Texas Football: 2022 class gets untold boost with 4-Star WR Armani Winfield

A big day for the 2022 Texas football recruiting class arrived early this week, with a namestay commitment in 4-Star WR Armani Winfield.

The first addition in a good while for the 2022 Texas football recruiting class arrived on the afternoon of Jan. 12, and also the first for newly hired head coach Steve Sarkisian, in the form of four-star Lewisville wide receiver Armani Winfield. Texas had the news announced in the public eye that Winfield would be committing to their 2022 recruiting class on Jan. 12 via his Twitter timeline.

What is now just the second commitment in the Longhorns 2022 class arrived in a big way for the now former Alabama Crimson Tide offensive coordinator and Broyles Award winner Sark. This can help to replace, and get a slight upgrade beyond, the decommitted four-star Lancaster 6-foot-4 wide receiver Phaizon Wilson.

Back in late October when the ultra highly touted five-star Southlake Carroll pro-style quarterback Quinn Ewers decommitted from Texas, the decommitment of Wilson followed soon thereafter. Texas got back to having just one commit in their 2022 class, which came from the talented four-star Memorial cornerback Jaylon Guilbeau.

It’s hard to describe all that the commitment of Winfield means to the Longhorns 2022 class. They needed a spark for this cycle, and this could be exactly what gets them off and running. This 6-foot-2 and 180 pound native of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex gives the Longhorns back a 2022 commit on the offensive side of the ball, and a top 100 rated high school prospect in the nation, all at the same time.

Winfield wound up choosing to commit to Texas over offers from nearly 40 other schools. The other highlighting schools on his offer sheet included the Crimson Tide, Auburn Tigers, Florida Gators, Florida State Seminoles, Georgia Bulldogs, LSU Tigers, Michigan Wolverines, Nebraska Cornhuskers, Ohio State Buckeyes, Oklahoma Sooners, Penn State Nittany Lions, Tennessee Volunteers, Texas A&M Aggies, and USC Trojans.

It really looked like he was trending to land with the Buckeyes and Ewers in that 2022 class before he announced this early week commitment to the Longhorns.

Moreover, what Texas is getting out of the commitment from Winfield is the nation’s No. 79 2022 high school prospect, No. 12 wide receiver, and No. 14 prospect out of Texas (247Sports Composite). And the Top247 ranks him as the nation’s No. 114 high school prospect, No. 15 wide receiver, and No. 20 prospect out of Texas.

He reportedly (per 247Sports) committed to Texas at halftime of the College Football Playoff National Championship Game after watching what Sark’s Alabama offense did to the Ohio State defense. It was definitely a big year for numerous Alabama wide receivers during the 2020 season.

More specifically to Winfield, he is one of the more potent wide receiver talents in this recruiting cycle. He is very gifted physically, with both the ability to be a deep threat given his long stride and speed and gash defenses on intermediate routes and by getting the ball off the line of scrimmage. Winfield is sneaky elusive in the open field and could be a star on the Forty Acres in his first two or three years in the mix.

According to the 247Sports Team Composite Rankings, the 2022 Texas recruiting class now ranks at No. in the nation, and in the second spot in the Big 12 behind Oklahoma. They have one commit on each side of the ball between Guilbeau at corner and Winfield at wideout.

Texas needs to parlay this building momentum on the recruiting trail with the hire of Sark now done to find more success in the near future. National Signing Day 2021 is less than one month away, and the prime of this 2022 cycle is drawing near.