Texas Football: OU catching up to Longhorns in 2021 class rankings

A battle is really starting to heat up between Texas football and the Oklahoma Sooners on the recruiting trail for the latter part of the 2021 cycle.

The start to the summer months during a tumultuous (to say the very least) 2020 offseason on the recruiting trail for both the Texas football program and the rival Oklahoma Sooners is one that neither coaching staff or fan base could really get mad about. In the last couple of weeks, both the Longhorns and Sooners had their fair share of results on the recruiting trail for each of their 2021 classes.

On the Sooners side of the spectrum, they’ve landed commitments from four-star LBJ cornerback Latrell McCutchin and namely the elite five-star dual-threat Gonzaga quarterback Caleb Williams. Landing that pledge from the 6-foot-1 and 210 pound top ranked dual-threat quarterback in the nation (and top five overall ranked 2021 high school prospect) Williams immediately bolstered the slot for Oklahoma in the national class rankings.

Williams committing to Oklahoma really set off the weekend for head coach Lincoln Riley and his Sooners. He’s the most highly touted quarterback overall of this recruiting cycle, and he’ll give yet another weapon to that ultra-high powered Sooners offense led by Riley.

Meanwhile, Texas had a good run of their own on the recruiting trail since the beginning of May. In the month of May alone, the Longhorns landed commitments from the likes of four-star Memorial weak-side defensive end Jordon Thomas and four-star Martin outside linebacker Morice Blackwell. Then in June, the main commits for the Longhorns were four-star Kennedale safety JD Coffey III and four-star Kimball cornerback Ishmael Ibraheem.

This all mounted up to the Longhorns further bolstering the secondary depth in the 2021 class by landing four-star John Muir cornerback Jamier Johnson on July 3. He kicked off a huge weekend on the recruiting trail for the top programs in the Big 12.

Landing the commitment from Johnson brought the tally of blue chip prospects in the Longhorns 2021 class up to double-digits. They now have nine four-star commits in the 2021 class, and one five-star (Denton-Ryan athlete Ja’Tavion Sanders).

According to the 247Sports Team Composite Rankings, the 2021 Oklahoma recruiting class now ranks at No. 14 in the nation and is up to the No. 2 spot in the Big 12. Adding the commitments of Williams and McCutchin now brings the total tally of prospects in Oklahoma’s 2021 class up to 11. They have a higher average commitment ranking than the Longhorns, but that is weighted down by Williams.

And Texas sits with 14 commits in their 2021 class. The momentum should only continue for both of the Red River rivals in the near future. But Texas currently sits at No. 10 in the national class rankings and remains in the top spot in the Big 12.

It will be interesting to see where the Longhorns 2021 class goes from here. The rivalry on the recruiting trail between the likes of the Longhorns, Sooners, and Texas A&M Aggies usually always shapes the landscape of the national class rankings around this region of the country.