Texas Football: 5-Star TE target Duce Robinson won’t announce on NSD

There is a lot of smoke right now surrounding one of the top remaining targets of the 2023 Texas football recruiting class ahead of the late National Signing Day. The elite five-star Pinnacle (AZ) tight end Duce Robinson is the top-rated outstanding target for Texas in the 2023 recruiting class. And his decision was one of the most highly anticipated, if not the most anxiously waited upon, set for the late signing day on Feb. 1.

But it now looks like we might have to wait a bit longer for the elite Arizona native tight end to make his college decision. A report from On3’s Chad Simmons on Jan. 31 notes that Robinson recruitment is now “expected to go past Signing Day”.

On3 also tweeted out the report on the morning of Jan. 31, roughly 24 hours before the start of the late National Signing Day.

There is some speculation that Robinson could be delaying his college decision for baseball reasons. MLB reporter Teddy Cahill tweeted in response to the Robinson news ahead of the late signing day that he is a “premier MLB prospect and anywhere he signs will be getting him as a commit for both sports”.

5-Star Texas football TE target Duce Robinson reportedly expected to delay his decision past the late signing day

The On3 report from Simmons also notes that baseball could be the biggest reason why Robinson is delaying his commitment maybe through the end of the week, or even through the end of the month of February. It sounds like a lot will depend on how much stock Robinson puts into his value as an MLB prospect.

This On3 piece mentions that “Robinson and his family have met with representatives from multiple MLB teams” as he looks to decide between playing college football or going the baseball route. There is also the legitimate possibility of him playing both sports at the next level.

Moreover, heading into the late signing day, it looked as if head coach Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs had the lead in this recruitment. Georgia had the momentum among the top schools in Robinson’s recruitment since the end of the Early Signing Period with the Longhorns and USC Trojans also in the mix.

Texas was still figured to technically have a shot to land Robinson’s commitment on Feb. 1. And maybe him delaying this process, in combination with the strength of Texas’ baseball program, could be something that helps Sark and the Longhorns in this recruitment. But that thought is mostly based on speculation given the recent rumors and reports regarding Robinson’s decision.