THREE THINGS WE LEARNED
1. Texas could have its chance to seal the deal with Trey Dean this weekend
The Longhorns are sitting in a great position to land a commitment this weekend (more on that in a second), but it’ll be an equally important weekend on the visit front, with a couple top prospects slated to be on campus.
Rivals250 tight end Luke Ford will take a two-day visit this weekend, which should put Texas squarely in contention, assuming the visit goes well. Ford, a former Arkansas commitment, doesn’t plan to make another decision until on or close to National Signing Day, and he’s strongly considering several top programs, including Alabama, Auburn, Georgia and Michigan. Texas will have to go through a long fight in this one, but I’ll be surprised if the Longhorns aren’t serious contenders. Ford already has strong feelings about Texas, and this weekend should only solidify UT’s standing.
If Ford is the long game, the more important visit in terms of immediate impact will be Trey Dean. The Rivals250 safety visited UT in June and was blown away, so much so that he told Orangebloods at the Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge a couple weeks later that the Longhorns had taken the lead.
On his first visit, Dean was accompanied by his sister, who lives in Houston, and her boyfriend, who lives in Austin. This time, it will be his sister, her boyfriend and both his parents.
South Carolina was a school that was believed to be a major contender in this one before Texas surged into the lead – some even had the Gamecocks as the leader. It’s now a Texas-Georgia race for the Hampton (GA) Dutchtown product, and one of those two will land his commitment on July 31.
My feeling has always been that Georgia will be tough to beat in the end. Getting a player to leave the state is never easy, especially in the Southeast, and especially against a team that recruits as well as Georgia does. But it’s hard to ignore that Dean will take two visits to UT in about a one-month span, and he listed the Longhorns as his leader coming out of the last trip. Having his sister in the area should make his parents comfortable with the idea of Dean leaving the state, and this one almost has the feel that it’s a visit that could be about selling his parents on Dean coming to Texas more than it is winning over Dean himself.
The guess here is that Texas puts on another strong recruiting show – as the staff seems to do every time someone visits – and the Longhorns exit the weekend as the frontrunners. After that, it will be about Texas holding on to beat out the in-state power over the following couple weeks.
2. Texas should have a big Saturday with Al’Vonte Woodard announcing his decision
Houston Lamar wide receiver Al'Vonte Woodard is set to announce his decision on Saturday. The official word from Woodard when I talked to him about a week ago at The Opening was that he was still considering five schools – Texas, Texas A&M, LSU, Ole Miss, Ohio State.
As I said on the board this week … no need to overthink this one. This is really a one-team race and it feels like Texas has pretty much lapped the field. Woodard has visited UT numerous times, and he’ll likely visit again later this month. Texas has been viewed as the clear leader for a long time. The other schools on his list don’t seem to even get much mention, other than it being noted that they’re technically in Woodard’s top five. Other recruits talk about Woodard as if he’s already in the bag for the Longhorns.
The plan for Woodard is to release a commitment video and he’ll then host a party at a family member’s house. I’ll be absolutely shocked if it’s not a burnt orange-themed party.
3. Last night’s Home Run Derby met my expectations
I can’t remember the last time I actually looked forward to sitting down and watching the Home Run Derby in its entirety. It probably dates back 20 years, when the likes of Ken Griffey Jr., Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds were participating (mostly juiced up, but still exciting).
I actually scheduled my night around the Derby on Monday, with guys like Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Cody Bellinger, Miguel Sano and Gary Sanchez drawing me in.
If this is what I’ve been missing the past few years when I’ve generally bypassed the event, shame on me.
Stanton got knocked out in the first round in a battle that went down to the wire, but watching that guy in a setting like Monday’s is must-see TV.
Watching Judge was phenomenal. I’ve never seen a guy generate so much raw power to all parts of the field. Judge needed 23 bombs just to advance out of the first round and despite a slow start, he made it look pretty easy. As @DustinMcComas said during his first round, the guy was actually mishitting the ball and it would still carry over the fence. He made easy work in the finals to win what will probably be one of many Home Run Derby victories for the impressive rookie.
Great job MLB and Judge for putting on an entertaining show.
TWO QUESTIONS
1. Is this the quietest UT off-season in memory?
Other than the surprise transfer of DT Jordan Elliott and the parting of ways with Erick Fowler, this has been an awfully quiet off-season in terms of team news, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Usually, when news develops in the months following spring ball and leading up to fall camp, it’s of the negative variety. Things have been extremely quiet for Texas, which is a credit to the team and the new staff, as the players have kept their noses clean and remained focus on off-season workouts.
Speaking of workouts, the lack of information coming from sources in or around the team is what I found most interesting. Normally, there are constant steams of information (not always accurate, of course) and notes on the team over the summer, but things have been oddly quiet this summer. Maybe it’s a case of the new coaches cracking down on leaks of information, maybe it’s the normal sourcing issues that come with coaching turnover, maybe it’s just that there hasn’t been a lot to talk about – whatever the case, it’s been weirdly quiet. Again though, I’m not sure that’s a bad thing. This team seems like it has really bonded and adhered to the wishes of the new staff, which is to keep everything in house when possible. It may not be as enjoyable for those of you reading this column, but if it pays off with a more focused and disciplined team in the fall, I’m guessing everyone will be happy with the trade-off.
The good news is we should all get our fill in less than three weeks, with the Longhorns set to hit the practice field on July 31. The start of fall camp has kind of crept up on us and that day will be here before we all know it.
2. What to make of Texas’ tight end recruiting?
Despite bringing in two tight ends in last year’s class, the Longhorns will continue to look to add elite talent at the position and the coaches are chasing some of the nation’s top talents in the 2018 class.
As it stands now, the Longhorns are in contention for several targets, but they’re facing stiff competition for every one of them. The good news for Texas is that a lot of the tight ends’ schools of interest are somewhat intertwined, so the decisions of a couple guys could impact the others if the players want to spread out among a handful of schools, Texas being one of them. Let’s take a look …
Luke Ford – The Carterville (IL) product will visit Texas this weekend. Alabama, Auburn and Georgia are believed to be the early front-runners, with Texas and Michigan giving chase. Obviously, the goal for the Longhorns will be to blow him away and surge into the lead, eventually landing his commitment. If he winds up elsewhere, the hope for Texas fans should be that he picks either Alabama or Michigan.
Mustapha Muhammad – Muhammad is pretty open at this point but I’ve felt for the better part of a year he’d either wind up at Texas or Michigan. If the Longhorns win games this fall, I like UT’s chances. If not, he’s probably a Wolverine (although Ford’s decision could impact things).
Dominick Anderson – When Anderson first popped on to UT’s radar, all the talk was of him strongly favoring Alabama. After an Oregon visit early in the spring, the Ducks entered the picture and were believed to be co-leaders, maybe even outright leaders. Texas got Anderson on campus in mid-June and made a very strong impression. Anderson will commit on August 1, and if you’re Texas, you have to hope that he picks Alabama if he doesn’t side with the Longhorns. Should he do that, it could have a trickle-down effect on a guy like Ford, who then could impact Muhammad. The worst case scenario for Texas is that Anderson selects Oregon, opening the door for Ford to potentially select Alabama (or Georgia or Auburn) and Muhammad to select Michigan.
Malcolm Epps – Epps is kind of the outlier of the other tight ends on UT’s board. Texas is still the team to beat here but it appears the staff is willing to take things slowly with Epps, who plans to take a few visits in the fall before making any decisions. The other schools on his list won’t really impact the other tight ends on UT’s radar.
Bralen Taylor – Texas didn’t offer the Cuero standout, and he’s now committed to Baylor. I still feel, after talking to Taylor on multiple occasions, that if the Longhorns decided to enter the picture late, they’d have a great shot at flipping Taylor’s commitment.
ONE PREDICTION – Texas will get a second commitment out of Houston Lamar in August
As mentioned above, I’m fully expecting the Longhorns to land a commitment from Houston Lamar wide receiver Al’Vonte Woodard on Saturday. Texas continues to pursue other prospects from Lamar – mostly Anthony Cook and D'Shawn Jamison – and the guess here is that Jamison follows Woodard’s decision sometime in August.
In talking to Jamison in the last month, he has kind of bounced around on when he’d like to announce a final decision and he has mentioned that he’d like to take official visits even if he does commit this summer, but I’m expecting him to pull the trigger for Texas sooner rather than later, with August being most likely.
