Texas Football: Length added at CB with 3-Star commit Ronald Lewis

The commits keep pouring in of late for the 2022 Texas football recruiting class, especially on the defensive side of the ball. New head coach Steve Sarkisian added his third commitment just on the defensive side of the ball in the span of the past week on Aug. 5. This week’s latest addition to the 2022 class arrived in the form of three-star Warren Easton (LA) cornerback Ronald Lewis.

This also came just one day after Texas added a commitment from three-star Mater Dei linebacker Eoghan Kerry. The Longhorns have added commitments to the 2022 class from Kerry, Lewis, and four-star Texas High edge rusher Derrick Brown since July 30. Lewis is the latest addition, but also potentially the fastest rising of the group.

Texas jumped into the recruitment of Lewis seemingly out of nowhere. Lewis was committed to the Colorado Buffaloes up until his received his Texas scholarship offer on Aug. 4. Receiving the Texas offer looked to cause Lewis to re-open his recruitment and subsequently flip his commitment to the Longhorns.

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Texas did essentially get a replacement at the cornerback position in the 2022 class for the recently decommitted four-star Memorial product Jaylon Guilbeau. Although, Guilbeau is a much higher-rated corner than Lewis.

Moreover, an announcement on Lewis’ Twitter timeline on the evening of Aug. 5 officially brought his commitment to the Longhorns. It took roughly 24 hours for the Longhorns to offer Lewis, and then flip his commitment from Colorado.

The commitment of Lewis came to Texas over offers from Colorado and 17 other schools. Some of the other notable schools on his offer sheet are the Oregon State Beavers, Kansas Jayhawks, Louisiana Ragin-Cajuns, Memphis Tigers, Purdue Boilermakers, Virginia Cavaliers, and West Virginia Mountaineers.

Texas football continues to add depth on defense in the 2022 class with 3-Star CB Ronald Lewis

Texas has established somewhat of a pipeline with Warren Easton High School in Louisiana. Texas signed three-star Warren Easton wide receiver Casey Cain in the 2021 class.

There must be something that new cornerbacks coach Terry Joseph sees out of Lewis that caused Texas to so abruptly make him a top priority. It seemed like the top priorities of late for the Longhorns 2022 class included landing five-star North Shore cornerback Denver Harris and retaining the four-star Memorial corner Guilbeau.

This could be a sign that Guilbeau is likely to give his commitment to another school. The TCU Horned Frogs have made a big push for Guilbeau of late, so that could be a potential landing spot for him.

What Texas is getting specifically out of Lewis is a lengthy and developing 6-foot-1 and 170-pound corner that has rapidly improved his game in the past couple of years. Lewis a really good athlete, who also sits among the best hurdlers in high school in Louisiana. He placed in the top three in the 100 and 300-meter hurdles at the 4A state meet in Louisiana a few months ago.

Lewis is also a corner that has the potential to become a solid secondary option in pass coverage. New co-defensive coordinators/linebackers coaches Jeff Choate and Pete Kwiatkowski often emphasize lengthy and physical corners having the ability to hang on their own on the outside.

As a defensive back that has also shown a good amount of versatility (can slide over an play safety at times) at Warren Easton, Lewis has a pretty well-rounded skill set that he’ll bring to Texas. He’s got good hands and ball instincts. Combined with his gifted physical tools, Lewis has a pretty potent skill set that Longhorns fans could get excited about.

Where Lewis still needs to develop is with his footwork and frame. Lewis has plenty of length, but he’ll need to put on some more size in college. There are also times where Lewis can get turned around in coverage assignments. It’s not really due to  a lack of quickness, but that should be able to improve with some work on the fundamentals.

Lewis will come in to the Longhorns 2022 class as one of the lower-rated commits. But he has a lot of potential in the next few years, similar to someone like three-star linebacker commit Trevell Johnson and three-star athlete Anthony Jones.

Ahead of some of the special teamers in the 2022 class, Lewis is the third-lowest rated commit. He ranks as the nation’s No. 862 2022 high school prospect, No. 79 cornerback, and No. 39 prospect out of Louisiana (247Sports Composite). And the Top247 ranks him as the No. 70 cornerback, and No. 36 prospect out of Louisiana.

According to the 247Sports Team Composite Rankings, the 2022 Texas recruiting class now ranks at No. 10 in the nation and in the second spot in the Big 12 behind the Oklahoma Sooners. Texas is now up to 17 commits in the 2022 class after landing Lewis on Aug. 5.