Trust the coaches. Their evaluations are so much better than any rankings service. What about D'Onte Foreman?
When the subject of the lowest-rated recruits in any Texas recruiting class is concerned, we can all set our watches to some of the commentary you'll see on Orangebloods. Wait a minute, I don't wear a watch. You guys know what I mean.
As someone that believes that the Longhorns should take fewer projects that will need 2-3 seasons of development before being ready to become major contributors and should simply let the likes of Baylor, TCU and Texas Tech assume the risks of such projects and then steal them away once they are proven to be very good players, I found myself curious this week about how Sark's lowest-rated prospects from the 2022 and 2023 classes are doing.
Honestly, I thought it would make for good continued discussion.
Before we dig into the analysis, the basic numbers show that the Longhorns signed 18 prospects ranked as three- or two-stars in the 2022 and 2023 recruiting classes. Of those 18, 8 (44.4%) have already left the program, which very much speaks to part of the risk of taking such prospects in the age of the Portal.
Let's dig in...
2022
Looks like a future starter...
OL - Lance St. Louis - Two star (5.2)
Yes, this one comes with an asterisk because St. Louis is nothing more than a special teams player, but he's a critical one for the Longhorns and projects as a four-year starter at deep snapper. Remember this is Jeff Banks decides to take a flyer on a guy like St. Louis in the next couple of classes.
Looks like a strong two-deep option...
OL - Connor Robertson - High 3 stars (5.7)
I might be giving Robertson some benefit of the doubt because after his play in a few games last season, there's a sense that he might be No.2 on the depth chart, but if something happened to Jake Majors, he might not really be No.2 on the depth chart. Will he ever become a starter? Can he hold off Daniel Cruz? I wonder if he needs to be in the next tier.
Still a question mark...
K - Will Stone - Low 3 stars (5.5)
Handles kickoffs, but there's no sense that he's ever going to do more.
DT - Aaron Bryant - High 3 stars (5.7)
The staff was hoping that he would emerge as a real factor this spring, but it didn't really happen and he projects as a player that won't be slotted ahead of any of the transfers that came in in the off-season. I'm not sure that it's going to get much better. Going into 2025, he'll be a fourth year player and can any of us safely say at this point that he'll definitely be on the two-deep next season?
Cue up the Eagles because he's Already Gone...
WR - Savion Red - Low 3 stars (5.5)
Ath - Xavion Brice - Mid 3 stars (5.6)
LB - Derrick Brown - High 3 stars (5.7)
DL - Kris Ross - High 3 stars (5.7)
LB - Travell Johnson - High 3 stars (5.7)
2023
Looks like a future starter..
OL - Trevor Goosby - High 3 stars (5.7)
Of the 18 in the discussion, Goosby feels like the one that might have the chance to go boom the most, as he projects as the starter at left tackle once Kelvin Banks is gone, which might put him into a position to be a significantly valued NFL prospect. For the record, I had Goosby ranked as a 4-star prospect and the No.35 player in the state/No.200ish national type prospect.
Looks like a strong two-deep option...
RB - Tre Wisner - High 3 stars (5.7)
With CJ Baxter set to be on campus for each of the next two seasons, I wonder if Wisner is destined to be a very good role player for the Longhorns during his career, but he's already proven to be a major college level talent and I think he could start for a number of Big 12-level teams.
Still a question mark...
TE - Spencer Shannon - High 3 stars
I can't say that I really have any expectations that Shannon is ever going to play much for the Longhorns.
TE - William Randle - High 3 stars (5.7)
See Shannon.
OL - Andre Cojoe _ High 3 stars (5.7)
Cojoe saw time at guard and tackle during the spring and has flashed ability that suggests that he has some type of upside that's impossible to completely measure at this stage. Is he going to be a guy that can be on a two-deep? I think so. Is he a guy that projects as a future starter? I'm not sure. Maybe.
OL - Connor Stroh - High 3 stars (5.7)
It's too early to say.
Cue up the Eagles because he's Already Gone...
LB - S'Maje Burrell - High 3 stars (5.7)
DE - Billy Walton - High 3 stars (5.7)
OL - Peyton Kirkland - High 3 stars (5.7)
