Jeff Howe

I feel pretty good about Black. My only concern with him is as Texas gets away from being a field-and-boundary defense, can he play multiple positions? I think he can, but the staff recruited him to be in the Ryan Watts role. I'm probably overthinking it because Black is a better prospect than Watts.

Thanks, FatherofMinky.

Thanks, Joe Zura!

Thank you, Maddog109. I think that just means I've seen a lot, which means I'm not getting any younger.

Thanks, JMarquette!

He can do either. I don't know where he'll be this spring, but with James Simon and Rickey Stewart on campus, it makes sense to let Niblett go back to receiver.

Thank you, Wabi Sabi. I'm loving my start with OTF!

Thanks, Bunk Moreland!

— I think Texas needs to add another interior defensive lineman in the spring transfer portal window, even after landing Ohio State’s Hero Kanu on Wednesday. Kenny Baker and Pete Kwiatkowski need as many options as possible to adequately replace more than 1,900 snaps with the departures of Vernon Broughton, Alfred Collins, Jermayne Lole and Bill Norton. Of equal importance, for me, is giving playing time to the program’s three true freshmen (Myron Charles, Josiah Sharma and Justus Terry) by choice, not force. For years, the Longhorns were stuck in a vicious cycle of throwing young players into the deep end, hoping they’ll swim. Steve Sarkisian’s regime broke the cycle at quarterback and along the offensive line, and the transfer portal can fill gaps in the talent pipeline at a time when attrition rates are high. Texas signed five defensive linemen in the 2022 and 2023 cycles: Aaron Bryant, Jaray Bledsoe, Sydir Mitchell, Kris Ross and Zac Swanson. None of those guys are on the 2025 roster, but the portal additions of Kanu, Cole Brevard and Travis Shaw means Alex January and Melvin Hills Jr. aren’t solely tasked with making up for the outgoing tackles. It’s easier to be known as a good developmental program when players get an appropriate amount of time to develop. After playing behind four veteran tackles throughout the season, January only logged five snaps (according to Pro Football Focus) in the Cotton Bowl against Ohio State. Still, he made an impact, recording a PFF single-game grade of 67.7, the second-best of his true freshman season. That’s one example, but it’s important because January could be the only defensive line recruit between three recruiting classes (2022-24) considered a hit. Bringing in one more interior defensive lineman would give the Longhorns more time to let January, Hills and the three true freshmen grow into their roles and earn their playing time. — I think the 2024 group of incoming wide receivers (Jaime Ffrench, Kaliq Lockett and Daylon McCutcheon enrolled for the spring semester) can get the position to a point where it becomes much less reliant on the transfer portal. Texas hit a grand slam with Xavier Worthy in the 2021 class. Excluding Worthy, however, how things have played out for the eight other wideouts recruited by the Longhorns over three cycles (2021-23) is why Sarkisian and Chris Jackson will be on the hunt for a difference-maker in the spring portal window. Sarkisian didn’t recruit Jaden Alexis, Casey Cain or Keithron Lee. Nevertheless, they’re three of five wideouts (Brenen Thompson and Savion Red signed in 2022) who joined the program during Sarkisian’s first two seasons. Combining for 16 receptions and 280 yards, three of the five lasted one or fewer seasons on the Forty Acres and none of them occupied a roster spot in 2024. Combine the production of Johntay Cook (16 catches, 273 yards and two touchdowns in 16 games) with what those five did and the numbers (32 receptions for 553 yards and two touchdowns) fall short of what DeAndre Moore Jr. put up in 2024 (39 catches, 456 yards and seven touchdowns). When Sarkisian’s staff hits on a wide receiver recruit, they hit it big. Ffrench, Lockett and McCutcheon will compete with Aaron Butler, Freddie Dubose and Parker Livingstone for roles alongside Moore and Ryan Wingo (and presumably Ryan Niblett) during spring practice. Those odds favor Texas developing a homegrown receiving corps capable of maximizing Arch Manning’s time behind center. — I think the Longhorns need a few pieces besides an interior defensive lineman or a dynamic wide receiver when the spring transfer portal window opens on April 16. Texas could answer some major depth chart questions during spring practice. Still, I don’t want the staff to leave anything to chance if there's an opportunity to improve the roster. Kicker, interior offensive line, cornerback, safety and running back could be addressed in the portal. There might not be upgrades available in the portal, or the NIL price tag could make certain acquisitions unattainable, but those are the areas of concern that need to be addressed if they’re not answered by the end of the spring game. The running game and Manning’s running ability could positively affect the offense’s productivity in the red zone. That said, Sarkisian's lack of trust in the field goal unit by the end of the season compounded the issues (a 79.7 scoring rate in the red zone in 2024 was the program's worst under Sarkisian). Ideally, Bert Auburn or Will Stone grabs the bull by the horns and wins the job outright in the spring. If the answer to the kicking inconsistencies isn’t on the roster, Texas doesn’t need to roll the dice and play with fire in 2025 if there’s a suitable option in the portal. Besides the interior defensive line and wide receiver, the kicking situation might be the most critical area the Longhorns need to assess before the spring window opens. View full news story

You can get Arch cards in Panini products right now. He's in Prizm Draft Picks and National Treasures Collegiate, for sure.

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.

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

He was said to be in the mix for the Ohio State DC job:

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).

Josiah Sharma should've been in the ESPN 300.

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). View full news story

McEndoo has a few different ties to the staff. He played with Jeff Banks and Chris Jackson at Washington State and worked with PK at Montana State. Hiring McEndoo is part of Sark’s answer to making up for the loss of Gunnar Helm. Instead of trying to outright replace Helm with another player, Jordan Washington and Nick Townsend could both function more like how Oklahoma State used its Cowboy Backs. I also like what this could mean for the Pony (two-back) package, just in terms of seeing more of it in 2025.

That’s in addition to some likely attrition coming after spring practice.

Thank you for the kind words, longhorn12345. I talked to Matt last week. The plan has been for me to get settled in here and the three of us will talk at some point. It's possible, but that's where things stand right now.

The Senior Bowl was made for a guy like Sorrell. If he shows he can rush the passer, it’ll bump his stock. Playmaking potential at a premium position gets you drafted, plus he’s played a lot of high-level football against elite competition in his college career.