Impact Texas football gets from 3-Star OT commit Max Merril

The 19th commit in the 2021 Texas football recruiting class arrived on Sep. 25 to kick the weekend off right with 3-Star OT Max Merril.

The next addition up for the 2021 Texas football recruiting class arrived in a big way in the form of unheralded three-star Strake Jesuit 6-foot-4 and 275 pound offensive tackle Max Merril. Texas is one step closer to getting to 20 commits in their 2021 recruiting class after landing this pledge from the underrated product hailing out of Houston, TX, heading into the weekend.

Merril announced his commitment to the Longhorns on his Twitter timeline on the afternoon of Sep. 25. It was met with raucous approval and excitement for both his and the Longhorns circle on social media.

Texas now has two offensive tackles committed in their 2021 class. Merril is the second and the lower rated of the two, with the other being four-star Katy Taylor product Hayden Conner. The lone other offensive line commit for the Longhorns in their 2021 class came with three-star Bishop Kenny center Michael Myslinski.

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However, landing a commitment from Merril could be key to head coach Tom Herman and offensive line coach/co-offensive coordinator Herb Hand rounding out this group in the trenches for the 2021 cycle. Texas had to make up some ground in the trenches somehow after missing commitments from the likes of the highly coveted Brockermeyer brothers and five-star offensive guard/Ohio State commit Donovan Jackson.

What the 2021 Texas football recruiting class is getting from Max Merril

Merril could find himself climbing his way up the national recruiting rankings now that he is getting more attention around the country. He ranks as the nation’s No. 1,261 2021 high school prospect, No. 108 offensive tackle, and No. 195 prospect out of Texas (247Sports Composite). And the Top247 ranks him as the No. 87 offensive tackle and No. 177 prospect out of Texas.

But the pure amount of schools that Merril had on his offer sheet prior to committing to Texas shows just how much a lot of programs bought into what he brings to the table. He held offers from 39 schools.

The highlighting schools on his offer sheet included the Arizona Wildcats, Arizona State Sun Devils, Boise State Broncos, Colorado Buffaloes, Duke Blue Devils, Kansas Jayhawks, Louisville Cardinals, Memphis Tigers, SMU Mustangs, UCF Knights, and Vanderbilt Commodores. A lot of the offers he held came from Ivy League schools like Harvard and Columbia too.

Merril’s Texas scholarship offer only first arrived back on Sep. 21. It seems like he was soon won over by that offer, giving his commitment to the Longhorns 2021 class just four days later.

He is a very mobile and athletic offensive tackle for where he slots in the recruiting rankings. When he’s going strong, Merril is a very tough run blocker to deal with. He brings a strong motor to the table, and can be utilized in a number of different run packages.

The pass blocking for Merril needs to be improved a bit, but he’s still pretty reliable in that phase of his game. He cane get beat off the line by faster and more agile edge rushers, but he’s steadily gotten better over the course of his varsity career with the Strake Jesuit football program.

According to the 247Sports Team Composite Rankings, the 2021 Texas recruiting class is back up to No. 15 in the nation and remains behind the Oklahoma Sooners for the second spot in the Big 12. Texas now has 10 three-star commits in the 2021 class, to go along with one five-star and nine four-stars.

Texas likely will now only add a few more commits, at most, to their 2021 class after landing the commitment from Merril. They have less than three months until the arrival of the first day of the Early Signing Period come mid-December.