Coveted 4-Star RB LJ Johnson includes Texas football in top 4

The 2021 Texas football recruiting class might be prioritizing 4-Star Cy-Fair RB LJ Johnson more so than any other prospect at the moment.

A few of the top remaining targets for the 2021 Texas football recruiting class could be getting very close to announcing their commitment decision. Most prospects by now announce their commitment decisions prior to the start of the Early Signing Period, or during that time in December.

And one key target that Texas needs to keep zoning in on in the near future is coveted four-star Cy-Fair running back LJ Johnson. Good news arrived for the Longhorns on Sep. 1 when the 5-foot-10 and 205 pound Cypress, TX, rusher included them in his latest round of finalist cuts.

Johnson announced his top four finalist schools on his Twitter timeline on the night of Sep. 1. Texas was included in a group of schools that also encompassed the LSU Tigers, Oklahoma Sooners, and Texas A&M Aggies. At this point, those three schools tend to be the biggest regional foes of the Longhorns on the recruiting trail.

The latest round of finalist cuts for Johnson now means that 36 other schools could be out of the running to land his commitment. The highlighting schools on his offer sheet that he cut included the Alabama Crimson Tide, Auburn Tigers, Baylor Bears, Florida Gators, Florida State Seminoles, Georgia Bulldogs, Michigan Wolverines, Nebraska Cornhuskers, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Ohio State Buckeyes, Oklahoma State Cowboys, Penn State Nittany Lions, TCU Horned Frogs, Tennessee Volunteers, Texas Tech Red Raiders, and USC Trojans.

Running backs coach Stan Drayton is after Johnson right now. He’s namely battling LSU positional coach Kevin Faulk, Texas A&M running backs coach Tommie Robinson, and recently hired Oklahoma running backs coach DeMarco Murray. But the 247Sports Crystal Ball Predictions are leaning to Texas right now over the rest of the competition.

The Rivals FutureCast also has 75 percent of their analysts and publishers picking Johnson to commit to Texas over the rest of the field.

Rivals ranks Johnson as the nation’s No. 71 2021 high school prospect, No. 4 running back, and No. 10 prospect out of Texas. The 247Sports Composite ranks him as the nation’s No. 42 2021 high school prospect, No. 4 running back, and No. 7 prospect out of Texas. And the Top247 ranks him as the nation’s No. 31 high school prospect, No. 3 running back, and No. 4 prospect out of Texas.

At this point, the top two running back prospects remaining uncommitted are clearly Johnson and the elite five-star Lakeview Centennial product Camar Wheaton. Oklahoma and Texas should continue to duke it out for these two, but Johnson might have a bit more traction on the Forty Acres than Wheaton at this moment.

According to the 247Sports Team Composite Rankings, the 2021 Texas recruiting class ranks at No. 15 in the nation and remains behind the Sooners in the second spot in the Big 12. They hold 17 commits in the 2021 class, with the lone running back in the mix being three-star Hallettsville product Jonathon Brooks.