Texas Football: 5 recruits fans wish Longhorns could’ve signed

A prospect that was even more unheralded than Benjamin as a former offeree of a past Texas football recruiting class, the former Georgia Bulldogs star cornerback Deandre Baker is now taking his talents to the NFL. Baker was selected by the New York Giants in the first round, at No. 30 overall, in the 2019 NFL Draft.

The pick for the Giants was originally held by the Seattle Seahawks, but getting snagged by the Giants could be a big upgrade for that secondary. Baker rounded out his collegiate career as a multiple-time All-SEC honoree, 2018 consensus All-American, and the 2018 Jim Thorpe Award winner.

It’s fitting that the last game that Baker played at Georgia was a loss in the Sugar Bowl to the Longhorns on New Year’s Day. Back during the 2015 recruiting cycle, Baker looked like he could be a very underrated addition to that signing class for the Longhorns.

Baker was originally rated as a mid-tier three-star cornerback recruit coming out of Miami, FL, and Northwestern High School. He rated pretty far down the recruiting classifications as the No. 64 cornerback in the nation. The final set of 247Sports Crystal Ball Predictions actually favored him to land with Texas over Georgia.