Texas football adds passing game threat in 3-Star TE Will Randle

The latest pickup for the 2023 Texas football recruiting class and second-year head coach Steve Sarkisian arrived late in the morning of June 19 with a commitment from three-star Isidore Newman tight end Will Randle. Texas is now up to seven commits in the 2023 recruiting class after adding the pledge from Randle to cap this big-time official visit weekend.

As the second tight end commit in the last week, Randle will help to add depth at a position that needed bodies in the 2023 class for special teams coordinator/tight ends coach Jeff Banks. Texas also added a commitment from three-star Mater Dei tight end Spencer Shannon back on June 13.

The announcement came for Randle on his Twitter timeline on the late morning of June 19. It also came on the final day of Randle’s official visit to Austin, which started back on June 17.

https://twitter.com/WillRandle87/status/1538566684746911745

Banks and Sark definitely now have some depth to boast that will be added to the tight end room thanks to the presence of Randle and Shannon in the 2023 class. Randle will be more of an immediate threat on short and intermediate routes in the passing game and as a carrying and downfield blocker early in his collegiate career compared with Shannon.

Randle is definitely the more polished and college-ready tight end between him and Shannon from what we can see on film now.

Texas football adds more TE depth in the 2023 class with new 3-Star commit Will Randle

The 6-foot-3 and 220-pound Randle doesn’t have as big of a frame compared to the 6-foot-7 and 235-pound Shannon. But Randle is quicker and more coordinated in the passing game right now than the west coast product and fellow Texas commit.

The ability for Randle to be pulled over to different spots along the line of scrimmage, or even in the backfield, as a blocker makes him a very appealing addition to this offense for the likes of Sark, Banks, and offensive line coach/offensive coordinator Kyle Flood. Randle seems to have a great understanding of the route tree and blocking schemes in Sark’s offense.

That could make him a multiple tight end that Sark could even use out of the backfield as an H-back. Randle could serve as a blocker out of the backfield as an H-back or a threat in the passing game as a receiver running to the flats.

https://twitter.com/Rivals/status/1538571058239913985

While it seems like Randle’s skill set and understanding of the Sark offense would likely box him into one role early in his collegiate career, there are ways he can improve and become a more dynamic tight end. That is especially the case in terms of how Randle can develop as a flex tight end in the passing game.

Randle runs a consistent route tree and has reliable hands. But the route tree he seems to be comfortable working with right now isn’t all that dynamic. If Sark wanted to utilize Randle in more complex concepts and routes in the passing game, we’d have to see more crisp footwork and agility from the Louisiana tight end once he’s actually in the middle of running his routes.

Randle can get a bit off-track in his routes when he’s asked to run more complex intermediate and deep routes after lining up as a traditional tight end. He’s getting better in this regard, but there are still a lot of strides we would like to see from Randle in terms of adding more complexity to his route tree.

I do believe that there is still more top-end speed that Randle can add before the end of his high school football career, which will help as he continues to try and become a more dynamic weapon as a pass-catcher. That will also help in terms of his effectiveness as a carrying blocker in running plays, jet sweeps, screens, etc.

Another potential area of improvement for Randle is the ability to make opposing defenders miss in the open field. Randle is limited in terms of making opposing tacklers miss after the catch from what we’ve seen on film in the last couple of years at Newman.

Randle might also be limited in terms of some of the routes he’s able to run effectively in the Sark offense if he’s not able to improve his speed changing directions running downfield. It’s evident that Randle has more flat-out speed in the open field than most would think out of a tight end that doesn’t change directions very fast.

If Randle does find a seam in opposing defenses when he catches the ball in the flats or between the numbers, he can gain yards in chunks with his sneaky speed in space. That is something that could be dangerous for Sark to utilize in short and medium-distance passing downs.

Moreover, it looks like Texas could be getting a starter out of Randle by his second or third season in college. He’s likely to fall in line in this tight end room behind the likes of sophomores Ja’Tavion Sanders and Gunnar Helm when he arrives on campus next season. But that will be his competition, in all likelihood, to get a spot on the two-deep at the tight end position.

Adding this commitment from Randle is also generating buzz in terms of how it can help the Longhorns in the race to land a commitment from his Newman teammate and elite five-star quarterback target Arch Manning. Randle and Manning were both on campus this weekend for their respective official visits with the Longhorns.

It seems like adding Randle to the 2023 class wouldn’t do anything to hurt the Longhorns in their pursuit of Arch this summer.

Texas is up to seven commits now in the 2023 recruiting class, five of which are blue-chips. The only two non-blue-chip recruits committed in the Longhorns 2023 class are the tight ends, Randle and Shannon.