Predicting Texas football’s next 2023 commit after 4-Star Tausili Akana

From what we know at this moment, the 2023 Texas football recruiting class was able to pull in one additional commitment on the Early National Signing Day. On the afternoon of Dec. 21, Texas landed a commitment from the highly touted four-star Skyridge (UT) edge rusher Tausili Akana.

Akana was the lone addition among high school recruits to the Longhorns 2023 class on NSD1. But it was still a big win for head coach Steve Sarkisian and his staff to get all the high school commits in the Longhorns 2023 class signed down on the first signing day.

There were no guarantees heading into signing that every Texas commit was going to wind up signing on the dotted line on Dec. 21. Five-star New Iberia Westgate (LA) safety Derek Williams wound up signing his National Letter of Intent on NSD1, though, getting the Longhorns all 22 commitments to the 2023 class locked in.

We do still have some outstanding recruits who either haven’t publicly announced their college of choice or are waiting until the traditional National Signing Day in February to make their final decision.

5-Star TE Duce Robinson and the priority recruits that could soon commit to Texas football’s 2023 class

With that in mind, here’s a look at a prediction of who will be next up in the Longhorns 2023 class after landing Akana on signing day.

Jelani McDonald, ATH/LB

Although we know that the highly touted four-star Waco Connally athlete/linebacker Jelani McDonald has already signed his National Letter of Intent as of the first signing day on Dec. 21, the announcement has yet to come. McDonald will announce his college destination during the All-American Bowl on Jan. 7.

Heading into the first signing day, it sounded like the top two schools in the race to sign McDonald was Texas and the Oklahoma State Cowboys. And that still appears to be the case at the conclusion of NSD1.

But Texas was the pacesetter in this recruitment coming out of McDonald’s official visit to Austin last weekend. Texas finally made the big move that it needed in this recruitment during an in-person visit when McDonald tripped to the Forty Acres a few days ago.

Texas is looking to have McDonald fill a hybrid linebacker role. And if he ultimately decides to join the Longhorns 2023 class, he will definitely be one of the more developmental signees in the mix along the front seven.