Texas Football: 4 most surprising commits the Horns stole from OU

Ayodele Adeoye, LB

This list is made up of names of key prospects that the Longhorns landed over the Sooners mainly in the past decade that are solely comprised of those that play on the defensive side of the ball. Texas has clearly established some type of an edge in this regard, despite the lack of first-round NFL Draft picks from this side of the ball compared to some other Big 12 programs.

The next name up on this list is one that the Longhorns are still largely waiting to break through. Former four-star recruit and rising junior linebacker Ayodele Adeoye was one of the highest-rated signees in the Longhorns 2018 class. That was also one of the most talented recruiting classes Texas managed to haul in the past decade.

Adeoye wound up committing to Texas over competing offers from the likes of the Illinois Fighting Illini, Oklahoma, and Iowa Hawkeyes. Illinois had a very spirited effort in the race to land a commitment from Adeoye a few years back. But it was Oklahoma that looked to hold the early lead with Adeoye in his recruitment.

Texas made a good run with Orlando and former offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Tim Beck as Adeoye’s top recruiters. A few official and unofficial visits throughout 2017 seemingly helped to catch traction between Adeoye and Texas.

This offseason, Adeoye would put his name in the NCAA Transfer Portal, only to return to Texas a few months later. Adeoye could challenge for a starting role this fall. What he brings back to the Longhorns from his last two years playing on the Forty is 55 career combined tackles, three tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, one interception, and two pass breakups.