2014 Texas Recruiting Preview

2013 Recap:  Texas signed a relatively small class of 15 in 2013.  For the first time in a while, Texas wasn't the top in the Big 12, was ranked outside the top 15 nationally, and were topped by instate rivals Texas A&M.  Pretty much every other Big 12 school would be happy/ecstatic with what Texas did last year, but this is the Texas Longhorns and fans expect a little more (like top 5 rankings).  However, the quality in this class is still pretty dang good and there's no doubt that the small class hurt them standings-wise.  The class had many top 300 players headlined by the likes of O-linemen Jake Raulerson (TX), Desmond Harrison (CA), and Darius James (TX).

Needs:  Last year's class was offense-heavy with only four signees playing on the defensive side of the ball.  The Horns are definitely going to be focused on defense this cycle and especially at d-line; a position where Texas didn't sign a single prospect last year.  Texas already has several commitments, but only three by my count are on defense.

Early 2014 Commitments:  Texas, right now, may have the best class in the nation.  They've already picked up 11 commitments with over 10 months to go before National Signing Day.  The class is mostly 4-stars and many of the prospects are in the Top247 Composite.  It would too much time to go through and talk a little bit about each, so I'll just list them off (all are from Texas):

OL Demetrius Knox, QB Jerrod Heard, DE Derick Roberson, RB Donald Catalon, RB Daniel Gresham, OL Cameron Hampton, C Terrell Cuney, WR Lorenzo Joe, WR Roderick Bernard, DT Trey Lealaimatafao, and DE Jake McMillon.

Preview:  This doesn't feel like much of a preview considering how much Texas has already accomplished this cycle.  As mentioned above, Texas and Manny Diaz still have a little work to do on defense.  Luckily for them, they are the Texas Longhorns after all and they're bound to have many elite prospects interested in them.  The state of Texas is loaded with talented DBs this year and these ones have interest in Texas: 5-star CB Tony Brown (although LSU is favorite), 4-star CB Nick Watkins (#37 in Top247), 4-star S Jamal Adams (#82), along with others.  Besides those, here a couple others that I would put my money on being Longhorns in the future: 5-star TX DE Solomon Thomas, LB Edwin Freeman, and 4-star TX LB Otaro Alaka.