guard and say the center spot is still open to appease the Brocks

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update via 247 for Gilliam -- still seems like OU with PSU close behind. :: 

 

Four-star defensive end Kelvin Gilliam plans to visits campuses before deciding on a school, so the Highland Springs (Va.) High standout is taking his time with recruiting

However, the No. 7 weak side defensive end in the industry-generated 247Sports Composite made progress and he released a top 10 of California, Florida, Kentucky, LSU, Penn State, Minnesota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia Tech, and there was a common theme with each of them.

“The main thing is being a priority for all of these teams and just the ability to play early,” he said. “And the relationships with these teams.”

Before Gilliam can get to a decision, though, he said he needs to see a lot of schools, so he is at the mercy of when the NCAA will lift the visit ban.

“It (a decision) will be after I make visits so whenever they open that stuff back up,” he said.

Gilliam shared his thoughts on each of the schools in his top 10:

California: “I have been in contact with them for a while now. I want to take an official out there and see the place itself. I have a good relationship with the defensive line coach, coach (Andrew) Browning. They say I am a priority and I can do some great things in the Pac-12.”

Florida: “Florida has been a great addition to my recruitment. I’ve been talking to them and coach (Dan) Mullen. After that virtual visit, they definitely have me hooked, and just seeing how they would use me in different schemes on the defensive line. They can use me anywhere on the defensive line.”

Kentucky: “They are a 3-4 defense but I will be playing a field end for them. I am a huge priority for them. I have a great relationship with the defensive coordinator, coach (Brad) White, and the defensive line coach, coach (Anwar) Stewart, and a great relationship with coach Mark Stoops. I know I am a great priority for them.”

LSU: “They got in pretty late but going back to the 4-3 defense with a new defensive coordinator and with Coach O (Ed Orgeron), it is just exciting to see a head coach who was a previous defensive line coach at other places. Bringing in (defensive line) coach (Bill) Johnson from the NFL is a great addition.”

Penn State: “Penn State has been recruiting me since I was a freshman of 14 years old. They’ve been in consistent contact with me for a long time and I am definitely a huge priority for the Nittany Lions.”

Minnesota: “Minnesota is an upcoming team. They had a great season last year at 11-2. I think they are an upcoming program that can do a lot of things. They already have a great recruiting class with the this ’21 class. They are bringing in more defensive linemen.”

Oklahoma: “Oklahoma is the same thing (as Penn State). I am a huge priority for them. I haven’t been to Norman (Okla.) yet, but after that virtual visit, they definitely have me hooked on. I have a great relationship with the defensive line coach, coach (Calvin) Thibodeaux, and coach (Lincoln) Riley. I am in contact frequently with them.”

South Carolina: “It’s an SEC school who I know I am a huge priority for. I have a great relationship with coach (Will) Muschamp and (assistant) coach (Kyle) Krantz. (Assistant) coach (Mike) Peterson sees me as a defensive end for them, but also can play a little bit inside, like all the schools.”

Texas: “I have a great relationship with the new defensive line coach, coach Mark Hagen, who was previously at Indiana, and coach (Oscar) Giles, who is a great defensive line coach. I have also been in contact with coach (Tom) Herman frequently. We have a great relationship. I plan on taking an official out to Texas.”

Virginia Tech: “The home school. I’ve been (in contact) with Virginia Tech since my freshman year. I have a great relationship with the new staff. They are bringing in change. They are bringing in energy, and I love it.”

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1 hour ago, texifornia said:

AAS on LBs (it's not super illuminating): https://www.hookem.com/story/dotted-line-terrence-cooks-bust-texas-recruiting-2021-linebackers/

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Recruiting linebackers has become a tricky proposition as the high school game has evolved toward spread offenses, which in turn required defensive coordinators to play their best athletes as edge rushers or safeties. Texas has struggled to recruit linebackers over the past decade because the state is failing to produce quality depth at an overlooked position.

 

The Longhorns’ highest-rated linebacker since signing Jordan Hicks in 2010 was De’Gabriel Brooks in 2019, an out-of-state prospect who was forced to give up football due to stenosis. Hicks also was from out of state. 

New defensive coordinator Chris Ash appears ready to de-emphasize the need for as many linebackers with the move to a 4-2-5 scheme that bases its success on rushing the passer and flooding the field with speed. Even one of the projected starters at linebacker this fall is DeMarvion Overshown, a former high school safety. Tyler Owens might also transition from safety to linebacker. 

Ash hopes his first linebacker commitment at Texas is the prototype for his vision at the position. Four-star outside linebacker Morice Blackwell chose UT over a dozen other Power Five offers, including Alabama and Georgia. The Arlington Martin product is the 22nd-ranked outside linebacker in the country, per 247Sports’ composite ratings. Blackwell recorded 128 tackles, including 13 for loss and two sacks, as a junior. He earned District 4-6A MVP honors last year and was the district’s sophomore of the year in 2018. 

Texas wants to add more quality around Blackwell and won’t stop chasing committed prospects like Clayton Smith, who chose Oklahoma over Texas earlier in the year or Arizona State pledge Jaydon Williams. Texas has offered only four middle linebackers and 11 outside linebackers. Only four of those 15 prospects live are Texans.  You won’t see Ash recruit the old-school middle linebacker prospects like Steve Edmond. 

Other linebackers Texas is looking at:

Terrence Cooks, OLB, Pearland Shadow Creek

FYI: 6-2, 210; three stars; No. 26-ranked outside linebacker 

Top schools: Texas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Alabama

Texas was one of Cooks’ last unofficial visits before the travel restrictions were put into place and he left that visit favoring the Longhorns due to his growing relationship with Houston-area commitments like Derrick Harris Jr. and Jalen Milroe. Cooks hasn’t pulled the trigger and is likely to wait until he can take official visits before making a college decision. Texas is also home to his former teammate Xavion Alford, who signed last December. 

Cooks is the Longhorns’ top priority at the position. He’s the perfect fit for what Texas wants its linebackers to be: Versatile, fast and aggressive. It’ll be as important to run down ball carriers and cover in space as it will be to plug the A-gap against teams trying to run. Cooks was a second-team all-district player for an Alvin Shadow Creek squad that claimed the Class 5A Division I state championship over Denton Ryan, which included a pair of future Longhorns in Billy Bowman Jr. and Ja’Tavion Sanders. Cooks finished the season with 72 tackles and three forced fumbles. 

Kendrick Blackshire, ILB, Duncanville

FYI: 6-2, 245; four stars; No. 7-ranked inside linebacker 

Top schools: Alabama, Oklahoma, LSU, Baylor, Illinois

Blackshire is the type of prospect that Texas’ new staff simply doesn’t covet in the same way as other defensive systems. Blackshire is an awesome prospect, and no one at UT would argue otherwise, but he’s not a fit within the Longhorns’ scheme. He is likely destined for the SEC, though the Dallas native is high on Baylor and Oklahoma. He missed his junior season with an injury, and the main question mark for coaches and scouts is whether he’s fast enough to cover running backs and get sideline-to-sideline against athletes in space. 

 

I found it highly illuminating.

I didn't know De'Gabriel Floyd had changed his last name to Brooks.

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