CJ Vogel

Texas right tackle Christian Jones has been having a very strong day in Mobile for the first day of the Reese's Senior Bowl practices. A couple of 1-on-1 reps here against the following: Rep 1: Texas Tech's Myles Cole Rep 2: Missouri's Darius Robinson Rep 3: Texas Tech's Myles Cole Rep 4: Notre Dame's Javontae Jean-Baptiste Jones saw reps at both guard and tackle during the day of practice.

I am very excited to get to know most of the new faces on the board as we progress into the offseason. For those who are new to following my coverage of Texas Football, just know there are times where I get stuck in random rabbit holes looking for obscure facts and tidbits across both team coverage and the recruiting world. And for you all on this beautiful Tuesday afternoon, I have ventured back into a rabbit hole of recruiting. We have talked about the national approach we have seen Texas take in year's past, especially with the current staff. It will continue to be a focal point of the recruiting approach. Last July, I went through the offers extended by state to get an idea of where Texas is recruiting. I will touch on two points here in this article – 1. Where those offers are going and 2. When those are offers are handed out. I would not call this piece anything groundbreaking. Texas extends offers to where talent is present, that is no surprise. However, I was a bit surprise at how quickly they were able to identify that talent, with the staff clearly turning focus to the season in the mid-summer months. A look at the top ten states by offers extended by the Texas staff in the 2024 cycle: Texas (55) Florida (28) Georgia (25) California (21) Louisiana (8) Alabama (8) Mississippi (7) Arizona (6) Missouri (4) Washington (3) Off the bat, no surprises here. Texas is taking a heavy look in its backyard and extending into the recruiting hot spots of California, Florida and Georgia.I was a bit surprised to see only eight offers extended to Louisiana, however, the Longhorns have a much deeper impact in the state as a result of landing Arch Manning, Derek Williams, Wardell Mack and Melvin Hills in previous cycles. But this got me thinking. Of course, the origins of this thought process stemmed from the early July run of commitments. I originally went through this list during July of 2023 and the numbers then don't look all too different from the final numbers I posted from today. Offers by state from July 2023: Texas (53) Georgia (23) Florida (22) California (19) Louisiana (8) Alabama (7) Arizona (6) Missouri (4) Mississippi (3) Washington (2) Of the top ten states Texas extended offers to in the 2024 cycle, 91.5% of them were extended by essentially July 4th. Texas gets their out of state evaluations out early and often. I expect to see Texas much more active in the out of state recruiting in 2025 cycle as well. As a result of the Longhorns coming off of a College Football Playoff run, the Longhorns will be able to toss more lures in the water from a national perspective and see a few more nibbles of interest. Already in the 2025 cycle, the Longhorns have extended 149 offers right as we sit right at the end of January. In the entirety of the 2024 cycle, the Longhorn staff extended 191 offers with a pair of them going to specialists. Maybe later in the week I will dig into the position by position approach, but Texas offered 35 defensive linemen last cycle, something I expect to see changed from a philosophical approach now that Kenny Baker is on campus to take over for Bo Davis. At the end of the day, the player personnel department is doing a mighty fine job of finding talent early on and the Texas staff is active to extend offers. Feel free to dive into the rabbit hole with me and if you have any wild or wacky thoughts of your own you would like to see me jump into, feel free to let me know. View full news

Texas RB coach Tashard Choice continues his tour of the deep south with a stop in Quitman, MS this morning to see 2025 RB Akylin Dear. Dear received an offer from the Longhorns earlier this month on January 8th and now, Choice is doubling up with a stop at his high school to get some face time. Dear is an elite running back prospect. Tremendous film to back it up as well. Texas has approached the RB spot from a national perspective in previous cycles and 2025 already has Mater Dei RB Jordon Davison as a top prospect as well. Add Dear to that list. Take a look at the film: https://www.hudl.com/video/3/15267528/65265bf40427fe0af4358bd7 View full news

How I read it as well.

Looking forward to having you back on for the spring update! Thanks for the insight!

A safety name to be aware of for the 2025 class is Kilgore's Jayden Sanders. Sanders was a recent visitor on campus for the Texas Junior Day and is a prime candidate to see his stock soar this spring. I spoke with Sanders a bit yesterday to get his interest in the Longhorns. Though the Longhorns have yet to offer, Sanders mentioned that the staff made it known that they view him highly as a prospect and are continuing to evaluate. Texas is evaluating Sanders at both a safety or cornerback at the next level, to get an idea of where he would fit best. With a two-sport background in basketball, his 6-foot-2 frame allows for versatility across the backend of the defense. Texas Tech tossed their hat in the ring yesterday with an offer. Look for Texas to continue its eval into the spring. View full news

T'Vondre Sweat opted to not weigh-in today at the Reese's Senior Bowl. Not a big deal, though a bit curious.

Ffrench told me this morning he loves how the wide receivers are used in the Texas offense plus how often they are in positions to make big plays. The work of AD Mitchell and Xavier Worthy from this past year have really struck a chord with national wide receivers already.

Texas is missing some bunnies tonight at the rim.

Bijan Robinson earned big cheers after stepping on court during pregame.

Big game going on at the Moody Center tonight! Texas will host #4 Houston in what could be a massive statement and resume boost for the Longhorns. Come join the conversation for the game tonight!

Also offered 2025 five star Caleb Cunningham from Mississippi last week as well!

Lifetime Longhorn Rod Babers and I get together for the latest episode of Talkin' Ball. Rod and I go in-depth about the new defensive analyst hire, ANOTHER 'Horns Down' controversy, what schemes Texas can learn from the Super Bowl contenders and more on this week's Talkin' Ball!

Steve Sarkisian and Chris Jackson extended an offer to five-star 2025 wide receiver Jaime Ffrench Jr. Monday evening. The 6-foot-1 playmaker out of Jacksonville, FL was previously committed to Alabama before re-opening his recruitment on January 14th. On the Texas perspective, Ffrench told me right after his offer he is very much looking forward to getting to Austin at some point soon. The earlier the better as many programs have already begun prioritizing him already. In the past week, Ffrench has been visited by South Carolina's Shane Beamer and WR coach Justin Stepp, Florida HC Billy Napier and Georgia's Kirby Smart. Hudl: https://www.hudl.com/video/3/16592534/65791bac0c539603fcf8c85d View full news

A trio of Texas coaches were on campus in Calhoun, GA to see 2025 TE commit Emaree Winston. Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, Jeff Banks and Tashard Choice were on the trail to stop by the Texas commits. Of course, the trio then flew out to Florida to see Brandon Brown. Winston tells me the visit with the staff very well. As for an upcoming visit? Winston said he hopes to be back in Austin for the Spring Game. You can expect to see that visit list become rather lengthy, with Winston starting off the list of visitors. View full news

Add a quick trip over to Eau Gallie, FL as well to see Brandon Brown.

It has been a busy month of recruiting for Steve Sarkisian and it is not slowing down anytime soon. Sarkisian brought two of his top recruiters with him to see TE commit Emaree Winston in Georgia this afternoon – Jeff Banks and Tashard Choice. Choice has been digging around in Georgia for the last week or so, having extended offers to five prospects on the trip. Sarkisian is expected in Saraland tomorrow to see QB commit KJ Lacey. View full news

It has been a busy month of recruiting for Steve Sarkisian and it is not slowing down anytime soon. https://twitter.com/e_wins2025/status/1752066525333438672 View full news

Christian Jones measurables