Spring practice updates, the latest on visitors and rule changes galore from the NFL level.

Terry, 6-2.5 and 218 pounds with 10.8 100 meters speed, says he's locked in for the Texas Spring Game April 20. At that time, he will have a conversation with Steve Sarkisian and staff members in regard to a June official visit date.

Terry's first official visit will be to Nebraska the last weekend in April. Texas A&M, Texas Tech, TCU, Texas and Oregon are possibilities for official visits. 

A note on a Indiana DT transfer Philip Blidi

OnTexasFootball exchanged messages with Indiana transfer DL Philip Blidi earlier today. The 6-3, 295 pound defensive tackle that began his career at Texas Tech prior to transferring to Indiana will be in Austin this weekend visiting family. As of earlier today, he didn't have anything set up to visit Texas or see the staff. 

LSU, TCU, Texas A&M and Auburn are among the offers since hitting the portal as a graduate transfer nine days ago. 

The January stop at John F. Kennedy High in Cedar Rapids, Ia. by Texas offensive line coach Kyle Flood was clearly a success.

Just days after Nick Brooks told OnTexasFootball that he was planning two visits to Texas, he has locked in an official visit.

Brooks, 6-7 and 345 pounds, will make his first even visit to Texas April 20. And now he will follow up with an official visit June 14-16. 

Brooks is considered one of the cream of the crop offensive line prospects in the 2025 cycle. He committed to Iowa the in early September of 2023 before backing off that pledge November 7. At the time, Georgia was considered the main competition. And while the Bulldogs remain the in the top 2 with Iowa, Texas is officially in the race. 

Brooks told OnTexasFootball  March 19 that he was planning two visits to Texas

"I'm going to visit Texas in April," Brooks told OTF March 19. That visit remains scheduled for the Spring Game April 20. "I have an official visit scheduled to Texas, but I think I have to change it to another date."

Texas was originally looking to lock in the June 21-23 visit weekend, but that is when Brooks is scheduled to be at Iowa. With Georgia scheduled for May 31-June 2, that left June 14-16 as the likely date for the Texas official visit, which is now locked in. 

The one-time Iowa pledge currently sports 31 offers. The offer list includes SEC teams Georgia, Texas, Alabama, Auburn, Florida, LSU, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Mississippi State and South Carolina. 

Four-star EDGE Smith Orogbo (Alief, Texas/Hastings) told OnTexasFootball Tuesday morning that he has locked in an official visit to Texas. 

Orogbo, 6-5 and 218, will officially visit the Longhorns June 14-16. That is the same weekend that EDGE commitment Lance Jackson (Texarkana, Texas/Pleasant Grove) and target Hayden Lowe (Westlake Village, Calif./Oaks Christian) will make official visits to Texas. 

The official visit will be the second time the Houston area explosive EDGE rush prospect will be on campus. He's also scheduled to make an unofficial visit April 6. 

Orogbo will also make an official visit to SMU in Mid-May with trips to USC, Oregon and Oklahoma State also on the table. 

Texas offered Orogbo January 22 when area recruiter Jeff Banks made a stop at Hastings High. Since that time, the long-armed and twitchy prospect has been in contact with Steve Sarkisian, Pete Kwiatkowski and Jeff Banks. 

Texas EDGE official visits

June 14-16
Hayden Lowe, EDGE, Westlake Village (Calif.) Oaks Christian
OnTexasFootball ranking: 4-star
Note: Also making unofficial visit April 6.

Smith Orogbo, EDGE, Alief (Texas) Hastings
OnTexasFootball ranking: 4-star
Note: Also making unofficial visit April 6.

Lance Jackson, EDGE, Texarkana (Texas) Pleasant Grove #AllGasNoBrakes
OnTexasFootball ranking: 4-star

June 21-23
Damien Shanklin, EDGE, Indianapolis (In.) Warren Central
OnTexasFootball ranking: 4-star
Official visit schedule: Notre Dame June 7-9, Tennessee June 14-16, Texas June 21-23
Note: Also plans to attend the Texas Spring Game April 20.

The Texas Longhorns continue to work to get top targets on campus in the 2025 cycle. And there is more news on that front Tuesday. 

Malik Autry, DL, Opelika (Ala.) High
The Auburn pledge and OnTexasFootball 4-star continues to talk with Steve Sarkisian and Kenny Baker about visit dates. One of those in the works is April 6, and that date is close to being locked in. There is also discussions about an official visit. Autry, 6-5 and 320, already has a full June OV schedule and Auburn isn't even set yet. Autry is scheduled to visit UCF May 31-June 2, USC June 7-9, Florida June 14-16 and Oregon June 21-23. Of course, that visit scheduled could get shuffled. 

Adonyss Currie, CB, Lancaster (Calif.) Quartz Hill
The OnTexasFootball 4-star and very high end cornerback prospect is speaking with Texas early this week with the hope out of Austin to get an official visit date locked in. Currie, 6-2 and 165 pounds, has April official visits scheduled to Texas A&M and Nebraska. He will flow up with OV's to Washington May 31-June 2, Miami June 7-9 and Utah June 14-16. That leaves Texas working on the June 21-23 weekend, unless there is scheduling change to open up June 14-16.

Additional notes
Greensboro (Ga.) Greene County 4-star DL Kevin Wynn will be a prospect Texas continues to recruit despite Texas not getting a spring unofficial, as of today. Florida State, Alabama and Georgia are considered the top three with FSU and Bama ahead of UGA. 

OnTexasFootball expects June 21-23 to be the official visit date of 4-star running back Jordon Davison. We will wait for the Mater Dei standout to announce his dates before making it official. Texas is in a good spot in the battle against Ohio State, Oregon and Alabama. 

OTF is also monitoring the recruitment of Lancaster (Texas) High 4-star wide receiver Emmanuel Choice. The Longhorns remain in contact with Choice. Choice, 6-5 and 180, has OV's scheduled to Nebraska, USC, Missouri, TCU and Oklahoma. In a cycle of tremendous wide receivers in Texas and nationally, Choice is going to be slept on - and shouldn't be. 

The Texas commit visited campus Monday where he was able to spend time with Steve Sarkisian and the staff after taking in a spring practice during the morning hours.

While programs like Oregon, Auburn and Ole Miss have continued to recruit Lacey over the last six months, Lacey reaffirmed his commitment status to me. Lacey added he has three trips planned for the spring and summer months – all of which to Texas (April 6, April 20, June 21-23 OV). No visits planned anywhere else at the moment and Lacey said he hopes to keep it like that.

"My commitment is still really strong," Lacey said. "I have been talking to them all the time, getting everything right about the official visit part and when I am going to visit, plus who I need to be recruiting."

Lacey has put on his recruiting hat a bit for the Longhorn 2025 class. He mentioned three wide receivers that he will be courting to Texas as the cycle progresses: Dakorien Moore, Jaime Ffrench and Kaliq Lockett.

As for the commits in the class, Lacey said he is beginning to build a strong relationship with Emaree Winston as well. The two talk and text often throughout the week.

The next time Lacey does make it to campus, his recruiting skills will be put to the test. Wide receivers Kaliq Lockett, Jaime Ffrench and Kelshaun Johnson will all be in attendance. Plus guys like John Mills and Tyler Thomas as well on the offensive side of the ball.

All in all, a good visit to Austin for Lacey. 

I won't say there is nothing to worry about because Texas will need to continue recruiting through the whistle, but Texas is where Lacey wants to be at the moment and he reiterated that to me on Sunday.

A name that might be familiar to the board is one that Texas fans should certainly keep an eye on now. Katoa, a 6-foot-5 and 375-pound trench monster is slated to be on campus April 13 for what is turning into a bit of a 2026 day on campus.

Texas is officially in the game for Katoa, though the Longhorns have been high on him prior to the extended offer. This will be a recruitment to keep a close eye on.

The Texas Longhorns hosted a number of unofficial visitors over the weekend, and are scheduled to host a big time target in the near future. 

OnTexasFootball bring Texas fans some Monday afternoon nuggets, and you don't have to wait in a long line to get them. 

Josiah Sharma and Texas
OnTexasFootball spoke again today with a source in California on 4-star defensive tackle Josiah Sharma (Folsom, Calif./High). OnTexasFootball reported last week that we expected the one-time Washington verbal to be on campus in the next two or three weeks. OTF can now say we expect Sharma on campus this weekend, barring a scheduling change. 

Sharma, 6-4.5 and 300 pounds, has family ties in Texas including the Austin area. He lived in Arlington for a while before moving to California. Johnny Nansen and Kenny Baker are in contact with Sharma on a regular basis. Sharma has official visits scheduled to Washington and Utah currently. Alabama, Texas, Oregon and Georgia are in line for official visits. Texas is confident that a June official visit will happen. 

WIll Keiundre Johnson make an official visit?

Terrell (Texas) High TE/EDGE Keiundre Johnson was on campus Saturday for an unofficial visit. While he doesn't have plans to return in April as of today, tight ends coach Jeff Banks is in talks about a June official visit date. 

Johnson, 6-3 and 230 pounds, has three official visit dates locked in. Johnson will make an OV to SMU May 17-19, LSU June 7-9 and Texas A&M June 21-23. Texas is talking about a June 14-16 date. Texas is recruiting Johnson at tight end, while Texas A&M is talking EDGE. 

D.J. Sanders has two visits scheduled

Bellville (Texas) High defensive lineman D.J. Sanders is expected on campus April 6 according to a source close to the recruitment. OnTexasFootball also expects the 6-4, 290 pounder to make an official visit June 21-23, as of today. 

Nick Brooks and a Texas OV

OnTexasFootball 4-star IOL Nick Brooks (Cedar Rapids, Ia./John F. Kennedy) is scheduled to talk to offensive line coach Kyle Flood early this week to finalize an official visit date. That date is expected to be June 14-16. An unofficial visit is also expected April 20 for the spring game. 

Brooks, 6-7 and 345 pounds, has to official visit scheduled. Georgia is locked in for May 31-June 2 and Iowa June 21-23. Georgia, Iowa and Texas were the first three schools mentioned by Brooks in two recent conversations. 

Of course, the big name in attendance was Texas commit KJ Lacey who received an invitation to the Elite 11 Finals in California later this summer. 

Elite 11 Finals invites: KJ Lacey, Kevin Sperry, Keelon Russell

Lacey of course stuck around in Austin Monday morning for the spring practice. 2027 Shreveport (LA) QB Peyton Houston also stuck around to view practice this morning. Houston holds six offers at the moment – Louisiana Tech, Ole Miss, TCU, Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Grambling State.

But here are my biggest takeaways from the day of throwing:

***

KJ Lacey

I really enjoy watching KJ Lacey in action. He has a smoothness to his game that is evident when you watch him in person. More so than anything, when Lacey is outside of the pocket he really has a natural release on passes down the field when he rolls to either side of the field. Lacey is a pure thrower and displayed plenty of arm talent. Like Quinn Ewers, I question his fast ball, but when he gets in a rhythm you rarely see misses on passes down the field.

On top of anything else that happened on the field Sunday for Lacey, he confirmed he is locked in with the Longhorns and is looking forward to his three additional trips to Austin this spring/summer.

Keelon Russell – SMU Commit

The drills yesterday really allowed for me to get an idea of Russell as a thrower of the ball. I know he is a playmaker and can create explosive plays as a QB. Russell did well yesterday, well enough to earn MVP of the Elite 11 festivities.

I will add I think there is a bit more life on passes thrown by Russell than others in attendance. He has a big arm and certainly uses his frame to his advantage as a quarterback. Russell has some fine tuning to do on the technical side of things, but he has plenty of potential. 

2026 Jake Fette – Del Valle (El Paso) HS

For my money's worth, Fette had the most impressive arm of anyone in attendance. The El Paso native debuted as a 5-star on the initial On3 2026 recruiting rankings. The ball truly zips out of his hand upon release. 

Fette told me he is very high on TCU and Texas Tech for the time being. The Tech staff has done a fine job of evaluating early and prioritizing him so far. Fette told me Texas did not stop by in the winter, however he is expecting AJ Milwee to make the trek west this spring to see him throw in person.

2027 Weston Nielsen – Bastrop HS

I was able to watch Nielsen in person for a weight session earlier this offseason where I got a first glance at his athleticism. This might sound a bit out of the blue, but Nielsen reminds me of former Westlake QB Cade Klubnik, just a notch or two lower on the athleticism scale. Nielsen will need to improve his footwork in the pocket, but his arm talent is undeniable at this age.

Nielsen will camp with the Longhorns on June 1 – Milwee stopped by Bastrop this winter and will return in the spring to see him throw. He currently holds 11 offers. 

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