When looking at recruiting classes, I’ve always put the last two classes together to get an idea of what the future will look like. I do this for two reasons. First, a lot of players end up being redshirted their first season on campus and end up with the incoming class and second, the great teams are led by juniors and seniors and these classes could end up being those players.
With the struggles that the Longhorn program has faced over the previous three years under Mack Brown, besides looking at on-field results, seeing what is happening in recruiting can generally give you a good idea of future success. For the most part, the teams who recruit the best, win the most games. As mentioned in my previous articles, when Pete Carroll was winning titles at USC he finished with the top recruiting classes on nearly a yearly basis. Nick Saban is on a similar run right now with Alabama and his results on the field have followed his recruiting success.
So how has Texas done over the past two recruiting classes? With four months still to go before the 2014 prep stars ink their names on the dotted line, let’s take a look:
QB
- 2013: Tyrone Swoopes (6-5, 229)
- 2014: Jerrod Heard (6-1, 193)
Rankings
[ws_table id=19]
Analysis: Both QBs are dual threat guys much closer to the VY mold than Chris Simms. Swoopes is probably the better runner, but Heard is far from a guy who’s unable to run. Many people, including myself, were surprised when Swoopes burned his redshirt this season and part of the reason could be to separate himself from the incoming Heard. The levels of competition each faced is a big advantage for Heard, given that he’s playing a 4A schedule, compared to Swoopes’ 2A classification. Either way, I feel like this position is in good hands moving forward.
RB
- 2013: None
- 2014: Donald Catalon (6-0, 200); D’Onta Foreman (6-0, 198); Kevin Shorter (6-0, 188)
Rankings
[ws_table id=20]
Analysis: Not taking any players at a position in a given year is uncommon, especially a position as important as RB, but Texas made up for it this year taking three. Catalon is the bell cow and the guy who looks like the every down runner, while Shorter is a guy you want to get the ball in space to because of his speed and ability to make people miss. Foreman is overshadowed by his brother, but has put up some good numbers this year and could get a look at multiple positions. Shorter could also get a look at DB if necessary, but from the looks he will get his first chance with the ball in his hands. With the recent emphasis on running the ball it is good to have multiple guys to split the carries and it is also nice to have guys with a myriad of talents like these do. I just wish they were not all in the same class
WR
- 2013: Montrel Meander (6-3, 180); Jake Oliver (6-4, 194); Jacorey Warrick (5-10, 168)
- 2014: Roderick Bernard (5-10, 175); Armanti Foreman (6-0, 174); Garrett Gray (6-5, 205); Lorenzo Joe (6-2, 192); Dorian Leonard (6-4, 200); Emanuel Porter (6-3, 189)
 Rankings
[ws_table id=21]
Analysis: Talking about getting your money’s worth. If there’s a position that the Horns have taken just about every player they could, this is it. There is a good mix of all around WRs, speed guys and possession guys. The biggest issue is that there are only able to be five WRs on the field at a time so taking nine over the course of two seasons does seem like slight overkill. That said, I don’t really dislike any of the offers, even if it’s possible that guys like Gray and Leonard could turn into H-back types because of their size. Foreman is the best of the bunch in my opinion and should make an impact right away. Bernard is pure speed and brings a game-breaking ability that the offense can always use and Warrick is not far behind. Porter and Meander are guys with big play ability, but are both raw and could take time to develop. Oliver is the son of a collegian and probably has the best hands of the group. It’s definitely going to be something to watch to see how this group moves forward and how things shake out. A coaching staff change will only make things even more difficult to project.
TE
- 2013: Geoff Swaim (6-5, 250, JUCO)
- 2014: John Thomas (6-6, 255, JUCO)
Rankings
[ws_table id=22]
Analysis: Does this position really exist anymore? When it comes to recruiting it’s hard to say a whole lot of positives. When you are forced to basically only recruit JUCO players at a position it’s never a positive. Of course things could change if one or two of the WRs grow into the TE position, but then blocking becomes a major weakness at the point of attack. Swaim has been a huge upgrade to the running game this year and I expect Thomas to provide a lot of the same, but at some point there has to be someone at the position who can be a threat over the middle or in the red zone, right?
OL
- 2013: Rami Hammad (6-5, 300); Desmond Harrison (6-8, 305); Darius James (6-5, 319); Kent Perkins (6-5, 300)
- 2014: Terrell Cuney (6-3, 260)
Rankings
[ws_table id=23]
Analysis: Offensive line is a position that went from recruiting huge guys like William Winston and Terrance Young to lean guys like Greg Dolan and Adam Ulatoski and has now gone full circle to big guys again. It’s obvious that Searles wants big, strong, physical linemen who can really dominate the line of scrimmage and he has definitely brought in some tpp shelf talent. Now it’s up to him, or his replacement, to mold the talent into a group that kicks ass and takes names.
DL
- 2013: Jake Raulerson (6-5, 262)
- 2014: Courtney Garrett (6-2, 280); Trey Lealaimatafao (6-2, 301); Jake McMillon (6-3, 240); Derick Roberson (6-3, 225); Sione Teuhema (6-4, 215)
Rankings
[ws_table id=24]
Analysis: Not a whole lot of positives about this group. Utter failure in 2013 bringing in only a single player and that means it’s almost a requirement that every player brought in this year become a contributor. And that is nearly impossible to predict. Considering how important the defensive line position is in the Big 12 Conference to both stop the run and get pressure on the QB without blitzing this could be an issue moving forward.
LB
- 2013: Deondrei Davis (6-3, 215); Naashon Hughes (6-4, 210)
- 2014: Otaro Alaka (6-3, 210); Andrew Beck (6-3, 230); Cameron Hampton (6-0, 201)
Rankings
[ws_table id=25]
Analysis: Long, lean linebackers who can run sideline to sideline are the types of players that the Texas staff has been bringing in the past two years. The only one who projects to be a true MLB is Beck and that should work well in the pass happy conference moving forward. I don’t foresee guys like Edmond or Santos being LB recruits in the future, unless they are being planned to spin down to DE.
DB
- 2013: Chevoski Collins (5-11, 185); Antwuan Davis (6-0, 180); Erik Huhn (6-2, 205)
- 2014: John Bonney (6-1, 193); Jason Hall (6-2, 190); Jermaine Roberts (5-9, 170)
Rankings
[ws_table id=26]
Analysis: Solid talent, but outside of Davis there is not the top level, can’t miss player in the group. Huhn and Bonney could be the safeties of the future, while guys like Collins, Hall and Roberts are good players who hopefully will turn into major talents like what has been happening on the 40 Acres under the tutelage of Duane Akina. Roberts is a guy who would probably be ranked higher if he were 2-3 inches taller and might be right behind Davis on the talent scale.
Final Analysis:
Without question there are some major issues that the Horns could be facing in the future when looking at the previous two classes. The biggest question mark is without a doubt the defensive line. When it comes to these past two classes compared to previous classes I do not think it is hard to see how things have changed. Mack Brown’s lame duck status is a major issue and is being used by schools like A&M, Baylor and top SEC programs to turn top Texas talent away from the Horns for the first time in Mack Brown’s tenure. There is still time for the Horns to land some more of the top talent in the 2014 class, but those players are becoming few and far between and time is running out.