Texas football closing the gap on Bama for 5-Star CB Denver Harris

Among the most high-profile targets of the 2022 Texas football recruiting class this fall is the elite five-star North Shore cornerback Denver Harris. Texas and new head coach Steve Sarkisian look bound to haul in a special 2022 class. But landing a coveted five-star commit to help round out the 2022 class would obviously be ideal.

And if Sark and the Longhorns staff could close the deal with the Houston-area product Harris, that would be massive. Texas likely needs to land either Harris or get the former four-star cornerback commit and Memorial product Jaylon Guilbeau back in the 2022 class.

The good news for Texas is that they appear to be headed in the right direction once again with both Harris and Guilbeau. Texas is now starting to move in a positive direction with Guilbeau once again, at least for the first time since his July 21 decommitment.

And what once looked to be an ever-mounting lead for former Texas cornerbacks coach Jay Valai and the Alabama Crimson Tide in pursuit of Harris’ commitment has started to even back up a bit. According to a Horns247 report from Sep. 19 (paid content), the momentum that Alabama once had over the likes of the LSU Tigers, Texas A&M Aggies, and the Longhorns in the race to land Harris in the past couple of months has started to die down a bit this fall.

Texas football getting positive feedback from 5-Star CB Denver Harris for the first time in a while

One aspect that reportedly appeals to Harris about the Longhorns that he could not get with Alabama is the path to start immediately. It is still an important aspect of recruiting to a lot of premier blue-chip prospects to get the ability to make that impact right out of the gates.

Texas is strong at the cornerback position right now, but it’s hard not to say that Harris wouldn’t be able to come in and right away compete for a starting spot. He does have a much higher ceiling than other cornerbacks on the current roster such as Jahdae Barron, Ishmael Ibraheem, Kitan Crawford, etc.

No disrespect to those corners, as they are each very talented and key to this secondary as former four-star recruits that have shown promise early on.

But Harris is a five-star prospect that would immediately be one of the highest-rated defensive back signees in the modern era of recruiting for the Longhorns. Harris ranks as the nation’s No. 9 2022 high school prospect, No. 3 cornerback, and No. 2 prospect out of Texas (247Sports Composite).

The lone cornerback commit in the Longhorns 2022 class at the moment is three-star Warren Easton product Ronald Lewis. Texas turned to Lewis after the decommitment of Guilbeau and losing out on highly-touted four-star Little Elm corner Terrance Brooks to the Ohio State Buckeyes.