Texas football OT target Zalance Heard earns five-star rating

The latest round of prospect ranking updates happened across some of the major recruiting services in the last couple of days, which impacted the standing of some key targets of the 2023 Texas football recruiting class. But there was one key ranking bump from one of the major recruiting services among the key Texas targets that remain uncommitted for the 2023 cycle worth noting.

This key target of the Longhorns 2023 class that we’re talking about here is the newly-minted five-star Neville (LA) offensive tackle Zalance Heard. The Louisiana native 6-foot-6 and 305-pound offensive tackle recently got a rating bump from On3 to get that elusive fifth star.

In fact, Heard was one of the biggest risers in the latest round of the On3 recruiting rankings update. He went from being a solidified four-star recruit to one of the higher-rated five stars for the 2023 class.

On3 now ranks Heard as the No. 13 prospect in the nation along with the No. 2 offensive tackle and No. 3 prospect out of Louisiana.

Texas football OT offer Zalance Heard earns fifth-star from On3

Heard clearly has his stock on the rise heading into the fall. And this is why Texas pushed so hard with him during the spring and summer to try and close the gap on the presumed frontrunner in this recruitment, the LSU Tigers.

Texas hosted Heard on an unofficial visit to Austin back on April 2. And he was scheduled to take an official visit to Texas on June 24, but he wound up not making the trip.

Since then, it looked like Texas was trending away from Heard. But it still appears that offensive line coach/offensive coordinator Kyle Flood and the Longhorns will continue to hold a spot for Heard if he gets any renewed interest in Texas. This could be one of those recruitments that the Longhorns push for right through the whistle of when Heard puts pen to paper on signing day if there are any signs that he’s wanting to join this class.

For the time being, though, Heard appears to be a pretty heavy LSU lean. That could change later in the fall. And it is worth Texas fans at least occasionally paying attention to any future changes in this recruitment that might be able to benefit this 2023 class.

Texas currently holds commitments from 18 recruits in the 2023 class, with the latest coming from the touted four-star Bergen Catholic (NJ) defensive lineman Sydir Mitchell. As of July 18, the Longhorns have four offensive linemen committed in the 2023 class, highlighted by four-star Harker Heights (TX) offensive tackle Jaydon Chatman.