THREE THINGS WE LEARNED
1. Zachary Evans and Kendall Milton both expressed a desire to play together in college
Five-star running backs Zachary Evans and Kendall Milton certainly aren’t a package deal, but in communicating with both guys over the weekend, there is a legitimate interest from both in wanting to play together in college.
When Evans first mentioned recently that he’d like to team up with Milton at the next level, my initial impression was that it was probably just a bit of gamesmanship from Evans but the possibility of that talk coming to fruition was extremely low. I still wouldn’t come close to putting money on both players going to the same school, but after last weekend, I sure as hell wouldn’t rule it out either.
I spoke with Evans, the five-star standout out of North Shore High School, at Sunday’s Rivals 3-Stripe Camp in Houston. When I asked if his interest in playing with someone like Milton was legitimate, or if he was just offering up what could be described as recruiting lip service, Evans made it clear that the idea of him and Milton sharing the workload is something he views as a strong positive. In fact, Evans repeated his message a few times before eventually leaning close to my microphone and speaking very clearly, hoping to deliver his message to Milton directly.
“Kendall Milton, I’m serious. I want to play with him. I’m serious. We can change the game. It would be nice to play with somebody who can ball just like you,” Evans said. “I’m definitely serious. Kendall, I’m serious, I want to play with you.”
Evans, who has been in touch with Milton in recent weeks, said he has a couple other players he really wants to line up with at college, including North Shore teammate Damieon George and five-star quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei (the only player in the Rivals100 rated above Evans … for now).
“I’m serious (about playing with Milton). I have three people I want to play with – Kendall, Damion and D.J.”
If Texas could land Evans, that would greatly help the Longhorns chances with George. The two are close friends and both have expressed a strong interest in playing together past their days at North Shore.
As for Milton, the five-star talent out of Clovis (CA) Buchanan, he took an unofficial visit to Texas last weekend and the Longhorns made a strong impression. He said, like Evans, he’d love the opportunity to share the backfield with another talented running back in order to help reduce the wear and tear on his body.
“Playing with Zach would be a dangerous combination in the college football world. It does interest me to play with another elite running back so I’m not taking off too much tread on my tires,” Milton said. ”Playing with another elite running back would be a huge game changer.”
2. Texas’ has a legitimate chance with both Evans and Milton
On the surface, the idea of landing both Zachary Evans and Kendall Milton would seem to be far-fetched, but don’t rule out Texas' chances at all.
In Evans, you have a player who has been on campus a number of times and a guy who has always had Texas at or near the top of his list. After talking to Evans and those close to him over the weekend, nothing has changed. There’s a long way to go in this one, but Texas is in a great spot and I like the Longhorns’ chances as much as any team that’s recruiting the once-in-a-decade talent.
When I mentioned to Evans that my explanation to fans constantly wanting answers was to be patient but also know the Longhorns sit in a great spot in this race, he didn’t disagree. Basically, this one’s a long way from its conclusion and there will probably be some nervous moments as Evans takes other visits, but Texas has a lot to offer and should stay in the mix all the way until the end. Some of Texas’ strengths - proximity, a good relationship with the UT staff, a program on the rise, offensive line recruiting and a wide open depth chart – are all factors of which Evans and his family are firmly aware. Will it be enough for Texas to win out? It’s too early to say with any certainty at this point, but I do like the Longhorns’ early position.
As for Milton, his weekend visit to the Forty Acres made a strong enough impression that he says he’ll be back on campus at some point in the recruiting process.
“The (Texas) visit was amazing. It was great to be able to sit down with the coaching staff along with their families and just get a feel for the program,” Milton said. “I definitely plan to make a trip back.”
Rivals.com recruiting analyst Adam Gorney, who has covered Milton’s recruitment closely, said he expects the Longhorns to be a major player for Milton, and he feels he possibility of Milton and Evans playing together cannot be overlooked.
“I think Milton is very serious about Texas. I don’t think he’s going to be scared away by any school if they’re taking another running back and his comments prove that,” Gorney said. “I think over the last couple years, as NFL teams have taken guys and are more concerned with guys who have had so many caries, it’s almost a benefit to not have as heavy of a workload. And kids in high school are savvy enough to understand that if you’re carrying the ball a lot in your college career, that’s a concern for NFL teams to some degree.
“I think that’s something the high school kids are aware of. The days of them being the feature back and run into the ground, I think kids are concerned about that. Rightly so, and Milton is the type of guy who will take something like that into consideration.”
Both Milton and Evans plan to take numerous other visits, so Texas will have to fight for both players, but the UT staff has done a tremendous job up to this point with both prospects.
3. If things go well, Herb Hand could have this OL set for years to come
What offensive line coach Herb Hand was able to do in year one with the Longhorn program was pretty impressive, transforming the UT o-line into a consistent unit that played very well in protecting Sam Ehlinger and opening up holes in the ground game.
Texas has recruited well along the offensive line in the last two cycles, and the start of the 2020 class has been tremendous with Hand already securing three big-time pledges. If Texas can continue to close out this year’s class with a couple more key components (which seems highly likely right now), the future for the offensive line will be very bright. Projecting one year further, the 2021 offensive line class in the state of Texas looks like it will be another extremely talented group, and Texas is already in a good spot with some of its top targets in that class.
Tommy Brockermeyer will be one of the nation’s best in the 2021 class and the Longhorns will factor heavily into his decision. Reuben Fatheree II will likely challenge for the top spot in the state and he’s been a regular visitor on the UT campus. Last weekend, at the Rivals Camp in Houston, the trio of Donovan Jackson, Hayden Conner and Bryce Foster was flat-out terrific (they were all invited to the Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge), and all three have Texas in a small grouping of favorites.
It’s been a while since Texas has been consistently dominant in the trenches on offense, but based on the recent recruiting efforts – and Hand’s impressive work as a coach – it feels like the worm is officially turning with the Longhorns’ offensive line play.
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TWO QUESTIONS
1. What were some of my impressions from Sunday’s Rivals Camp in Houston?
--- This camp wasn’t quite as top-heavy in talent as some I’ve attended in the past, but the best player I saw on Sunday was Rivals100 wide receiver Troy Omeire. Before ever taking the field, the Fort Bend Austin standout looked the part at a well-put together 6-3 and 193 pounds. He backed it up with his play on the field as well, overmatching some of the DBs I saw him go against and more than holding his own with the top guys, including …
--- Jaylon Jones. The Cibolo Steele product, like Omeire, looks like a million bucks just going through warm-ups. Jones checked in at 6-2, which made him pretty easy to spot in the DB line. When 1-on-1s started, it seemed like Jones got more reps than most other guys, which I like, and more often than not, he won the battle. I’ll be interested to see Jones again at The Opening in Houston next month to see if he can do it again in another high-profile setting. Jones is still solidly committed to Texas A&M but did say he’s considering taking other visits, so the door isn’t completely shut for Texas.
--- QB Malik Hornsby showed up late so didn’t get near the amount of work as some of the other guys. I honestly didn’t watch Hornsby a lot but the few times I saw him, he delivered some really nice balls including a perfectly placed strike on an out route that showed very good arm strength. I chatted Hornsby up to see if he’s still talking to Texas at all, but he said things have pretty much died down there.
--- The best QB I saw at the event was 2021 Katy product Bronson McClelland. I wasn’t necessarily focused on McClelland coming in, but every time I saw him make a throw his ball placement was damn near perfect, and he throws the prettiest pass of anyone out there … I’m not sure I ever saw one that wasn’t a tight spiral that was right on target. He’s not the biggest guy from a traditional standpoint at 6-1, but he has some really good tools.
--- North Shore 2021 QB Dematrius Davis made a name for himself in leading his team to a state title last year. Camps like these, where he’s not able to showcase his strength and athleticism, don’t necessarily tell the whole story for Davis, who was a bit up and down with some of his throws. Davis already has a long list of offers but he told me he hasn’t heard a ton from Texas just yet. We’ll see if that changes.
--- Speaking of North Shore, man that team just has tons of talent. 2020 safety Joseph Wilson was terrific and 2022 corner Denver Harris made several big plays.
--- Vernon Broughton checked in at 6-5 and 283 pounds. The dude is just massive and stands out from the crowd in these settings with his height and thick lower half. You can see why coaches love Broughton with his size and athleticism, but he wasn’t quite as consistently dominant in 1-on-1s as I was expecting. When he could use his athleticism to get a step or get leverage on the lineman, he would dominate, but there were other times when linemen where able to slow him down if they got their hands on him early. Regardless, he’s a tremendous piece of clay with tremendous upside.
--- It’s impossible to take in everything, and as luck would have it I didn’t get to see a ton of Rivals100 safety Bryson Washington. He didn’t record any official measurements during check-in, but Washington looks the part as much as any player that was in attendance. I’d put him at every bit of 6-2 and 200 pounds and he’s the type of player that just jumps out, even when you see him walking up. I need to make it a point to focus on him more the next time I see him.
--- I had a Houston-area reporter raving about Joshua Eaton to me before the camp started and Eaton backed it up in the reps I saw him take. First off, he has great length at 6-2 and his ability to turn and cover was very good. Eaton likes Texas a lot early on.
--- Princely Umanmielen measured in at an impressive 6-4 and 262 pounds with an 81-inch wingspan. Again, it’s impossible to see everything when there’s so much going on, but I thought Umanmielen looked good in the reps I saw him take. He was one of the more explosive defensive linemen in attendance in terms of firing out of his stance and he was generally more physical than the offensive linemen he faced, although I got the impression he probably could have planted a lot of those dudes on their backside if the players didn’t have to somewhat restrain themselves in this no-pad settings.
--- My biggest takeaway from the entire event … 2021 OL Hayden Conner, Bryce Foster and Donovan Jackson were damn good. As in three of the best overall players I saw. Can’t wait to see how those guys hold up in the Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge. If they play like they did on Sunday, they’ll be fine.
2. Who have I Rivals.com FutureCast in for the 2020 class?
Other than the five commitments, here are the guys I have predicted for Texas (so far) in the 2020 class. As always, these are subject to change and I’ll be making additions/amendments as more information comes in.
DE Alfred Collins – I’ve had this one in for a while. He’s a priority and Collins to Texas just makes sense.
E Princely Umanmielen – I don’t think he’s completely locked in, but I can’t ignore something like four visits to the UT campus in January and February.
S Bryson Washington – I’ve felt Texas was the team to beat there for a while.
DE Vernon Broughton – If you’re paying attention to his social media activity, Texas sure feels like the team to beat.
CB Joshua Eaton – I feel pretty confident in this one, even though he doesn’t want to decide for a while
RB Zachary Evans – Yep, I’m in on this one. I know there will be a lot of twists and turns, but I just like Texas’ position and everything UT has to offer.
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ONE PREDICTION – Texas snags at least two out-of-state five-star commitments
Maybe I’m buying into the early recruiting buzz too much, but after collecting interviews from some of the Longhorns top out-of-state targets from the recent Rivals 3-Stripe Camp in L.A., I’m really liking Texas’ chances to land a couple elite OOS pledges in this cycle.
As it stands right now, I like Texas’ chances as much as anyone with guys like Justin Flowe and Kelee Ringo. Throw in the possibility of UT landing guys like Sav’ell Smalls, Kendall Milton, Darnell Washington, Johnny Wilson or even Justin Rogers and I’ll take my chances that the Longhorns grab two five-star prospects who aren’t from the state of Texas.
