Texas Football: 5 biggest recruiting targets Oregon ever stole away

Arik Armstead, DT

Literally, one of the biggest prospects that Texas ever offered but saw commit to the Ducks was the former elite five-star recruit and 6-foot-8 and 290-pound defensive tackle Arik Armstead. The Pleasant Grove High School product and Elk Grove, CA, native Armstead had around five or six frontrunners back during the 2012 recruiting cycle.

And Texas was one of those schools that remained alive late in the recruitment of Armstead before he announced his commitment to Oregon. A few of the other schools that were heavily involved in his recruitment outside of Texas and Oregon were the Cal Golden Bears, Auburn, Notre Dame, Alabama, and USC.

Armstead was one of those rare cases where he didn’t really fulfill his potential with the Ducks, but he really found his way at the next level. He is one of the better defensive linemen at this point for the San Franciso 49ers. During the 2019 season, Armstead was nearly a Pro Bowl selection as he registered 10 sacks during the regular season.

During his bits and pieces of three years playing for Oregon, Armstead registered 87 career combined tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, 4.0 sacks, two pass breakups, one forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries.

What Texas originally missed out on with Armstead committing to Oregon was the nation’s No. 14 2012 high school prospect, top overall athlete, and No. 3 prospect out of California (247Sports Composite). And the Top247 ranked him as the nation’s No. 4 high school prospect, and the top overall athlete and prospect out of California.