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Texas Recruiting Notes 2020


Reese Bennett

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3 hours ago, Orange&White said:

Can't y'all just leave the complaining about recruiting rankings to the aggies? Especially in June?

Finally, we can talk about "Love Actually."

Was that movie made before or after Hugh Grant got arrested?

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2 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

Do you even Ezekiel Elliott brah? Or even Red Grange for as relevant as that is now? 

Kinda reminds me of how (trigger warning) Joe Wickline would bring up Russell Okung while recruiting. The relevance didn't really exist and it was one player.

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31 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

Is he a X or Z? If he's an X, he's behind Wilson and Omeire.

Dunno but I think we would take his commitment if he wanted to pull the trigger. I think it was CTJ that said we would also take Johnston's commit if he wanted to do it and that we screwed up by not taking his commitment a few months back. That leads me to think that we would take both if we could get them right now.

Edited by Goodman
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8 hours ago, HtownHorn said:

Is he a X or Z? If he's an X, he's behind Wilson and Omeire.

I think he can play either, but I'm not sure if he's at the top of the pecking order

I'd guess we're looking at something like this:

X/Z: Wilson, Omeire, Johnston, Hester/Fouonji (not sure which is ahead between those two). He hasn't talked about visiting, but maybe Rome Odunze if he does.
H: Cooper, Achane, Dixon

Probably two X/Z, and one H. Honestly, we could probably get by with just two or even one receiver in this class if we needed to use the numbers elsewhere, so who knows who all ends up being a take in the end? 

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Just now, LTtxfan said:

Hermanator has stated that the Horns have to get more speed and quickness at WR.  Who are the best speed/quick WR candidates available that Texas has a decent shot at landing??

Achane might be the fastest prospect in the country, at least in regards to long speed; maybe some guys are faster in the 40, but he qualifies 

Loic Fouonji is really fast as well, per his 200m times

Mookie ran a 4.49, which is fast 

Hester has solid speed with a great shuttle, and Johnston has put up great high jumps, although I'm not sure what his 40/track times are; I don't think either are slow

Omeire and Wilson aren't fast, but Wilson has about five inches on Omeire 

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21 minutes ago, Katfid54 said:

Assuming you can also find another H (much more difficult to find than a Z receiver) in this class, why not take Achane as a Z?



Duvernay was always thought of as a slot, but has similar sort of long speed to Achane and he was good at Z receiver last year (with the potential to have been great had the combination of overthrows and bad hands played out differently).  Herman's offense doesn't need a big bodied wide receiver at Z.  It just needs a burner who mandates a defense devote a help defender to prevent big scoring plays.  Ideally that burner has great body control and hands (unfortunately, Duvernay is average to below average at both).

My thought is, if Percy Harvin was coming to your program as a signee, would you move him to Z day one where he'd likely take several years to learn how to do outside WR things like release off the LOS, track ball deeps, catch around the sidelines, run a complete route tree including how to alter routes depending on coverage, etc, or would you rather play him at H where you manufacture ways to get the ball in his hands in space or on sweeps from on day one?

I'd rather have someone like Johnston or Fouonji who already plays outside WR as the Z

Unless you're just trying to find a way to get both Mookie and Achane into the class, in which case I'd probably sell Achane on being an APB than a Z. 

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2 minutes ago, Katfid54 said:

Yes, this was what I meant.

If we have the option for Achane and Mookie (or Achane and Dixon), wouldn't you rather take those two guys instead of a guy who's just a worse version of an X receiver? 

After landing Jake Smith and with Jojo Earle liking Texas in the next class, I'd probably just take Achane and Johnston, and use that scholarship on a different position. Or take a flyer on Fouonji as a third WR as a long term high upside height + speed guy. Not that I would complain or anything if we managed to land both. 

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Just now, Fud said:

After landing Jake Smith and with Jojo Earle liking Texas in the next class, I'd probably just take Achane and Johnston, and use that scholarship on a different position. Or take a flyer on Fouonji as a third WR as a long term high upside height + speed guy. Not that I would complain or anything if we managed to land both. 

I mean, Johnston is a 6'4" speed guy, and we haven't seemed to get our shit together enough to land him yet. Do we really need Founji too?

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Just now, SydneyCarton said:

I mean, Johnston is a 6'4" speed guy, and we haven't seemed to get our shit together enough to land him yet. Do we really need Founji too?

We don't need both, but both have high enough upside to be intriguing roster adds if we miss on certain guys like Wilson and Omeire, and if the second one (probably Loic) makes sense vs whoever the other best players available he'd be competing against for the last few spots. Guys like Moore, Epps, Washington, and Smith can hold down the fort in the short term, so those high upside guys wouldn't necessarily be needed to contribute early, and then eventually you might have a tall and fast X and Z from this class, along with hopefully your H in Achane. 

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1 minute ago, Fud said:

We don't need both, but both have high enough upside to be intriguing roster adds if we miss on certain guys like Wilson and Omeire, and if the second one (probably Loic) makes sense vs whoever the other best players available he'd be competing against for the last few spots. Guys like Moore, Epps, Washington, and Smith can hold down the fort in the short term, so those high upside guys wouldn't necessarily be needed to contribute early, and then eventually you might have a tall and fast X and Z from this class, along with hopefully your H in Achane. 

I get what you're saying, but I think I'd personally just go in the direction of sending that scholarship elsewhere, which I believe you said earlier as an option. At some point I feel like these high upside projects are going to be more and more difficult to develop over years with the existence of the transfer portal, especially with there being a decent chance they'd be leapfrogged by a more transcendent and younger talent every year or two anyway, assuming we're recruiting on all cylinders. You also forgot Kennedy Lewis, who seems like a higher ceiling guy we have who is working above and beyond to hit is ceiling. I'd take Johnston and toss that scholarship elsewhere, like LB. I'd rather just take a shot on pushing for a "reach" like brennan scott at this point than use that scholarship on Loic. But that's just me. Or, if you're Norla, just take a year off recruiting any WR and give all those scholarships to walk-ons. 

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7 minutes ago, Fud said:

247 just moved Conyers from #219 to #116, Kitan Crawford from #456 to #175, Courtland Ford from #271 to #833, and Branard Wright from #327 to #1037

I'm looking real good on my bellyaching over not snatching up Branard Wright when he was wearing UT gear over a year ago. Let me tell you. 

Naturally, I blame my overreaction on Oscar Giles sucking at his job. 

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19 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

I get what you're saying, but I think I'd personally just go in the direction of sending that scholarship elsewhere, which I believe you said earlier as an option. At some point I feel like these high upside projects are going to be more and more difficult to develop over years with the existence of the transfer portal, especially with there being a decent chance they'd be leapfrogged by a more transcendent and younger talent every year or two anyway, assuming we're recruiting on all cylinders. You also forgot Kennedy Lewis, who seems like a higher ceiling guy we have who is working above and beyond to hit is ceiling. I'd take Johnston and toss that scholarship elsewhere, like LB. I'd rather just take a shot on pushing for a "reach" like brennan scott at this point than use that scholarship on Loic. But that's just me. Or, if you're Norla, just take a year off recruiting any WR and give all those scholarships to walk-ons. 

This is pretty much why i’d Almost prefer to quit recruiting Mookie. If he comes here and sees Moore, Smith and others ahead of him and realizes he won’t be starting Day 1, i’d bet he bolts before his freshman year is over.

17 minutes ago, Fud said:

247 just moved Conyers from #219 to #116, Kitan Crawford from #456 to #175, Courtland Ford from #271 to #833, and Branard Wright from #327 to #1037

Lol. 1037. I actually think he might be a tad bit underrated now.

9 minutes ago, Hiphopopotamos said:

I'm beginning to think katfid doesn't know what a 'drop' is.

Lets show him some cut ups of drops by Jordy Nelson and Julian Edelman just to be sure.

8 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

I'm looking real good on my bellyaching over not snatching up Branard Wright when he was wearing UT gear over a year ago. Let me tell you. 

Naturally, I blame my overreaction on Oscar Giles sucking at his job. 

If it makes you feel any better, futureman thought he was good early on too, so youre on par with him as an evaluator. 

Edited by Burt Macklin
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1 hour ago, SydneyCarton said:

I mean, Johnston is a 6'4" speed guy, and we haven't seemed to get our shit together enough to land him yet. Do we really need Founji too?

Right now, Texas has 

  • 3 SR: Burt, Duvernay, Johnson
  • 3 SO: Eagles, Moore, Pouncey
  • 2 RS FR: Epps, Woodard
  • 3 True FR: Lewis, Jake Smith, Washington (+Whittington)

it will be fairly shocking if Texas keeps all 5 of the SO/RS FR next year and will be even more shocking if they keep all 8 underclassmen next year.

yes, this doesn't take into account their specific positions, but still...

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1 minute ago, dcar00 said:

to get this back on to recruiting, I believe the question is, who are we recruiting that can take duvernay's bad hands spot at WR?

Position change incoming.

Dude can only catch mini-footballs and NERF vortexes (vortices?). 

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4 minutes ago, Machinator said:

They touch on the Herman and DFW recruiting...issues here

Quote

 

Here’s the issue: Tom Herman hasn’t recruited the DFW area well at all during his time as a Head Coach. He’s overseen five recruiting classes (including both transition classes of 2015 and 2017) during his time:

2015 (Houston): 16 signees (3 from D-FW)

2016 (Houston): 20 signees (0 from D-FW)

2017 (Texas): 18 signees (1 from D-FW) (Max Cummins)

2018 (Texas): 27 signees (2 from D-FW) (Byron Hobbs, Rafiti Ghirmai)

2019 (Texas): 26 signees (1 from D-FW) (Tyler Owens)

If my math is correct (I’m not the Algebra Teacher at my school for a reason) Texas Head Coach Tom Herman has recruited and signed 107 Football players as a collegiate Head Coach. Only 7 (6.5%) of those players have been from the Dallas-Fort Worth area. That HAS to change if Texas is going to return to college football prominence, especially with the doors to the state being as open as ever to outside programs.

 

 

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IT is doing a Q&A today but there a couple notes on the team and recruiting

The most noteworthy team thing I was going to write is Junior Angilau may be ready to shine. I have people predicting him to start at right guard, which has them predicting Kerstetter to start at right tackle. Angilau is one of the hardest workers on the team.

7 on 7 started on Tuesday and I haven't heard much from it other than nobody can cover Malcolm Epps because of the size advantage. I'm wondering if we see him lined up next to Collin like we say with LJH last year. At a minimum this would clear space for a running back.

I did hear Al'vonte Woodard broke his foot. Not ideal for a player looking to make a move on the playing field. He'll have surgery soon. I'm not sure how long he'll be out. Tough deal, great kid.

I know I'll be asked about Vernon Broughton. One needen't be a cryptographer to know we have good sources at Arkansas. What we heard post-visit was they felt Texas was still the lead dog. It could be our source is sand-bagging a bit but I refuse to believe he would lie to us given how well we know him and how useful our relationship has been and will be. We have a couple sources like this where the relationship is a bit awkward given perceived alliances. "Perceived" is doing a lot of work there because our alliances are to people not schools. Obviously we observe ethical boundaries but the source here would more likely not reply or say he likes where Arkansas is in the recruitment more so than Broughton will likely end up at Texas. If he was a silent commit I can't see him lying to us. There's a little inside dish on that recruitment.

That written, there is some concern about Broughton being more open than he "should be." If you read his mother's interview post-visit it read like a Texas slam dunk. Fundamental. Two hands. Larry Nance. I can say Texas is taking measures to make sure the family knows how wanted it is in Austin. If that's the hang-up then your favorite school (not yours @stringsays) should be fine. I'm still predicting Texas but Broughton is on a murderer's row of schools who will negative recruit Texas. They need to be burning up the phones and they should try and get him back to campus. I previously posted that he wanted to observe the coaches in a camp setting but I don't know if that fell on deaf ears. I don't think it was a coincidence he was recently in College Station for a camp. He wants to see how he'll be coached first hand.

You should be guaranteed two more commitments this month but I'd put my marker on three. It could even go higher than that depending on how things play out.

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Clint Buckley: New Mexico 2020 DE Philip Blidi impressed with Texas visit

Just a few months before his senior season begins, Portales (NM) defensive end Philip Blidi wanted to see what was out there. He started his summer by taking an unofficial visit to Texas this past weekend, which culminated in a camp appearance Tuesday night in Austin. Blidi, a rare football recruit from the state of New Mexico, does not yet have an offer from a Power 5 program. But he’s hoping to change all that.

Horns247 caught up with Blidi after Tuesday’s camp wrapped up, and he shared his thoughts on the Texas visit. “It was great,” Blidi said. “Great hospitality, they showed me everything I wanted to know. I didn’t leave with any questions.” Blidi said he wants to study business and marketing in college, and came away impressed with what UT had to offer. “They have one of the best business programs in the country,” he said. “They really value academics, and they make sure all the kids here are taking care of their business. If they’re not taking care of their business, they’re on them. That showed me that they keep everybody accountable. That means they have a plan for life after football.”

Blidi’s wingspan was measured at 83 inches this week, and came to the camp on a mission to improve his game. “Great coaching, great competition, and everybody wanted to work hard,” Blidi said. “I just learned a lot, and I’m going to take everything and apply it to my game.” Blidi singled out player personnel assistant Jake Langi and defensive line coach Oscar Giles, and credited them for building up a winning culture at Texas.

The defender also wanted to take a peak deeper behind the curtain. “I talked to some O-line guys and I talked to some D-line guys,” Blidi said. “When I came here I knew about the culture, but I wanted to see behind the scenes stuff. How do they interact behind the scenes? And I got a good look at that. It’s like a brotherhood.” Blidi also camped with Texas A&M on Wednesday, and is taking in everything big-time college football has to offer. “I’ve been to some other places but it’s not really the same,” he said.

At 6-foot-4, 245 pounds, Blidi is the No. 53 ranked strong-side defensive end in the country and the No. 2 ranked player overall in New Mexico, according to 247Sports.

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