Texas Football: 3 rising 2021 targets after flipping DT Byron Murphy II

Who’s up next for the 2021 Texas football recruiting class among the newer targets to the party? Here’s a look at three after the latest commit.

The latest addition to the 2021 Texas football recruiting class arrived on the morning of Nov. 18, with four-star DeSoto defensive tackle Byron Murphy II. Texas flipped the commitment of Murphy II from first-year head coach Dave Aranda and the Baylor Bears earlier this week. All on the same day, Murphy II announced his Texas scholarship offer, decommitted from Baylor, and then flipped his commitment to the Longhorns.

Fourth-year Texas head coach Tom Herman did have a big week on the recruiting trail going back to Nov. 14. Texas got a nice commitment last weekend from rising four-star Shadow Creek outside linebacker Terrence Cooks. That brought two nice additions to the Longhorns 2021 class that provided blue chip help along the front seven.

Murphy II is the first true defensive tackle commit in the Longhorns 2021 class. The other true defensive line commits in the 2021 class are four-star New Caney weak-side defensive end Derrick Harris Jr. and four-star Memorial weak-side defensive end Jordon Thomas. The likes of the elite five-star Denton-Ryan athlete Ja’Tavion Sanders could also play as an edge rusher or defensive end, but we don’t know what the exact plan for his positioning is yet.

After flipping the commitment of Murphy II from Baylor, Texas is up to 19 commits in their 2021 class. According to the 247Sports Team Composite Rankings, the 2021 Texas recruiting class ranks at No. 17 in the nation and remains in the second spot in the Big 12 behind the Oklahoma Sooners.

Who could be next up for the Longhorns and their 2021 class after getting the commitment of Murphy II? Here’s a look into three rising targets partially new to the pursuit from Herman and the Longhorns for the 2021 recruiting cycle.