Texas Football: Could taking a second QB impact Maalik Murphy’s status?

It could be a dangerous game that new head coach Steve Sarkisian and his staff are taking by pursuing another quarterback to get in the 2022 Texas football recruiting class. Texas already holds a commitment from the highly touted four-star Junipero Serra quarterback Maalik Murphy in the 2022 class.

And it looks like the plan moving forward this fall for Sark and the Longhorns 2022 class will be finding a second quarterback commit if at all possible. According to a report from Horns247 on Oct. 19 (paid content), Sark and the Longhorns aren’t thrilled about the depth in the quarterback room at the moment. That could lead them to try and take on a second quarterback in the 2022 class along with Murphy.

For a good while now, it looked like Murphy was Sark’s guy at the quarterback position in the 2022 class. Murphy was one of Sark’s first commits and remained a steward of the recruiting efforts to make the Longhorns 2022 class one of the very best in the entire country.

The main quarterback target that it looks like Sark and the Longhorns are pursuing right now is the four-star USC Trojans commit and Corner Canyon product Devin Brown. Texas is trying to make it two blue-chip California quarterbacks that they haul into the 2022 class.

Brown looks to be keeping his options open at the moment considering the coaching situation with the Trojans this fall. Former USC head coach Clay Helton was let go earlier this season, and the 2022 Trojans recruiting class looks to be up in the air.

As one of the most highly touted commits in USC’s 2022 class, Brown has a lot of attention on the recruiting trail now. Texas, along with the likes of the Ole Miss Rebels, Cal Golden Bears, and Ohio State Buckeyes, among others, are making a major push this fall to try and flip the commitment of Brown.

Texas football looking at Devin Brown now as a second quarterback with Maalik Murphy in the 2022 class

Texas has also now landed an official visit with Brown for November. He will be visiting Austin on the weekend of the Kansas Jayhawks game on Nov. 13. It is big for Texas to get him scheduled for an official visit next month, ensuring the necessary amount of time to give him a good pitch ahead of the Early Signing Period.

Sark and the Longhorns also officially extended Brown an offer on Oct. 18. Texas is now officially in the running for Brown at this stage of the fall.

Now, taking on a second quarterback in one recruiting class is always going to be a volatile proposition. I don’t think that this will cause Murphy to de-commit, if Texas does manage to land Brown. But it could cause more volatility for Texas in terms of NCAA Transfer Portal departures moving forward.

Texas was already figured to have the possibility of one of their two top quarterbacks this fall, Hudson Card and Casey Thompson, entering the portal for the one that didn’t start. And that could still be a possibility, especially if Sark is firm on starting Thompson the rest of the way.

Even if Texas doesn’t manage to flip the commitment of Brown from the Trojans, it looks like the staff wants to bring on another quarterback in the 2022 class no matter what. Some other names to watch as potential walk-ons at quarterback in this class include Bishop Alemany product Dylan Gebbia and Orange Lutheran product Logan Gonzalez.

Sark and the Longhorns are looking to close out the 2022 class on the right foot just a couple of months ahead of the Early Signing Period. It looks like wide receiver, offensive tackle, and quarterback are now still priorities this fall in the 2022 class.