Short Recruiting Write Up from The Athletic

[Blue]

Yes, we are getting ready for Week 3 on the college football slate. But that doesn’t mean we can’t talk about recruiting. Yesterday, I had some thoughts on Auburn, Florida State, USC and Ohio State, among others. Here is part two.
• Texas checks in at No. 5 in the 247Sports Team Talent Composite this season. The Longhorns, who are coming off a win against Alabama, are now a trendy pick to make the College Football Playoff. But for how talented the Longhorns are, it’s important to make the distinction that they are still not in the same galaxy of total talent as Alabama and Georgia — the standard in the conference Texas is set to join next year. Georgia has 16 five-star prospects on its roster, Alabama has 12 and Texas has four. Obviously, Texas was better than Alabama on the field last week, but it just goes to show how much more talented the teams that have run college football for the last decade have been.
I bring that up because Texas is feeling good about itself now, but it still has a ways to go on the recruiting front to build a legitimate powerhouse in the SEC. And in the 2024 class, Texas already has 17 commitments and only two are ranked in the top 100. Georgia has 12 top-100 players committed in 2024. Alabama has seven. Maybe Texas’ recruiting efforts will explode if the Longhorns win the Big 12 and have a memorable season, but there’s certainly another recruiting gear Steve Sarkisian can (needs to?) hit to arrive where the program feels it belongs.
• The top 25 players in the state of Texas all rank in the top 150 nationally. All but two of those players have committed. Guess how many are going to Texas? Two. Granted, the No. 1 player in the state – five-star defensive end Colin Simmons of Duncanville High — is committed to the Longhorns. And yes, it’s still September and a lot can change. It’s just a bizarre stat for a Longhorns program that has a wealth of talent at its fingertips.
• Oklahoma’s recruiting class ranks No. 12 nationally and now includes five top-100 players after picking up a commitment from four-star defensive lineman Nigel Smith II of Melissa (Texas) High on Friday evening. Two of those top-100 prospects are defensive players to go along with five-star running back Taylor Tatum, four-star tight end Davon Mitchell and four-star receiver Zion Kearney. It’s impossible not to like what Brent Venables is doing in recruiting, especially with how well-rounded the classes have been. The Sooners have a five-star running back and a five-star defensive lineman a year after signing a five-star quarterback. Those are some good program ingredients. Also, Oklahoma has commitments from 11 states in its 2024 class, which shows once again it has a national reach.
Like Texas, Oklahoma has been far and away more talented than the rest of the Big 12, and the Sooners actually turned that advantage into conference championships. But also, like Texas, Oklahoma has a long way to go before it can physically line up with Georgia and Alabama on an annual basis. The hope for Sooners fans is that Venables is headed in that direction, and the steady improvement of OU’s recruiting results since his arrival makes it a rational hope.