Texas Football Recruiting: Longhorns in running for top 2020 RB Zachary Evans

A top 11 that featured the Texas Longhorns could be crucial in the recruitment of key elite 2020 target running back Zachary Evans.

Some of the big fish that the 2020 Texas football recruiting class could be targeting early are getting closer and closer to commitment announcements. One of those commitment decisions to watch for the 2020 Texas football recruiting class is set to come from the top ranked high school running back in the nation, Zachary Evans.

This North Shore High School product and Houston, TX, native is heavily pursued by roughly half of all the Power Five conference schools and quite a few Group of Five schools. Evans holds more than 35 offers already, but only 11 of them made his top list that was posted on his Twitter timeline.

Some of the other programs to watch in the recruitment of Zachary Evans includes the in-state hated rival Texas A&M Aggies, conference foe Oklahoma State Cowboys, and LSU Tigers. Outside of the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma State, the Oklahoma Sooners were the only other Big 12 program in the top 11 for Evans.

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This would be a huge add for the Horns, if it could bring Zachary Evans into the mix. Texas hasn’t landed a running back of this caliber in a long time, and he would make a huge impact alongside the ultra-talented Keaontay Ingram.

For the 2019 cycle, Texas football recruiting couldn’t get much to add to the ground game after four-star Buford, GA, running back Derrian Brown committed and signed his National Letter of Intent. The two huge targets for the 2019 Texas football recruiting class were both missed on. The pairing of IMG Academy standout running backs were the opportunity the Texas Longhorns had to add elite players to the mix in the backfield.

Four-star running back Noah Cain and five-star Trey Sanders both committed and signed with other schools, leaving Texas football recruiting behind. Cain went with the Penn State Nittany Lions while the nation’s top ranked 2019 high school running back Sanders went with head coach Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide.

However, Texas could really use a running back like this to keep the offense on the upward trajectory. Between Ingram and quarterback Sam Ehlinger, the Horns could have one of the nation’s best and most balanced offenses through the end of the 2020 campaign. That should give some level of intrigue to a prospect like Zachary Evans already.

According to the 247Sports Crystal Ball Predictions, Texas A&M is the favorite to land Evans when it’s all said and done. But, those Crystal Ball Predictions don’t leave the Horns and Oklahoma State too far behind the Aggies. The Rivals FutureCast prediction has the Aggies and Horns in a deadlock to land Evans.

A 2020 Texas football recruiting class that needs some help could get an instant boost on the offensive side of the ball if it added the commitment of the caliber of Zachary Evans. His commitment could still be a ways out, but head coach Tom Herman needs to continue pursuing him very heavily.