Defensive recruiting has justifiably caused more anxiety than its offensive counterparts. That\u2019s not totally surprising given the staff makeup but it is something that will need to even out as Steve Sarkisian works to become a total football coach like his famous mentors.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There is a lot of work left to do but plenty of time to do it. It will be a rollercoaster cycle based on the last 10 days. The staff will need to flip a few top prospects if it wants to maximize the class.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some top targets are \u201coff the board\u201d but the final chapters haven\u2019t been written on Myron Charles<\/a><\/strong> and Zion Williams<\/a><\/strong>, particularly Charles. Texas has a good chance to flip him but they may time it for late in the cycle when commitments matter most.\u00a0<\/p>\n Given the movement at the position, DJ Sanders<\/a><\/strong> is an even bigger priority than he already was. Texas leads after A&M faltered but is this a recruitment where ground can be made up quickly? Many of them are these days. Texas has to get Sanders.<\/p>\n It\u2019s all hands on deck on defensive tackle recruiting.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s funny, Pete Kwiatkowski may have the weakest recruiting reputation but his duo of Lance Jackson<\/a><\/strong> and Smith Orogbo<\/a><\/strong> is very, very strong. Texas would like to add a third and it will be interesting to see where they go after Marco Jones<\/a><\/strong> surprisingly picked A&M. I thought it would be Michigan but their baseball program is just too weak.\u00a0<\/p>\n A source in the southeast who thinks FSU will struggle to hold on to Myron Charles thinks the same of Javion Hilson<\/a><\/strong>. Perhaps we\u2019ll hear more about him down the road.\u00a0<\/p>\n Given the roster they could elect to stand pat at Edge if nothing truly interesting materializes.\u00a0<\/p>\n Riley Pettijohn<\/a><\/strong> is set to pick Ohio State. It\u2019s really an OSU vs Texas game, not OSU and USC. USC may be used as leverage on OSU if Texas is unwilling to push the Buckeyes but I really don\u2019t think he\u2019s going to USC. This recruitment will require a flip.\u00a0<\/p>\n I don\u2019t have a clue what will happen with Madden Fairamo<\/a><\/strong>. The news of USC increasing its efforts wasn\u2019t the most welcomed news because I think he wanted to go there at one point. Notre Dame has held the strongest position the last few months but the Domers have no clue where Fairamo is leaning. As I\u2019ve beens saying, Pettijohn and Fairamo are not a like for like. Both Fairamo and Texas commit Bo Barnes<\/a><\/strong> are Mikes. Pettijohn is a Will\/Dime.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s easy to assume Jonathan Cunningham<\/a><\/strong> will be in the class but I do wonder if he feels like the \u201cother receivers\u201d Texas has been recruiting who are looking to go elsewhere. That\u2019s something to watch for.\u00a0<\/p>\n Texas is in excellent shape with Kade Phillips<\/a><\/strong> and Nathan Tilmon<\/a><\/strong> and already has a commitment from Caleb Chester<\/a><\/strong>. Texas should get a commitment from Phillips today. If they land Phillips and Tilmon that will take care of safety and nickel unless the coaches find a Best Player Available down the road. A player like Jonah Williams<\/a><\/strong>. Of the schools with a chance for Williams, Texas currently finds itself in last place. It\u2019s a recruitment that can potentially be won at the wire, though.\u00a0<\/p>\n With Dorian Brew<\/a><\/strong> selecting Oregon and Aidan Anding<\/a><\/strong> picking up an LSU offer and extending his timeline, corner is a bit more up in the air beyond Chester. Missing guys isn\u2019t the goal but playing the long game is perfectly fine with the staff. We\u2019ll see some new and old names emerge as top targets.\u00a0<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Obviously a long way to go on defense.<\/p>\n The post A look at Texas\u2019 defensive big board during a busy stretch of decisions<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Defensive recruiting has justifiably caused more anxiety than its offensive counterparts. That\u2019s not totally surprising…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59514"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59514\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59556,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59514\/revisions\/59556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Edge<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Linebacker<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Secondary<\/strong><\/h2>\n