New RPM selection for top DFW defender

In my opinion, one of the head-turning comments of this cycle was when Lancaster (Texas) defensive back Corian Gipson said he wanted to be recruited as a cornerback rather than safety. That stands to reason, he played a ton of man coverage as a junior and he does have a leaner, more cornerback build.

Originally many had him as a safety, but his intent to play corner plays perfectly into Texas’ approach in which just about everyone (outside of B.J. Allen and Derek Williams) is a cornerback until they aren’t. Terrance Brooks is a very good example of this approach. If you’re good enough to stick at cornerback you will, but there’s always the chance a player could work at Star or either of the safety positions. An example of that is Anthony Cook who was a highly rated corner in high school but finished his career with a strong senior season at safety.

The short story is, if you can play, Texas is going to get you on the field. Corian Gipson can play.

Texas was thought to be the early leader. I actually contemplated an RPM a few months ago. But then the fact pattern of his recruitment favored the Clemson Tigers. He’s been to Clemson three times since late March, including an official visit last weekend that created quite the buzz. A few weeks ago I put his percentage to Texas at 40%.

All the Clemson noise forced me to investigate further and what I learned was he was going to still visit Texas the last weekend of the month. Most of my sources still felt Texas was in a strong position, although in a couple instances I was reduced to reading between the lines like a capable Inside Texas reader.

Gipson was supposed to be on his Alabama official visit this weekend but that got cancelled. Some may take that as a good sign for Clemson, I take it as a good sign for Texas. He’s supposed to be at Ohio State next weekend. We’ll see if that visit occurs.

Either way, I’m picking Texas with a confidence level of 75%.

Corian Gipson is the No. 63 player in the country according to the On3 Industry Ranking and the No. 8 cornerback nationally.

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