Texas Football: Impact 2021 ATH Ja’Tavion Sanders brings Longhorns
What does the latest addition to the 2021 Texas football recruiting class, 4-Star athlete Ja’Tavion Sanders, bring to the table?
A scorching hot period for the 2021 Texas football recruiting class capped off the summer months of the offseason for head coach Tom Herman. To start off the 2019 regular season, Herman showed that he could continue his winning ways off the field, and on the recruiting trail, by upgrading his already highly touted 2021 class.
On Sep. 8, the 2021 recruiting class for the Texas Longhorns football program added a commitment from four-star Ryan athlete Ja’Tavion Sanders. This high school junior is a native of Denton, TX, and is firmly entrenched in this religion in the northern region of Texas.
Although, this was an interesting pledge to get for the Longhorns since Sanders still hasn’t announced it yet on his Twitter timeline like most do nowadays. He confirmed the pledge to play for Texas this weekend with Horns247. The commitment from Sanders to Texas in the 2021 recruiting class came during yesterday’s primetime loss to the No. 6 LSU Tigers by the final score of 45-38.
https://twitter.com/BCarringtonUT/status/1170481579669557249
Yet, it seems like the atmosphere for Sanders last night at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium won over his interests despite the loss to LSU. He ranks as the nation’s No. 43 2021 high school prospect and the No. 3 athlete in his class. Sanders also sits just outside the top five ranked high school prospects out of the state of Texas.
Herman and the Longhorns have to be thrilled about landing a commitment as highly touted as Sanders. He stands at 6-foot-3.5 and 220 pounds and spends the most time at tight end with Ryan High School at the moment.
Sanders had 23 schools on his offer sheet before he committed to Texas. The highlights of his offer sheet included the Alabama Crimson Tide, Florida Gators, Georgia Bulldogs, Florida State Seminoles, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Ohio State Buckeyes, Oklahoma Sooners, Texas A&M Aggies, and LSU.
Texas A&M seemed to be gaining ground with Sanders during the offseason as he was on campus in College Station to visit two times in the span of three months between May and July. But not much happened since then and before he committed to Texas.
What Sanders brings to the table for the Longhorns is a lengthy and athletic standout athlete that could play on either side of the ball. Herman preaches versatility, and that is spread all across the commitment he landed in the 2020 and 2021 recruiting classes.
Since Sanders plays at tight end now during his junior season in high school, he could stick there. But the Longhorns are recruiting out of this world at that position for the 2019-2021 cycles so it might be best for him to play somewhere like linebacker. He could also play in more of a edge rusher role similar to Malcolm Roach or Joe Ossai.
The commitment from Sanders to the 2021 recruiting class brings the total number of players to eight. Sanders also passes up four-star Tompkins dual-threat quarterback Jalen Milroe as the highest ranked pledge in the 2021 class.
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According to the 247Sports Team Composite Rankings, the 2021 recruiting class for the Longhorns still ranks at No. 2 in the nation and in the top spot in the Big 12. Texas just doesn’t have the numbers in the 2021 class that head coach Manny Diaz and the Miami Hurricanes do yet. But they do get an absolutely massive addition with Sanders pledging over the weekend.