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  • Where members of the No. 1 Texas signing landed in the final 2025 rankings from 247Sports and ESPN

    Jeff Howe

    By Jeff Howe

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    With the Under Armour All-America Game and the Navy All-American Bowl complete, 247Sports and ESPN published their final player rankings for the 2025 cycle on Wednesday.

    — After the release of the Top247 for 2025 and the ESPN300, Texas still has the No. 1 recruiting class in the country according to the 247Sports Composite and the On3 Industry rankings. There were some noticeable moves in the final rankings from two of the four major sets of prospect rankings (On3 hasn’t released its final rankings while the final Rivals250 was published last week) regarding the historic haul assembled by Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns.

    — Texas had 15 signees ranked in the Top247, the most since 2010 when Mack Brown's staff landed 20 Top247 recruits. The same goes for the ESPN 300, which included 18 Longhorns, a total topped in recent classes only by 19 in 2018.

    — Cornerback Kade Phillips highlighted the Top247, finishing the cycle among the 32 five-star prospects in the class. The 6-foot and a 1/2-inch, 185-pounder with a personal best long jump of 24 feet 7 1/2 inches had his wing span measured at 6 feet 8 inches in San Antonio. Phillips is No. 23 overall in the Top247, joining safety Jonah Williams (No. 6), defensive lineman Justus Terry (No. 13) and wide receiver Kaliq Lockett (No. 21) as five-star prospects.

    — Along with the four five-star signees, the Texas class has 10 recruits ranked inside the top 100 in the Top247: defensive lineman Lance Jackson (No. 39), wide receiver Jaime Ffrench (No. 52), tight end Nick Townsend (No. 74), linebacker Bo Barnes (No. 78), cornerback Graceson Littleton (No. 81) and Michael Terry III (No. 85).

    —Justus Terry and Williams finished the cycle as two of 21 prospects ESPN ranked as a five-star recruit. Terry (8) and Williams (No. 9) were ranked among ESPN’s top 10 prospects. 

    — The ESPN 300 included nine Longhorn signees among its top 100 prospects: Ffrench (No. 26), Lockett (No. 30), Michael Terry III (No. 31), Phillips (No. 33), Jackson (No. 67), Barnes (No. 84) and Littleton (No. 98). Townsend was ranked No. 125 in the ESPN 300.

    — The Top247 reflects the strength of the interior defensive line class for Texas. With Myron Charles (No. 138) and Josiah Sharma (No. 214) making the final Top247, the Longhorns are one of three programs along with Auburn and Georgia to land three Top247 defensive tackles in 2025 (Nos. 3, 17 and 24 at the position with Justus Terry, Charles and Sharma).

    — On the edge, Jackson and Smith Orogbo (No. 157) made Texas one of five programs (Georgia, Miami, Missouri and Ohio State are the others) to sign multiple Top247 edge defenders.

    — With Daylon McCutcheon (No. 190 in the Top247) joining Lockett and Ffrench in the final rankings, the Longhorns and Missouri were the only two programs to land three Top247 wideouts in 2025. 247Sports ranked Townsend as the No. 6 tight end in the class with Michael Terry III, expected to be a multi-purpose offensive player for Texas, ending the cycle as the nation’s No. 2-ranked athlete.

    — Running back James Simon (No. 198) is the other Longhorn signee who made the Top247. Orogbo (No. 105), safety Zelus Hicks (No. 114), quarterback KJ Lacey (No. 115), offensive lineman Nick Brooks (No. 142), McCutcheon (No. 147) Charles (No. 182), Simon (No. 298) and running back Rickey Stewart (No. 300) rounded out the ESPN 300 recruits in the Texas class.

    — ESPN ranked the following signees among the top prospects at their position in the class: Williams (No. 1 safety), Michael Terry III (No. 1 athlete), Justus Terry (No. 2 DT), Ffrench (No. 2 WR), Lockett (No. 3 WR), Townsend (No. 4 TE), Phillips (No. 6 CB), Jackson (No. 7 DE), Barnes (No. 10 OLB), Lacey (No. 10 pocket QB), Orogbo (No. 11 DE) and Hicks (No. 11 safety).

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    Jeff Howe
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    6 minutes ago, HookemHorns said:

    Dang impressive. Cant wait to watch these guys play.

    Are you high on any of our prospects outside the top 300?

    Josiah Sharma should've been in the ESPN 300.

     

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    Jeff Howe
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    I think a lot about that 2010 class that had 20 Top247 members go to Texas.

    That class was ravaged by injuries. Jordan Hicks was the only draft pick, but Hicks, Jackson Jeffcoat (CFL), Trey Hopkins and Adrian Phillips played a lot of pro football.

    Mike Davis, Carrington Byndom and John Harris turned out to be productive college players (even though Harris' work was done pretty much in one season).

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    Quinncent McManning, Jr.
    20 minutes ago, Jeff Howe said:

    I think a lot about that 2010 class that had 20 Top247 members go to Texas.

    That class was ravaged by injuries. Jordan Hicks was the only draft pick, but Hicks, Jackson Jeffcoat (CFL), Trey Hopkins and Adrian Phillips played a lot of pro football.

    Mike Davis, Carrington Byndom and John Harris turned out to be productive college players (even though Harris' work was done pretty much in one season).

    I remember thinking out d would be unstoppable with Hicks, Jeffcoat and Wilson.  Tevin Johnson and Aaron Benson looked like awesome lb prospects but don’t pan out. Taylor Bible a complete bust. 

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    qaertyisthatdude
    5 minutes ago, SamuraiKnight said:

    Sorry, but I can't think what would have been with QB Russell, WR Moore, OT Fasusi 

    If Bell pans out and/or Manning starts for 3 years and lives up to the hype, that won't look too bad.  Moore was not truly interested in Texas, and Fasusi wanted a quicker path to a starting spot.  Besides the Russell situation, not much you can do about that.  You win some and lose some on the trail.  Even Saban didn't get everyone he wanted.

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    EHoff99

    I've wondered a bit why Gerry and maybe CJ(?) seem a decent bit higher on Ffrench than Lockett. Obviously both are elite talents but Lockett seems to be generally higher across most sites and seemed to be the one making more noise at camps.

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    SamuraiKnight
    21 minutes ago, qaertyisthatdude said:

    If Bell pans out and/or Manning starts for 3 years and lives up to the hype, that won't look too bad.  Moore was not truly interested in Texas, and Fasusi wanted a quicker path to a starting spot.  Besides the Russell situation, not much you can do about that.  You win some and lose some on the trail.  Even Saban didn't get everyone he wanted.

    Russell, I'm not worried about. Mainly because Having a 5* sit 2-3 years is tough and then you have Dia Bell behind him. I believe there is a good chance KJ Lacey is never a full-time starter for the horns unless he really wants to, has patience, and can beat out Trey and Dia for the job 2-3 years from now. That seems like a tough sell

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    dfwHorn
    31 minutes ago, SamuraiKnight said:

    Russell, I'm not worried about. Mainly because Having a 5* sit 2-3 years is tough and then you have Dia Bell behind him. I believe there is a good chance KJ Lacey is never a full-time starter for the horns unless he really wants to, has patience, and can beat out Trey and Dia for the job 2-3 years from now. That seems like a tough sell

    QB feels like a position where you need one in every class knowing that not everyone is going to eventually start for you. If Arch stays two more years, either Lacy or Owens will transfer. This is part of bringing in top recruiting classes every year, talented players will leave and very well may be successful in other places, but we will keep the ones we want and keep stocking more talent behind them.

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    Tuco Ramirez
    2 hours ago, Jeff Howe said:

    I think a lot about that 2010 class that had 20 Top247 members go to Texas.

    That class was ravaged by injuries. Jordan Hicks was the only draft pick, but Hicks, Jackson Jeffcoat (CFL), Trey Hopkins and Adrian Phillips played a lot of pro football.

    Mike Davis, Carrington Byndom and John Harris turned out to be productive college players (even though Harris' work was done pretty much in one season).

    Ah yes. The beginning of the dark days.

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    Jeff Howe
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    3 hours ago, Quinncent McManning, Jr. said:

    I remember thinking out d would be unstoppable with Hicks, Jeffcoat and Wilson.  Tevin Johnson and Aaron Benson looked like awesome lb prospects but don’t pan out. Taylor Bible a complete bust. 

    Tevin Jackson was on his way to being a good player until he injured his knee.

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    Jeff Howe
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    2 hours ago, Chop said:

    From what I’ve read about Lance Jackson, sounds like he may have been a 5* snub? Is there anyone on or off the list that you don’t agree with?

    There's nothing egregious, in my opinion, but it's fascinating how much things differ once you get outside of the top 100. Like KJ Lacey and Zelus Hicks being top 120 guys in one set of rankings and unranked four-star prospects in another.

    What I've learned over the years is that once you get to a certain point either with player rankings or a signing class, beauty is in the eye on the beholder.

    If you think about the Top247, for instance, your 32 five-star guys are like first-round picks, No. 36-100 are guys who would go rounds 2-3 and then 101 until the end are guys who would go in rounds 4-7. Depending on things like player development and scheme fit, No. 247 could turn out to be a much better college player/NFL prospect than No. 101.

    I don't know if that makes sense, but that's how I've tried to view things over the years.

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    AusMOJO

    Can I still be a little bit salty about Fasusi and Moore? Lol. Either way, our staff did an amazing job and this class is beyond amazing. So much talent. The current staff under Sark knows how to evaluate and develop. Though they completely lost that '22 D recruiting class with most of them not even being at Texas anymore. 

     

     

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    GQ03
    On 1/30/2025 at 3:56 AM, AusMOJO said:

    Can I still be a little bit salty about Fasusi and Moore? Lol. Either way, our staff did an amazing job and this class is beyond amazing. So much talent. The current staff under Sark knows how to evaluate and develop. Though they completely lost that '22 D recruiting class with most of them not even being at Texas anymore. 

     

     

    They pretty much whiffed everywhere outside of OL but those guys have been worth their weight in gold and is a large part of bringing Texas "back".

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    GQ03
    On 1/29/2025 at 2:41 PM, EHoff99 said:

    I've wondered a bit why Gerry and maybe CJ(?) seem a decent bit higher on Ffrench than Lockett. Obviously both are elite talents but Lockett seems to be generally higher across most sites and seemed to be the one making more noise at camps.

    I can only think it's the boost Gerry normally gives to Florida guys once they get to College and takeoff physically. Probably sees them as similar players now but Ffrench has more potential due to lack of facilities in Florida and feels Lockett is closer to a finished product for the same reason but that's just a guess. 

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    DZX158
    6 hours ago, GQ03 said:

    I can only think it's the boost Gerry normally gives to Florida guys once they get to College and takeoff physically. Probably sees them as similar players now but Ffrench has more potential due to lack of facilities in Florida and feels Lockett is closer to a finished product for the same reason but that's just a guess. 

    Lack of an athletic period at public schools. Some private schools have one. I’ve seen a few examples of what happens after 2-3 months in a college strength and conditioning program. 10-12lbs of good weight on some DBs. It wasn’t just the weight. They were also more explosive in drills. So I get why Gerry is high on him. I still think Lockett will be the better player. 

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