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Texas Recruiting Notes 2021


Reese Bennett

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From a high school OL coach who posts on another board, on Conner:

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Huge get. This guy is a stud. Just has to keep his weight in check.

Here is an eval I had written for him elsewhere:

I’m kind of surprised by how well he moves for his size. He is a very good athlete for being 315. One concern right off the bat would just be keeping his weight down for the next two years. If he gets any bigger I could see it being a detriment.
He has very good feet. Moves laterally very well. Does a good job reaching ends. He profiles mores to a right tackle for me. If you got both Brock and Byrd he would make for one hell of a guard. Does a good job climbing on inside zone and backside zone cut offs working his hips through. He has some inconsistencies like knee bend and showing triple extension but when he has both it’s scary good.
Does a nice job in pass pro. Turns shoulders a little early at times but that can be coached out of him. He’s a big human being so he really just needs to not make the mistake and make people run around him.

 

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Agree with texifornia. We don't know who is going to be good and who won't. Safety in numbers.

Also, Herman may be going overboard to answer the momentum generated by King choosing A&M. The Aggies tweet all the time that our every move is to counter the terror Texas has of Jimbo and the benedryl finally wearing off with the sleeping giant. 

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8 minutes ago, victory88 said:

I knew the 2021 class had the potential to be the #1 class in the country but I figured these guys would start to drop after we beat LSU.  Now it looks like if we beat LSU, it's not a matter of who will commit, but whose commitments we will take.

Also... If Foster commits and we know we are likely to land the Brocks and Byrd.... I wonder if Lindberg from 2020 loses his spot and they allocate that to 2021 where the talent is insane.  He's going to fuck around and get lost in the numbers if he keeps waiting.

Maybe he's a silent who told the coaches he's coming but he wants to enjoy the process. Idk I see how pro-Texas his mom is, I doubt she'd let him play with fire like this unless a silent was given already.

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46 minutes ago, Bodacious Bevo said:

It was between Michigan and Texas.

Jimbo OL recruiting strikes again!

1 hour ago, Hiphopopotamos said:

 

I wonder why aggy commits never put clips of their most recent national title in their commitment videos. I guess it would help if videos of that game existed.

51 minutes ago, Beigebandit said:

Any chance we still go after Byrd with Hayden in and most likely the Brockermeyers too?

Markstanco sock confirmed.

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2 minutes ago, GRHorn said:

It’s great that Conner seems locked in no matter what. He shouldn’t react too negatively to getting shifted inside if Byrd and Brockermeyer jump onboard 

To me he seems like the kind of guy that will put team needs over his own desires. With a year or two in Yancy's S&C program, any question about his weight will be removed. He might weigh more afterward, but it will be lean muscle and raw hatred.

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3 minutes ago, Chrispy_ said:

Take this fwiw, but roach just said “I’m not sure he’s done this week” when discussing Milroe’s ability to recruit. 

Probably referring to Everman TE Juan Davis who's coming in this Friday. He's on commitment watch.

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9 minutes ago, Chrispy_ said:

Take this fwiw, but roach just said “I’m not sure he’s done this week” when discussing Milroe’s ability to recruit. 

 

5 minutes ago, USMCHorn said:

Probably referring to Everman TE Juan Davis who's coming in this Friday. He's on commitment watch.

If Roach is talking about Milroe not being done, I doubt it has anything ot do with Davis.

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(Eric Nahlin) Thoughts on Hayden Conner and 2021 recruiting

The commitment caught me off guard but had you queried me yesterday on which 2021 prospect will commit tomorrow via a comic book/football themed video I'd guess Hayden Conner. He's a nerd who is blessed with uncommon size and ability. That nerdery played into UT's favor as much as his football ability.

Through the two-pronged attack of selling academics and letting Herb Hand do his thing, Texas did a great job positioning itself with the 6-foot-6, 315-pounder. Landing his youth football quarterback, Jalen Milroe, was enough to put UT over the top.

Let's take a look back at who Hayden Conner is through a sampling of IT write-ups:

From February 2018
2021???! Why would I care about a freshman???! Well, you're the one reading about recruiting a week after National Signing Day so you have some recruitnik-like tendencies whether you want to admit it or not.

Katy Taylor offensive lineman Hayden Conner will have offers from every school in the country. The freshman already has them from Miami, Nebraska, A&M, and Wisconsin.

I had no intentions of writing about him this early but I saw him running routes at 7v7 this past weekend and could just shake my head and laugh. He moves very well, not just for his size but for his age. Normally a freshman that is 6-foot-5, 280, is not in control of his limbs but Conner is.

If his freshman tape was his senior tape he'd still have good offers.

I caught up with his father, Steve.

On Conner moving well at receiver:
"That's good to hear, he hasn't ran routes in a while."

I blurted out in laughter at that! It turns out Hayden used to play tight end.

On Conner being advanced for his age:
"In the last two generations, seven of his family members played college football, including me. I played at Sam. He's watched a lot of football and we do some white-boarding. What's really helped is he always played with older kids. He knows all of these 2019 kids because when he was in 2nd grade for example, he was playing with the 4th grade. He's used to the competition, he's not intimidated. In 2nd grade he played center, then moved to guard, then tackle, and then tight end. He kept growing and is now at tackle. This year they actually played him without tight end help on varsity as a freshman."

How they plan to handle recruiting/Katy kids often end up at A&M:
"Since he was little I told him you don't have to stay in-state but you have to entertain both in-state schools. Texas hasn't been relevant the majority of his life but we went up there in the summer had a good camp. Then we went to the Kansas game and that kind of change it for him. He liked Warehime. He's going to study engineering. Recently a Nasa employee and UT grad came in and talked to the students and he connected the dots thought, okay, that could be a good spot for him."

Still, A&M has Cameron Horry, Max Wright, and likely Braedon Mowry as former Katy Taylor players turned Aggies. I believe the current 12th Man is from Katy Taylor as well.

Spring visit schedule: 
"We'll be back [to Texas] this spring. We'll go back and see Coach Richt at Miami. He wants to go meet Coach Frost at Nebraska. We promised Coach Rudolph at Wisconsin we'd be back, we'll go to their spring game. We'll be back at UT and A&M as well."

Other schools of interest for the Conners are Stanford, Michigan, and Notre Dame.

If I'm writing about a freshman he must be good. 

######

From July 2018
Conner's father and I share a friend in common so I've been hearing about the young man for years. It wasn't until a 7 on 7 this spring where I finally saw him. Of course as big as he is he was unmistakable running routes. What was a bit of a surprise was how well he could move. Conner is an athlete who just happens to be prototypical lineman size. He comes from a football family and has always played with kids older than he is and is friends with many in the 2018 class. Perhaps the most interesting thing...on a line that featured then junior Andrew Coker, it was Hayden who played left tackle. 

######

From April 2019
5. OT Hayden Conner, Katy Taylor: A better athlete than given credit for. Great size and leaning up, I bet he has a great junior year. Similar to Lindberg in the way he moves. 

I kept Hayden ranked highly after seeing him at a couple of camps. He looked terrific in January when I saw him. He knew he was carrying too much weight late in the season and dropped from 320 to 305. He looked really good. He may have been a bit heavier later in the camp season but still looked good. Five might be a little high but I wasn't going to drop him after seeing him recently live and liking what I saw. I'll re-evaluate in September but his baseline traits are obvious and he's clearly a take, just ask @Halas.

FUN FACT TIME: On September, 15th, 2018, Texas offered Hayden Conner, Bryce Foster, and Tunmise Adeleye. 

In recruiting it's rarely as good or bad as it seems. Take a look at recruiting a month ago compared to now as a reference. That said, things are pretty good right now, especially in the 2021 class. While you worry about the fungible position of running back (not to say they shouldn't be expected to land a five-star) the staff is loading up at positions of great importance. 

Jalen Milroe has definitely created a buzz. The 2021s are pretty vocal behind the scenes and there's a palpable feeling guys are wanting in. The rumor mill is churning.

I will say the chances with Bryce Foster have improved and maybe Donovan Jackson too. Texas has never been out of it for either as the o-linemen are very fond of Herb Hand, but it's believed Texas has ground to make up with each. Having Milroe in their ear, as well as Hayden Conner, can only help.

Are you guys still thinking Texas should go with five and five at OL the next two cycles? I haven't been on that train. The depth chart looks to be in good shape right now. I'm going with four in 2020 and six in 2021 due to tackle/guard versatility of a few of them. 

Momentum in the class is real and Texas should be in position to capitalize. Said one uncommitted high profile recruit, "Texas is going to have the best class in 2021." Texas doesn't need for it to be true as much as it needs kids to believe its true. You can see how 2020 and 2021 are polar opposites. One class is in wait-and-see mode while the other is as excited as the 2018 class.

It will be kind of funny to watch juniors recruiting seniors over the next six months.

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2 minutes ago, UTEX90 said:

What's the deal on Tunmise Adeleye?  I know he is Milroe's teammate, highly ranked and has an impressive offer list, but what is our interest, chances?

He's going to play out the whole process. Conner committed today, Adeleye isn't going to be done for 18 months.

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1 minute ago, UTEX90 said:

What's the deal on Tunmise Adeleye?  I know he is Milroe's teammate, highly ranked and has an impressive offer list, but what is our interest, chances?

He's been sipping the SEC kool-aid pretty hard, so he would be tough to land. Landing Milroe certainly doesn't hurt our chances though. 

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3 minutes ago, UTEX90 said:

What's the deal on Tunmise Adeleye?  I know he is Milroe's teammate, highly ranked and has an impressive offer list, but what is our interest, chances?

Our interest = high. Chances = increasing. Enjoying the process. Originally thought to be an aggy lean. Unpredictable. ctj's favorite recruit this cycle.

Edited by irishtexan
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Here's a fun quote from Jalen Milroe:

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I’m looking to build the class as a whole, so if that’s going to get the best 11 guys on the defensive side and offensive side I’ll do it. A few guys I can mention is Brandon Campbell, Hayden Conner, Bryce Foster, LJ Johnson, Kendrick Blackshire, Billy Bowman, etc. I’m telling them all this one thing; Texas high school football has been ranked as the number 1 best high school football in the nation. If that’s the case why not stay in Texas and build that as one unit? I feel that Texas is the best place for that.

 

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6 minutes ago, OnAComputer said:

If Texas lands Tommy Brockermeyer and Donovan Jackson then they are set because DJax can shuffle down to OG easily.

I'm reading between the lines (all of whopping one of them) and conclude you think Donovan Jackson more likely than Bryce Foster.

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8 minutes ago, UDontKnow said:

I'm reading between the lines (all of whopping one of them) and conclude you think Donovan Jackson more likely than Bryce Foster.

Neither seems terribly likely at the moment, but Jackson doesn't have the shotput hurdle. And is not an aggy legacy.

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