Bobby Burton

They’re why they won the Sugar Bowl. But the inconsistency in recruiting didn’t allow them to sustain success. That’s why stacking recruiting classes is so important.

Concur completely.

Looking back at recruiting classes can be a difficult process. How do you grade them (based solely on college performance and what they did at Texas?), when exactly do you grade them (at the end of four years or five years, or even further out), etc? Well, hindsight is 20/20 as they say. To remove any ambiguity, I developed this retrospective solely on players who played in the NFL (does not include taxi/practice squad) and take into consideration roster attrition. 2011 (21 signees/3 NFL players) - RB, Malcolm Brown; DB, Quandre Diggs; DB, Mykkele Thompson Evaluation Rate: 3/21 = 14.29% (No. of players who made the NFL divided by number of signees) Hit Rate: 3/21 = 14.29% (No. of players who finished their careers at Texas and made the NFL divided by number of signees) Notes: The demise of Mack Brown can be directly tied to his final five recruiting classes. Both the 2009 and 2010 recruiting classes also had just three players make the NFL. Brown, at the time, was truly selecting the players he and his staff wanted. They did not do a good job overall. 2012 (28 signees/6 NFL players) - DT, Malcom Brown; OL, Donald Hawkins; DT, Hassan Ridgeway; CB, Duke Thomas; DB, Adrian Colbert (transfer out); WR, Marcus Johnson Evaluation Rate: 6/28 = 21.42% Hit Rate: 5/28 = 17.86% Notes: Better numbers made the league here but as a percentage it was still way too slight. Adrian Colbert became one of only two Mack Brown transfers who eventually made the NFL from elsewhere (JaMarcus Webb was the other). 2013 (15 signees/4 NFL players) - OL, Kent Perkins; OL, Desmond Harrison (transfer out); TE, Geoff Swaim; ATH, Montrel Meander (transfer out) Evaluation Rate: 4/15 = 26.67% Hit Rate: 2/15 = 13.33% 2014 (23 signees/4 NFL players) - DE, Derick Roberson (transfer out); DT, Poona Ford; TE, Andrew Beck; RB, D'Onta Foreman Evaluation Rate: 4/23 = 17.39% Hit Rate: 3/23 = 13.04% Notes: Transition class from Mack Brown to Charlie Strong. Only one of Strong's recruits from the month of January ended up being an NFL player - Poona Ford. 2015 (27 signees/8 NFL players) - LB, Malik Jefferson; DB, Holton Hill; DB, Kris Boyd; DB, DeShon Elliott; DL, Charles Omenihu; OL, Connor Williams; DB, PJ Locke; P, Michael Dickson Evaluation Rate: 8/27 = 29.63% Hit Rate: 8/27 = 29.63% Notes: This was the best Texas class in nearly a decade and showed that Charlie Strong not only could recruit but his staff also ultimately had an eye for talent; Strong immediately doubled the Hit Rate of any of the previous eight years. 2016 (28 signees/7 NFL players) - WR, Devin Duvernay, DB, Brandon Jones; DT, Jordan Elliott (transfer out); WR, Collin Johnson; DL, Malcom Roach; QB, Shane Buechele (transfer out); WR, LJ Humphrey Evaluation Rate: 7/28 = 25% Hit Rate = 5/28 = 17.86% Notes: Yet again, Strong showed a relatively strong eye for talent. But his poor on-field performance hurt his recruiting some. 2017 (18 signees/4 NFL players) - QB, Sam Ehlinger; DL, TaQuon Graham; OL, Sam Cosmi; DB, Josh Thompson Evaluation Rate: 4/18 22.22% Hit Rate: 4/18 22.22% Notes: Transition Class from Strong to Tom Herman. Like Strong, Herman only added one new signee that would eventually become an NFL player - Sam Cosmi. 2018 (27 signees/11 NFL players) - DB, Caden Sterns; LB, DeMarvion Overshown; DT, Keondre Coburn; DL, Moro Ojomo; DE, Joe Ossai; CB, D'Shawn Jamison; RB, Keontay Ingram (transfer out); OL, Christian Jones; K, Cameron Dicker; DB, Jalen Green (transfer out); QB Cameron Rising (transfer out) (Players in italics have yet to be selected in NFL draft and make an NFL team) Evaluation Rate: 11/27 = 40.74% Hit Rate: 8/27 = 29.63% Notes: This is the class that should have helped put Tom Herman over the top. Despite recruiting rankings to the contrary, he and his staff simply couldn't put two good classes together back-to-back. 2019 (28 signees/6 NFL players) - WR, Bru McCoy (transfer out); WR, Jordan Whittington; S, Tyler Owens (transfer out); RB, Roschon Johnson; TE, Jared Wiley (transfer out); DT, T'Vondre Sweat Evaluation Rate: 6/28 = 21.43% Hit Rate: 3/28 = 10.71% Notes: Look at the lowest Hit Rate of the decade. Even Mack Brown's last classes didn't miss on this many. This is part of the reason why Steve Sarkisian was saddled early with a lack of NFL talent. Attrition clearly played a role here but so did evaluation. 2020 (22 signees/8 NFL players) - RB, Bijan Robinson; DL, Alfred Collins; ATH, Ja'Quinden Jackson (transfer out); OL, Jake Majors; DB, Jahdae Barron; LB, Jaylan Ford; DB Brenden Schooler; WR Tarik Black Evaluation Rate: 8/22 =36.36% Hit Rate: 7/22 = 25.93% Notes: A solid class. The evaluation and hit rate are buoyed by the additions of Schooler and Black as transfers and Black never really did much as a Longhorn. ** NFL Hit Rates of elite programs should average in the 25-35% range, so that's what Texas should focus on achieving. Yet the Horns matched or surpassed that figure just three times in 10 years. And the Horns barely averaged 25% from just an "Evaluation Rate", which doesn't take into account attrition/transfers. Overall, poor depth and lack of top-end talent riddled Texas for much of the 2010s. So did recruiting inconsistency. Poor years for Strong in 2016 and Herman in 2019 perhaps showed that neither could sustain success at Texas. 10-year average Evaluation Rate: 25.56% 10-year average Hit Rate: 19.45% ** A quick look into the 2021, 2022 and 2023 classes thus far. First, like his predecessors, Sark added at least one NFL player in his first month on the job in the 2021 class - Xavier Worthy. However, Sark also added Keilan Robinson who has a chance at the NFL as well. (Note to athletic administrators who make coaching changes: adding NFL players late in the process is just unlikely no matter who the coach is.) As for the 2022 class, Sark's group looks on par if not better than both Herman's and Strong's second classes, which attracted eight and 11 NFL players, respectively. The third class is where Sark diverges from Herman and Strong. While both Strong and Herman spiraled downward with third class, Sark is drastically different. His third recruiting class was nothing short of outstanding. In fact, early returns suggest his 2023 recruiting class will be Sark's best yet. View full news

Ugh. I just don't think any of those answers would be helpful or look good on him.

Winning comment. 😉

Long and can run. Love offers like these. P.S. Guys who run out of the screen are typically fast. 😉

If Texas has to go to its fourth string QB, then the team is toast. But in the last 20 years, I don't think Texas has played its fourth string QB out of necessity.

I do not think Texas has upgraded the position at this point. There is a big chasm between Sweat/Murphy and the rest of the group. I know that that attrition was expected, but Luginbill made a great point yesterday. How big is the drop off?

Like T'Vondre, the talent is there.

"Team thoughts: - Still concerned about stopping the run."

Texas needs to be strategic. We’ll see what the plans are.

Good stuff here. https://www.on3.com/nil/news/the-ncaa-is-no-more-tennessees-preliminary-injunction-win-ripples-across-college-sports/

I don't think Mitchell is the type of WR that KC would go for in the first round. Could be wrong. Just doesn't seem like a fit.

News and notes on various aspects of the team and its players. It's what we call emptying the notebook. ** Jaray Bledsoe - "Looks great." Alex January - "He's going to play this year." Sydir Mitchell - "Improving. Body looks a little better." ** The two freshman offensive linemen were singled out. Brandon Baker is said to be an outstanding athlete and his off-field, weight-room demeanor has been similar to that of Kelvin Banks when Banks first arrived. After the glowing about Baker finished, the source was quick to mention the professional demeanor of Daniel Cruz as well. "Those two are keepers," the source said. ** The source felt J'Mond Tapp "was coming on", specifically becoming a smarter player. He's always had the physical tools, but just needed to add good weight and play within the framework of the defense. He could be an X factor for the Texas D this year. ** Anthony Hill Jr. - "He's locked in. He looks great." ** Isaiah Bond - "Has some diva to him like a lot of wideouts. But he's not that way when he gets on the football field. Intentional worker." ** Billy Walton - "Looks great. Really great athlete." Tausili Akana - "A little small. Needs to add good weight. Working at SAM and edge." ** Jake Majors - "Really had a good year last year. Did not go to the ground nearly as much. Have to give him credit, he's really made something of himself. You can count on him." ** Tiaoalii Savea - "Better version of Trill Carter." ** Team thoughts: - Still concerned about stopping the run. - Speed on offense is different this year. - Need one or two interior DLs in the portal. ** I'll share more as I get more... View full news

He's been in a boot some this spring because of a late-season injury at Bama. But is expected to be 100-percent for spring.

Happy to have Santana Wilson with us now.

Join CJ, Rod and I for a little Longhorn football and recruiting chat! https://youtube.com/live/rWjViqXLsUI

Definitely punter.

Not to my knowledge. Not officially in SEC until June/July.

Not as yet.

Davison is playing the field. Lockett is fairly open and has five or six visits lined up. Marsh favors A&M right now.

Only that he was behind Lefau during bowl practices.

He and Austin Jordan were not mentioned. I'll ask.