OT: Todd Bowles on Weather for Game in Detroit 🤣
- Inside the 40 Acres
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“You do know we play indoors right? They gotta dome.” 😂 (🎥: Buccaneers) | DraftKings | DraftKings · Original audio
“You do know we play indoors right? They gotta dome.” 😂 (🎥: Buccaneers). DraftKings · Original audio
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The 3-2-1 - OL Byron Washington update; portal targets; junior day; commitment predictions
- By Suchomel
- Inside the 40 Acres
- 89 Replies
THREE THINGS WE LEARNED
1. Byron Washington is ready for his upcoming Texas visit
DeSoto offensive lineman Byron Washington will be part of a loaded group of junior day visitors for the Longhorns on January 20. Despite the large number of expected attendees, Washington will certainly stand out in the crowd. That tends to happen when you’re a legitimate 6-8 and 380 pounds.
For Washington, it’ll be a return visit to the Forty Acres after he attended a Texas recruiting event back in the summer, where he picked up a UT offer. The talented tackle says he’s looking forward to getting some more time with the Texas coaches.
“I would say I’m expecting anything different (on this visit). I just want to get a sense of things. I haven’t seen them in a while,” Washington said.
The Texas staff, particularly offensive line coach Kyle Flood, stays in regular contact with Washington, one of the Longhorns’ priority targets in the 2025 class.
“I talk to him about every day. It’ll be good to see him in person,” Washington said. “He checks to see how I’m doing, how my mom is doing, just normal conversations.”
Washington is trying to set up a visit with Syracuse for this month as well. He has a strong relationship with the Syracuse staff as well, but does admit that proximity does help Texas. Along with those two programs, Washington lists Oregon and TCU as two others that have his interest.
Texas has put itself in a strong early position, thanks in large part to the efforts of Flood and Steve Sarkisian. Washington said he appreciates Flood’s abilities as a coach, but he also likes his direct approach in communicating.
“Coach Flood, he’s one of my favorite coaches I’ve talked to. He’s real,” Washington said. “He’s going to tell you what he likes about you but he’s not just going to talk about football, he’ll talk about you as a person.”
Washington’s long-term goal is to play in the NFL. He has characteristics in his size that are rare and unique, and he’s looking for a spot that can develop him and maximize his potential. He feels Texas could be a good fit.
“I love how they make me feel like I’m a family, how they check up on me and my family every day,” Washington said of the Longhorns. “They love how they can develop me. I feel like if I give them my product, they’ll help me back by developing me as a player. I feel like Texas can develop me into the player I want to be someday.”
2. The transfer portal has been good to Texas and it could continue to give
The Longhorns haven’t been incredibly active in the transfer portal market with four commitments (by comparison, Texas A&M has 20 additions from the portal … Louisville leads the nation with 24). Sark has said previously that Texas will be selective with its portal takes, and all four of the new additions (Andrew Mukuba, Trey Moore, Matthew Golden, Isaiah Bond) should play key roles for the Longhorns in the fall. Texas will look to add a few more pieces to the roster in the coming weeks (days maybe?). Let’s take a look at the latest …
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The Stanford transfer has been extremely quiet since entering the portal back in mid-December. ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on Monday that Yurosek will take a Texas visit (likely this week). It’s tough to get a read on what Yurosek is thinking because he apparently doesn’t really talk to anyone, but this one could come down to a UT-Georgia battle. Both teams present appealing depth charts after losing their top-end starters.
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Bolden told OB on Sunday after his visit that Texas had emerged as his top school. He’s still working through his visit plans for this week, or if he’ll take any. In exchanging a couple of texts with Bolden on Monday, I continue to feel good about UT’s chances here as long as the staff continues to push for his commitment.
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The former Duncanville standout was in Austin last weekend for a visit. He hasn’t responded to direct requests for comments on the visit, but people who spent time with him on the visit seem to think the Longhorns made a strong impression. He’s also taken a visit to Ole Miss and Rebels DC Pete Golden did put out a tweet on Monday morning indicating Ole Miss picked up a commitment, but Ole Miss insiders are still trying to figure out who that might be. Blackshire to Texas makes a lot of sense, but we’re still trying to get a clear read on this one. Of note, spring classes at Texas begin on Tuesday so I’d expect a quick decision if the choice is going to be the Longhorns. Ole Miss classes don’t start until January 22 so that would afford Blackshire a bit more time.
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Texas and Oregon quickly went in-home with Muhammad when he entered the portal, and the Longhorns should be in a great position to win out for the former DeSoto standout if the logistics of bringing in the former Washington Husky and Oklahoma State Cowboy work out. Things have been pretty quiet as far as clear leaders for Muhammad but him coming home and playing alongside cousin Manny Muhammad should be a pretty easy sell for Texas.
3. Texas is in a no-win situation with D’antre Robinson
Texas defensive tackle signee D’antre Robinson isn’t commenting publicly on his situation, but the Orlando product did not move to Austin over the weekend, as expected, and has told multiple Texas signees that he’s going to try to get out of his letter of intent following the departure of Bo Davis.
Assuming that request gets made (if it hasn’t happened already), it really puts Texas over a barrel. Robinson is still back in Orlando and you really can’t force him to move to Austin, and the optics of not letting him out of his LOI would almost certainly result in some unwanted and unneeded scrutiny for the Texas staff. You could see a scenario where Texas delays things a bit to try to get Robinson to at least meet whoever UT hires to coach the defensive line, but it feels like this ship has pretty much sailed.
The word coming out of Florida is that Robinson would like to stay closer to home. If you’ll remember, he did flirt with Florida for a stint last fall before shutting his recruitment down, so keep an eye on the Gators in this one.
******
TWO QUESTIONS
1. Who is expected at this weekend’s junior day?
The Longhorns will host a loaded junior day on Saturday. An updated look at which players are expected to be in Austin …
RB Jordon Davison – Mater Dei
RB Deondrae “Tiger” Riden – DeSoto
RB Wesley Yarbrough – Crosby
RB Riley Wormley - Southlake Carroll
WR Jacorey Watson – Pearland Shadow Creek
WR Kelshaun Johnson – Hitchcock
WR Carterrious Brown – Seguin
WR Emmanuel Choice – Lancaster
WR Ashton Ansley – Tomball Memorial
TE Emaree Winston – Calhoun, GA (maybe)
TE Kiotti Armstrong – Jasper (maybe; might go to Miami)
TE Bear Tenney - Lucas Lovejoy
OL Byron Washington – DeSoto
OL Lamont Rogers – Mesquite Horn
OL Jonte Newman – Bridgeland
OL Marcus Garcia – Denton Ryan
OL Jordan Coleman – Cedar Hill
OL John Mills – SF (CA) St. Ignatius
OL Connor Carty – Prosper
OL Jackson Christian – Port Neches-Groves
OL Ty Haywood – Denton Ryan
DL Carmello Brooks – Katy Paetow
DL Kamauryn Morgan – Red Oak
DT Landon Rink – Cy Fair
DT Xavier Ukponu – Denton Guyer
DT Devin Coleman – Cedar Hill
DT Kevin Oatis – Hattiesburg (MS)
LB Anthony Williams – Pearland Shadow Creek
LB Riley Pettijohn - McKinney
LB Jayden Shelton – South Oak Cliff
LB Javar Thomas – Houston Nimitz
CB Cobey Sellers – Pearland Shadow Creek
CB Caleb Chester – Fort Bend Marshall
S Jaboree Antoine – New Iberia (LA) Westgate
S Jonah Williams – Galveston Ball (maybe)
S Sael Reyes – DeSoto (probable)
ATH Nick Townsend – Spring Dekaney (maybe)
ATH Lance Jackson – Pleasant Grove
ATH Demetrius Brisbon – Tyler Chapel Hill
2026
RB Tradarian Ball – Texas High
WR Jaylen Pile – Dallas Parish Episcopal
WR Chris Stewart – Pearland Shadow Creek
DE Kevin Ford Jr. - Duncanville
CB AJ Marks – IMG Academy
ATH London Smith – Waco University
2027
WR Boobie Feaster - DeSoto
TE Zane Rowe – Denton Guyer
2. Who are five players from this weekend’s junior day that will be in the Longhorns’ 2025 recruiting class?
Most of the junior day attendees won’t make commitments until the spring or summer, but let’s take a look at five guys that could very well wind up in UT’s recruiting class.
1. Jordon Davison - This one will likely come down to Texas or Ohio State. Him choosing to visit UT this weekend instead of Columbus is a good sign for Texas.
2. Jacorey Watson – Texas will have to fight for this one, but his teammate at Shadow Creek (Anthony Williams) thinks the Longhorns will win out.
3. Jackson Christian – He continues to show up at UT’s recruiting events, which is usually a good sign.
4. Byron Washington – The big fella loves UT and Kyle Flood, as noted above.
5. Landon Rink – He’s not the slam dunk that some people think, but this one makes too much sense to not put on the list.
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ONE PREDICTION – Texas lands Silas Bolden and Kendrick Blackshire
A possible visit to Washington could make things interesting for Silas Bolden but hearing the way he’s talked about Texas, both on Sunday and again on Monday, has me feeling pretty good about the Longhorns’ chances there. Blackshire hasn’t been as vocal (he’s actually been silent) but Texas has a lot to offer in that one and sources have indicated that he really liked his visit over the weekend.
Texas NIL Collective to Bama fans….
- By pdrscott99
- Inside the 40 Acres
- 13 Replies
May this new chapter post-Saban open new doors and opportunities for you to continuously grow as a group. We wish you good fortune moving forward….
"Sark thinks this team can win the national title..."
- By Ketchum
- Inside the 40 Acres
- 195 Replies
That was something I heard from a source of mine earlier today when talking about the activity in the Portal by the Longhorns.
Steve Sarkisian is going for it. Really going for it.
And by going for it, another name that has emerged as a target is Alabama tight end Amari Niblack, who is expected to visit Texas in the coming days and has emerged as a preferred target to Stanford tight end Benjamin Yurosek.
Niblack finished second on the Alabama team last year as a sophomore with four receiving touchdowns, while adding 20 title catches and 327 yards. He started in 4 of Alabama's 14 games.
There's a very real sense that the Longhorns can win a national title in 2024 and Sarkisian is going to take every step he can that gets the team closer to that goal.
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Niblack is rated as the No.1 overall tight end available in this year's Portal cycle.
Steve Sarkisian is going for it. Really going for it.
And by going for it, another name that has emerged as a target is Alabama tight end Amari Niblack, who is expected to visit Texas in the coming days and has emerged as a preferred target to Stanford tight end Benjamin Yurosek.
Niblack finished second on the Alabama team last year as a sophomore with four receiving touchdowns, while adding 20 title catches and 327 yards. He started in 4 of Alabama's 14 games.
There's a very real sense that the Longhorns can win a national title in 2024 and Sarkisian is going to take every step he can that gets the team closer to that goal.
Login to view embedded media
Niblack is rated as the No.1 overall tight end available in this year's Portal cycle.
