Texas Football: 5 most underrated recruits in Longhorns history

Jaylan Ford, LB

Recruiting ranking: No. 1,221 in the 2020 class

The most recent Texas recruit to make this list of the most underrated prospects since rankings were a thing in the industry is standout senior linebacker, Jaylan Ford. The former low-three-star recruit out of Frisco (TX) Lone Star High School was committed to the Utah Utes before he flipped to Texas during the Early Signing Period in December 2019.

Utah is great at doing these underrated early evaluations, and Texas noticed that when it flipped Ford from the Utes in the 2020 class.

Despite Ford being the lowest-rated recruit that signed with the Longhorns in the 2020 class, he might have provided the most value among the non-five-star prospects. We’re excluding five-stars since No. 1 2020 running back Bijan Robinson was in the same class with the Longhorns as Ford.

Ford has easily provided the value of a high-four-star recruit after a stellar 2022 campaign with the Longhorns. He was the deserved Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year last season, raking in over 100 total tackles, 10 tackles for loss, four interceptions, three forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries.

It shows how much Ford has outperformed his recruiting ranking that he was a full-time starter at linebacker for Texas for just one season, and he’s already on this list of the most underrated prospects in Longhorns football history. Ford has high expectations heading into his senior campaign this fall, as he was tabbed as the preseason Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.