Texas football rising fast with 5-Star TE target Duce Robinson

A consistently emerging target for the 2023 Texas football recruiting class this summer is the elite five-star Pinnacle (AZ) tight end Duce Robinson. Since landing a commitment from the five-star Isidore Newman quarterback Arch Manning back on June 23, Texas has emerged as an actual contender in the race to land Robinson’s pledge.

But head coach Steve Sarkisian, tight ends coach/special teams coordinator Jeff Banks, and the Longhorns definitely have an uphill battle in front of them in terms of making up ground on the USC Trojans in the race to land a commitment from Robinson heading into the fall. USC and new head coach Lincoln Riley have remained the favorite to land Robinson throughout this offseason.

That doesn’t mean that Texas can’t make a big move with Robinson this fall, though.

USC and Texas fans both shouldn’t underestimate the impact that Sark and the Longhorns staff hauling in all of this skill position talent have on Robinson and his camp. It’s not only Texas landing Arch that will have an impact on Robinson.

Texas reeling in the likes of five-star DeSoto wide receiver Johntay Cook and four-star Edgewater (FL) running back Cedric Baxter Jr. in the 2023 class should also help move the needle with Robinson.

Texas football making progress in race for 5-Star TE Duce Robinson heading into the fall

https://twitter.com/On3Recruits/status/1544334811443204097

Moreover, it became clear back in late June that the interest that Robinson would have in the Longhorns would be real. And that definitely looks to be the case as the start of the 2022 regular season approaches for the Longhorns.

Confirmation of Robinson’s interest in Texas surfaced when Sark and his staff got the five-star tight end on the books for an official visit to Austin during one of the biggest game weekends of the 2022 season. Robinson is now set to officially visit Austin on Sep. 10 for the highly anticipated matchup between Texas and the Alabama Crimson Tide at DKR.

That is one of three official visits that Robinson currently has scheduled for the fall. The other two are set to come with Alabama (Oct. 8) and the Georgia Bulldogs (Sep. 24).

Sep. 10 will be Robinson’s first visit to Texas in general. Meanwhile, he has already unofficially visited Alabama and Georgia twice each since last summer. He also visited USC officially back on June 17.

That June 17 official visit to USC was the only OV that Robinson took so far.

But it definitely looks as if that June official visit to USC made a big impression on Robinson and his camp. That continued the momentum that Riley and the Trojans have on the recruiting trail with Robinson.

Texas’ ability to challenge USC in the race to land a commitment from Robinson will really rest on two factors. The first will be the type of performance that Robinson puts on the field when he’s on campus for his official visit to Austin on Sep. 10, against the Reigning National Champion runner-up Alabama.

And the second factor that should play a role in Texas’ ability to move the needle with Robinson this fall will have to do with the success that they can continue to have with the 2023 class. If Texas is able to keep securing top 2023 commits (i.e. four-star wideout Jalen Hale, four-star corner Jordan Matthews, etc.), that will only help them in the race to land a commitment from Robinson.

All in all, the proof of Texas’ progress among the top schools for Robinson shows up in their standing in the latest update from the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine. Texas has progressed their chances to land Robinson on the On3 RPM, currently sitting at 21.2 percent. That only sits behind USC, who has a 73.6 percent chance to land Robinson in the latest On3 RPM.

Texas currently holds commitments from 22 recruits in the 2023 class after landing Baxter Jr. on Aug. 10. At the moment, Texas holds two tight end commits in the 2023 class in three-star Isidore Newman product Will Randle and three-star Mater Dei product Spencer Shannon.