Texas Football: Oregon rising with 4-Star LB target Lander Barton

In the next five or six weeks, there will likely be more focus than ever on the trail to see what happens with the 2022 Texas football recruiting class ahead of the Early Signing Period. New head coach Steve Sarkisian and his staff are looking to close out this recruiting cycle on a high note. And the group that Texas has committed in the 2022 class thus far looks pretty good.

Outside of the usual top five-star targets of the Longhorns 2022 class that come to mind (i.e. Evan Stewart and Devon Campbell, among a couple of others), Texas still has some key blue-chips to hit on before the Early Signing Period arrives. And one of the faster-rising targets on the Longhorns’ radar that could wind up in the 2022 class when it’s all said and done is four-star Barton (UT) linebacker, Lander Barton.

As one of the two top remaining linebacker targets of the Longhorns 2022 class, along with five-star Cy Park product Harold Perkins, Barton is a key focal point this fall on the Forty Acres. He’s found a lot of traction with the Longhorns coaching staff this fall. And Barton was on campus for an official visit as recently as Sep. 24, which was the weekend of the Longhorns dominant Big 12 opener win over the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

Texas football trying to stay among the top one or two schools with Lander Barton through OV with Oregon

Since that time, Barton had an official visit with the Utah Utes on Oct. 16. He also had an official visit with the Michigan Wolverines two weeks prior to his with Texas (specifically on Sep. 11).

This really leaves Barton with one remaining official visit on the books this fall. And it is one that wasn’t a sure thing just a couple of months ago.

Barton is on the books to visit with the Oregon Ducks officially on Oct. 30. As it stands now, that could be the final official visit at least of the fall for the blue-chip Utah linebacker. Top schools in the race to land a commitment from Barton like Texas, Michigan, and Utah, could get him on unofficials this fall, but the official visits look about done with after his trip to Eugene this coming weekend.

According to a report from Inside Texas (part of the On3 network, paid content), Barton still has Oregon in the mix of his top schools. He has yet to name a decision date for his commitment, but that appears to be coming soon.

There are some leading indicators, though, that Texas and Utah could be the two schools that Barton’s decision comes down to. He had a successful official visit with Utah around 10 days ago, and that is the in-state school that his family reportedly likes for the most part.

But Texas clearly sits well with Barton at this point of his recruitment. He had a very impressionable and positive official visit to Austin last month.

Texas still can’t out the likes of Oregon and Michigan, though. If the final visit does come with the Ducks prior to a decision dropping from Barton, that could be very impactful timing for head coach Mario Cristobal and his staff.

At the moment, it doesn’t look like there are any other schools involved in the recruitment of Barton beyond the four mentioned here. Texas is prioritizing Barton this fall, and it could pay off with a decision in their favor in the not-too-distant future.