Texas Football: 5-Star RB Zachary Evans leaning Texas A&M post-UGA?

Where will the former target of the 2020 Texas football recruiting class, 5-Star RB Zachary Evans, land now that Georgia is out of the picture?

The 2020 prospect that is maybe the most polarizing of all the targets of the Texas football recruiting class is five-star North Shore running back Zachary Evans. He is one of the most talented, but mysterious, prospects left uncommitted for this recruiting cycle.

As one of the biggest initial targets of the 2020 recruiting class for the Texas Longhorns football program, losing out on Evans when he announced his five finalist schools seemed like a big blow. Now, the Longhorns appear fortunate that they ceased the pursuit of Evans at that point. His recruitment is the most interesting combination of confusing and polarizing of any prospect in the nation at the moment.

Evans is left as one of the highest rated 2020 high school prospects that remains uncommitted during this corridor between the Early Signing Period and National Signing Day. He ranks as the nation’s No. 14 2020 high school prospect, and still the best at his position. Evans ranks just one spot higher in the national recruiting rankings than the five-star Texas running back signee and Salpointe Catholic product Bijan Robinson.

Landing Robinson instead of Evans might be a good move for head coach Tom Herman and his offense when it’s all said and done. There’s just too much uncertainty surrounding the status and play of Evans during his senior season at North Shore High School in Houston, TX.

Earlier this month, Evans re-opened his recruitment up officially after he received a release from head coach Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs from his signed National Letter of Intent. It appears that he signed his letter of intent to attend the University of Georgia last year, but nothing ever stuck ahead of National Signing Day.

According to his 247Sports recruiting profile, the hottest programs left in his pursuit are the reigning National Champion LSU Tigers, Florida Gators, Texas A&M Aggies, and Ole Miss Rebels. And the 247Sports Crystal Ball Predictions has the biggest rise of late going to Texas A&M.

Landing with either LSU or Ole Miss would be intriguing for Evans. He could be the most talented running back in Oxford if he landed with first-year head coach Lane Kiffin and the Rebels. But LSU could use the additional running back depth after the likely departure of Clyde Edwards-Helaire to the 2020 NFL Draft.

According to a 247Sports report from Jan. 16, the two new schools that entered the picture for Evans of late were Florida and Ole Miss. The Gators and Rebels were not originally among his five finalist schools. But that report also mentions that Texas A&M is still a “major contender” to land Evans ahead of National Signing Day.