Texas upgrades secondary, adds 4-Star CB Jaylon Guilbeau back

At a position of need in the 2022 Texas football recruiting class, this group got a commitment back that was originally the lone pledge in the mix. Four-star Memorial cornerback Jaylon Guilbeau was once an initial commitment in the 2022 recruiting class with the likes of five-star Southlake Carroll quarterback Quinn Ewers and three-star Lancaster wide receiver Phaizon Wilson.

A great Thanksgiving gift for the Longhorns 2022 class in the form of the flip of the commitment of Guilbeau back from the TCU Horned Frogs to Texas on Nov. 25 is a great way to begin this phase of the holiday week.

On his Twitter timeline on the morning of Nov. 25 (also Thanksgiving Day), Guilbeau announced he would be flipping his commitment from TCU to Texas. This was met with one of the most excited reactions on social media from the Longhorns faithful in recent memory just in terms of numbers.

https://twitter.com/jaylonguilbeau1/status/1463899200798744585

This is big news for the Longhorns to get the commitment of Guilbeau back in the 2022 class. It was largely the coaching staff changes from the Horned Frogs that likely prompted the shakiness to emerge in Guilbeau’s commitment to TCU.

TCU parted ways with longtime head coach Gary Patterson this fall, and more coaching staff changes could be on the way depending on who they hire to replace him.

Yet, this is definitely something for the Longhorns’ staff to be thankful for this week. Guilbeau gives Texas back its lone true blue-chip cornerback commit in the 2022 class. And given some of the struggles and inconsistencies at the position this fall, it makes sense that Texas put the full-court press on Guilbeau to flip back.

This was good work by first-year Texas cornerbacks coach Terry Joseph to get a big win on the recruiting trail with Guilbeau. This talented in-state product had a tight relationship with TCU cornerbacks coach Jeremy Modkins, which was the overarching reason for his initial from the Longhorns to the Horned Frogs.

Texas football gets 4-Star CB Jaylon Guilbeau to re-commit on Thanksgiving

The whole saga with the timeline of Guilbeau’s commitment flips started last fall. Guilbeau originally received a scholarship offer from the Longhorns back on Feb. 1, 2020. He would initially give his commitment to Texas on Sep. 19, 2020, to former Texas head coach Tom Herman and then cornerbacks coach Jay Valai.

Guilbeau’s commitment to Texas started to initially look shaky once the summer visit season returned and the likes of TCU and the Texas A&M Aggies were pushing hard to flip him. His de-commitment from Texas came back on July 21, 2021, when it became evident that TCU had a lot of momentum with him.

He would officially commit to TCU on Sep. 26, 2021, which feels like eons ago at this point. But it took less than two full months for the Longhorns to flip the commitment of Guilbeau back to their 2022 class.

So much has transpired in the recruiting timeline of Guilbeau and it’s understandable why his commitment to TCU was shaken this fall. Something similar happened with Guilbeau giving his commitment to Herman, Valai, and the Longhorns last fall and then de-committed during the summer.

Texas has to keep faith in new head coach Steve Sarkisian and his staff to establish some type of continuity, and Guilbeau can be a key part of building that foundation for the future. It would be very understandable if Guilbeau is just looking for some type of continuity with a football program that he feels connected to and has a bright future.

I’ve talked about the breakdown of Guilbeau’s game before when he initially gave his commitment to the Longhorns last fall. You can read the initial scouting report I gave on his game here.

But there are some new developments in his game since then that I can build on. Guilbeau had the physical tools to be a starting-caliber cornerback at a blue blood Power Five school like Texas since he first started his high school football run at Memorial in Port Arthur, TX.

The 5-foot-11.5 and 175-pound Guilbeau is showing even greater instincts in pass coverage assignments on film than he had in the prior three years with Memorial. His gifted physical tools and instincts in pass coverage are enough to make him a worthy contender for early playing time with the Longhorns.

But the physicality and improvement in footwork and agility in short and intermediate routes is a new addition to Guilbeau’s game. He’s got quick hips, works well with his hands off the line of scrimmage, and is a pretty sure-tackler in the open field for a natural cornerback.

There are parts of Guilbeau’s game where he shows some true safety instincts too. He’s good at diagnosing plays at the line of scrimmage and is capable to stop the run at or near the line of scrimmage.

Guilbeau still could put on more size, which is common for cornerbacks coming out of high school. That development should be able to come early in his college career, especially if he plans to enroll early at Texas. Given his gifted physical tools, Guilbeau could also still use some improvement in his overall speed. Coverage on deep routes is something that could still be considered one of the weak points of his game compared to the rest of his current skill set.

After getting Guilbeau’s commitment back in the 2022 class, Texas is up to 23 in the mix now. Texas is now up to a whopping 16 blue-chip commits in their 2022 class a few weeks out from the Early Signing Period. But there is likely to be more action in the Longhorns 2022 class on the horizon.

Guilbeau’s commitment back to the Longhorns 2022 class gives them the nation’s No. 163 2022 high school prospect, No. 20 cornerback, and No. 23 prospect out of Texas (247Sports Composite). According to the 247Spots Team Composite Rankings, the 2022 Texas recruiting class now ranks at No. 7 in the nation and in the top spot in the Big 12 ahead of the Oklahoma Sooners.