In what might be the most critical month for this cycle in terms of landing commitments for the 2022 Texas football recruiting class, the dead period in July is already bringing a lot of anticipation for what’s to come. Texas ended the month on a high note by landing a commitment from four-star Tyler Legacy (TX) running back Jamarion Miller.
After all of the hard work that new head coach Steve Sarkisian and his staff put in on the recruiting trail during the month of June in a span of a ton of critical visits on campus, all they can do now is just sit and wait. The resumption of the dead period in July will be anything but that in terms of the news cycle around the college football recruiting landscape. Texas is sure to have plenty of action for their 2022 class this month.
But the resumption of the dead period did not mean immediate results for the Longhorns 2022 class to start this month. If Texas ended June on a high note, the first two days of July definitely haven’t been that. On July 1 alone, Texas experienced disappointment in the form of missing out on four-star cornerback Terrance Brooks and three-star offensive tackle Cam Williams.
How the 2022 Texas football recruiting class can rebound in July?
Good news could be just around the corner for Sark and the Longhorns 2022 class. But patience must win the day both for the Longhorns fans and coaching staff alike with all of these decisions being announced during what might be the busiest dead period month in recent recruiting history.
Here’s a look into three can’t miss prospects for the Longhorns 2022 class that are scheduled to announce their commitments in July.
Connor Robertson, IOL
The first decision to watch heading into the holiday weekend that’s coming from a target of the Longhorns 2022 class is that of three-star Westlake interior offensive lineman Connor Robertson. Texas looks to sit among the few finalist schools in the running at this point to get Robertson’s decision. The biggest competitor for Robertson might be the Stanford Cardinal and head coach David Shaw.
The July 2 decision of Robertson could deliver the first offensive line commit for the Longhorns 2022 class. That could be an important step forward for new offensive line coach/offensive coordinator Kyle Flood. Texas has Flood and first-year quarterbacks coach A.J. Milwee as the top recruiters pursuing Robertson.
All four of the expert 247Sports Crystal Ball Predictions in for Robertson at the moment have his commitment landing with Texas over Stanford and the rest of the field. The Rivals FutureCast also has three-fourths of their analysts and publishers picking Robertson to commit to Texas.
Some of the other notable programs on Robertson’s offer sheet include the BYU Cougars, Cal Golden Bears, Duke Blue Devils, Miami Hurricanes, Nebraska Cornhuskers, Northwestern Wildcats, Penn State Nittany Lions, TCU Horned Frogs, Tennessee Volunteers, and USC Trojans.
Texas needs to hit the ground running soon along the offensive line in the 2022 class. At this point, the hometown product Robertson is a good place to start to accomplish that short-term goal.
Derrick Brown, Edge Rusher
What seems to be the top priority at the moment among defensive ends/edge rushers for Sark and the Longhorns is the touted four-star Texas High 6-foot-3 and 210-pound edge rusher Derrick Brown. A successful official visit with Brown last month for the Longhorns could be parlayed into a decision that falls in their favor next week.
Brown is set to announce his decision on July 9, which could give Texas its second commitment in the span of seven days if all goes right with Robertson on July 2. This would also potentially be the second defensive line commit (and third in total) in the span of one week if Texas is able to get a pledge from four-star New Jersey defensive lineman KJ Miles this weekend.
There really isn’t one solidified edge rusher that Texas has committed in their 2022 class at the moment. That’s part of what makes getting a commitment from Brown of the utmost importance next week. Texas does have one blue-chip commit that plays along the defensive line already in the 2022 class in four-star North Shore defensive tackle Kristopher Ross.
But adding depth in the form of a commitment from Brown would fill a much different void for the Longhorns. It looks now as if Brown is down to just two finalist schools, Texas and the Baylor Bears.
Texas has new co-defensive coordinators/linebackers coaches Pete Kwiatkowski and Jeff Choate as the top recruiters after Brown. And the leading indicators are in place now to show that Texas could have the edge at the moment over Baylor for Brown.
All three expert 247Sports Crystal Ball Predictions in now for Brown have his commitment landing with Texas over Baylor and the rest of the competition. And the Rivals FutureCast has all of their analysts and publishers picking Brown to commit to Texas.
Kelvin Banks, OT
By far one of the most notable targets of the Longhorns 2022 class coming out of visit season last month is the elite five-star Summer Creek (TX) offensive tackle Kelvin Banks. On July 2, Banks made headlines by moving his decision up from later this month to this coming weekend. Banks will announce his decision this holiday weekend, specifically on July 4.
But the problem for Texas at the moment is that, according to a 247Sports report on July 2 (paid content), the two frontrunners at this point to land the commitment of Banks are the Oregon Ducks and rival Texas A&M Aggies. With essentially no time left to make up any ground with Banks, the Longhorns will just have to sit and wait out the next 48 hours to see what his decision will be.
The two most important targets along the offensive line for Sark and Flood to hit on for their 2022 class are Banks and five-star Bowie offensive guard Devon Campbell. Get commitments from both of those five-star offensive linemen, and Texas will have the official foundation built for what would then likely become one of the two or three best 2022 classes in all of college football.
Banks was one of the top targets on the Longhorns radar for a good while now, really since his decommitment from the Oklahoma State Cowboys last year. But it appears that Oregon and Texas A&M might have solidified themselves ahead of Texas in the race to land Banks, despite his recent June 18 official visit to Austin.