Texas football adds gifted, versatile athlete in 4-Star Aeryn Hampton

Texas football and head coach Steve Sarkisian picked up their 13th commitment in the 2024 recruiting class on July 7, with the highly touted four-star Daingerfield (TX) athlete Aeryn Hampton committing to them over the Alabama Crimson Tide. Hampton announced his commitment on a YouTube livestream through the Rivals channel on the night of July 7.

Hampton was down to the Longhorns and Crimson Tide when he announced his commitment to give Texas some positive news on the recruiting trail to kick off the weekend. He re-committed to Texas after he was initially one of the early recruits to pledge to the Longhorns 2024 class last offseason.

Very early in the 2024 cycle, Hampton committed to the Longhorns after getting fewer than a dozen Power Five offers. But he re-opened his recruitment last fall after a plethora of schools were communicating more and offered him after he pledged to Texas for the first time in February 2022.

Despite losing his commitment in the 2024 class last fall, Texas remained heavily involved in Hampton’s recruitment. Hampton visited Texas three times this offseason, including a successful official trip from June 16-18.

Texas football keeps the momentum rolling on the recruiting trail by landing 4-Star ATH Aeryn Hampton

Texas has not slowed down on the recruiting trail in the last couple of months. Since June 16, Texas has landed 11 commitments in the 2024 class. And since June 1, the Longhorns have landed a dozen commitments, including its first in the 2025 class with four-star quarterback KJ Lacey.

After getting off to a slow start in adding numbers to the 2024 class this offseason, Sark and the Longhorns staff are hitting their stride at the right time during the summer.

Hampton is the 11th recruit to commit to the Longhorns 2024 class with a blue-chip prospect rating from at least one of the major recruiting services. He’s also the seventh commit in the Longhorns 2024 class that is a Top247 recruit.

With Hampton now in the class, the Longhorns have cracked the top 20 in the nation, according to the 247Sports Composite.

Texas could take Hampton as a defensive back or wide receiver

Since the last time we’ve done a commitment breakdown for Hampton, he has become a more well-rounded defensive back prospect and developed as a deep receiving threat on offense. Meanwhile, Hampton is still the versatile and uber-talented athlete recruit that we knew him to be when he originally committed to Texas early last offseason.

Hampton could play on either side of the ball, depending on how the numbers shake out in the 2024 class for the Longhorns.

On defense, Hampton is a ball-hawking defensive back with good hands and a complete understanding of the development of route concepts since he plays receiver too. Hampton has consistently shown a knack for making plays on the ball, registering more than 15 interceptions in the last two seasons combined at Daingerfield.

Hampton also brings some pop in the pads, hitting ball carriers hard in the open field and forcing nearly a half-dozen fumbles since his sophomore campaign in high school.

He is on the shorter end for defensive back recruits for the Longhorns, though, at just 5-foot-11 and 175-pounds.

Hampton is dangerous and elusive on offense with the ball in his hands. He’s played running back and wide receiver for Daingerfield in the last few years, raking in more than 2,500 total yards from scrimmage and over 30 total touchdowns.

As a receiver, Hampton is a dangerous route runner that can create a lot of separation and take the top off opposing defenses. The specific aspects of Hampton’s physical attributes that make him such a tough cover are his short-area quickness, straight-line speed, and burst.

His acceleration gives him an edge against one-on-one coverage matchups, and he can turn on the burners to get even more cushion when running deep, crossing, or corner routes.

Another physical gift that Hampton brings to the table that makes him such a dangerous skill weapon on offense is his vertical ability. Hampton is great at high-pointing the football and bringing in contested balls or off-target throws. He’s become known for making some tough highlight-reel catches in 7v7 and for Daingerfield the last two seasons.

Hampton can contribute on special teams

The other side of the ball Hampton can impact is on special teams. He’s a dangerous returner that can pick up some big gains for the Longhorns on kick and/or punt returns.

Hampton is dangerous returning kicks and punts for Daingerfield, including two kick returns for touchdowns in 2021.

Areas of improvement

While Hampton is certainly an intriguing, high-upside prospect, that can have an impact on more than one side of the ball at the collegiate level, he has a lot of things he needs to work on too.

If Hampton winds up playing the position he ideally wants to for the Longhorns (wide receiver), he’ll need to become a more precise route runner in the short and intermediate game. Currently, he’s mostly utilized as a yards-after-the-catch receiver in the screen game, on crossing routes, and over the top.

Facing a big jump in the level of competition will also be a challenge for Hampton at the collegiate level. He plays lower-division high school football in Texas right now, and it will be a big jump to play against SEC competition in his first year in college. He’ll have to figure out how to deal with the physicality and improved speed of opposing SEC defensive backs before he’s ready to assume live-game reps for Texas at wideout.

Projection and fit at Texas

More than likely, Hampton will play wideout for the Longhorns. That’s why I didn’t mention much about his areas of improvement if he plays defense. If he does play defensive back before this cycle ends, we can discuss what he needs to do to improve on that side of the ball.

Moreover, Hampton projects as either a slot or field receiver at Texas. He’s too small to play on the boundary, despite his insane vertical ability and strong hands. If Hampton develops more as a route runner, Texas could play him out of the slot to take advantage of his acceleration and short-area quickness working between the numbers.

Numbers-wise, slot receiver might also be the best fit for Hampton. Once redshirt senior slot receiver Jordan Whittington leaves the program next offseason, true freshman DeAndre Moore Jr. is the only player that looks close to a sure thing out of the slot after 2023.

The most natural fit for Hampton will be at field receiver. Hampton’s elusiveness in space and the multiple ways he can threaten opposing defenses would fit best in that role since he could be moved around more pre-snap and get the ball in space behind the line of scrimmage.

If Hampton does stick at receiver over the long term, he is the third commit at the position in the Longhorns 2024 class, along with four-star Freddie Dubose Jr. and four-star Parker Livingstone. Expect Texas to take at least one more receiver in this class if Hampton does stick at wideout long term.