Texas Football: Elite 5-Star RB target Camar Wheaton trending to OU

The 2021 Texas football recruiting class could be on the brink of losing a good one if 5-Star Lakeview Centennial running back Camar Wheaton gets away.

This cycle was not supposed to be one where a position that was highly prioritized was running back. The 2020 Texas football recruiting class was able to sign the elite five-star Salpointe Catholic running back Bijan Robinson, which meant the depth at the position only increased from an uptick that started last season.

Now the Longhorns have a really good situation in the backfield between the likes of incoming freshman Robinson, rising sophomore former converted quarterback Roschon Johnson, and rising junior Keaontay Ingram. This is more depth than the Longhorns had in the backfield in a long time. And this might be the most effective ground game for Texas since the loss of D’Onta Foreman following the 2016 season.

If Texas can bring in even more talent at the running back position in the 2021 class, the results could be glorious on the Forty Acres. And the two biggest running back targets for the 2021 cycle for head coach Tom Herman and running backs coach Stan Drayton are the five-star Lakeview Centennial product Camar Wheaton and four-star Cy Fair product L.J. Johnson.

It seems like lately the Longhorns are pursuing Johnson more heavily than Wheaton. And it’s going to be really difficult for the Longhorns to get them both. Each rank inside the top four 2021 high school running back prospects in the nation. Landing those two in the same class would definitely be special, but not too realistic.

One trend that could show where each could land is with the 247Sports Crystal Ball Predictions. The 247Sports Crystal Ball Predictions for Wheaton started to show he was trending to the rival Oklahoma Sooners within the last week. Two of the expert predictions are starting to show a decent level of confidence that Wheaton will commit to Oklahoma over Texas and the rest of the field.

Given that the Longhorns also recently started to pick up a lot of steam in the pursuit of Johnson, this would make sense. Even the Rivals FutureCast is picking Wheaton to commit to Oklahoma, but by a narrow margin over Texas and the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Wheaton ranks as the nation’s No. 18 2021 high school prospect, No. 2 running back, and No. 2 prospect out of Texas (247Sports Composite). Rivals ranks him as the nation’s No. 7 2021 high school prospect, and the top overall running back and prospect out of Texas.

As of the evening of Aug. 12, Wheaton holds offers from 27 schools. The highlighting schools on his offer sheet includes the LSU Tigers, SMU Mustangs, Baylor Bears, Florida Gators, Georgia Bulldogs, Michigan Wolverines, Nebraska Cornhuskers, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Ohio State Buckeyes, Tennessee Volunteers, and USC Trojans.

According to the 247Sports Team Composite Rankings, the 2021 Texas recruiting class ranks at No. 13 in the nation and remains ahead of Oklahoma for the top spot in the Big 12. After most recently landing a commitment from underrated three-star wide receiver Jaden Alexis, Texas now holds 17 commits in their 2021 class.