Texas football RB commit Cedric Baxter Jr. receives five-star rating

A recent ratings update from one of the major recruiting services had an impact on the standing of some of the top commits in the 2023 Texas football recruiting class. On3 went through their rankings update for the senior class of high school recruits, which were released this week.

The updated set of On3 recruiting rankings certified the five-star status of a handful of commits in the Longhorns 2023 class. It also gave a nice rating bump to a few key commits in this class as well.

The most significant jump that a commit in the Longhorns 2023 class saw in this update from On3 is the newly-minted five-star running back and Edgewater (FL) product Cedric Baxter Jr. The grade that Baxter held prior to this update was 97. He’s now graded out at 98 from On3.

Texas football commit Cedric Baxter Jr. earns fifth star from On3

Prior to this rating update, Baxter was the No. 28 prospect in the nation. Baxter is now the No. 22 prospect in the nation thanks to the bump in grade. It’s also worth noting that Baxter has maintained his status as the top-ranked running back in the nation for the 2023 cycle by On3 throughout this rating update process.

If you’re looking solely at the On3 recruiting rankings for the 2023 cycle, Baxter is now one of two five-star commits in the Longhorns 2023 class. The other is Newman quarterback Arch Manning, who was certified as the nation’s No. 1 recruit in this round of the On3 rating update.

Three other Texas commits in the 2023 class do hold five-star ratings at least with one of the other major recruiting services. Those three commits that fit in this bucket are DeSoto wide receiver Johntay Cook, Westgate (LA) safety Derek Williams, and South Oak Cliff cornerback Malik Muhammad.

Moreover, the largest rating bump for any one commit in the Longhorns 2023 class belonged to four-star Spring Dekaney wide receiver Jonah Wilson. He went from the No. 273 prospect to No. 162 in this ranking update.