Texas Football: 3 very underrated Longhorns 2024 commits
More than half of the spots in the 2024 Texas football recruiting class reserved for high school players are filled out at this point of the offseason. As of July 18, Texas and head coach Steve Sarkisian have 14 recruits committed to the 2024 class.
The majority of the recruits committed to the Longhorns 2024 class are blue-chips. All but two of the Longhorns’ 2024 commits are rated as four stars by at least one of the major recruiting services.
According to the 247Sports Team Composite Rankings, the 2024 Texas recruiting class ranks 21st in the nation and eighth in the SEC.
However, many of these recruiting rankings will change heading into the fall. We will see some rapid risers in the major industry recruiting rankings from various high school seniors, likely some of which are committed to the Longhorns’ 2024 class.
It feels like too many Texas commits are vastly underrated by some of the major recruiting services for this class not to rise when the rankings are updated during this fall. Which of the 2024 Texas commits should be pinpointed among those most likely to be rapid risers in the recruiting rankings this fall?
Most underrated 2024 Texas football commits
Here’s a look at three of the most underrated 2024 Longhorns’ commit so far this cycle.
Santana Wilson, CB
Recruiting ranking: No. 247 nationally, No. 21 CB (247Sports Composite)
The first defensive back to commit to the Longhorns in the 2024 class was the touted four-star Scottsdale (AZ) Desert Mountain cornerback Santana Wilson. The son of former NFL All-Pro safety Adrian Wilson, Santana Wilson, committed to Texas on the second day of his official visit to Austin on June 17.
The 6-foot and 180-pound Wilson brings the type of physical tools, ball skills, and one-on-one coverage ability that would normally be seen from a top-100 national recruit. But only one of the major recruiting services (On3) has Wilson ranked inside the top 100 in the nation in the 2024 class.
ESPN and the Top247 still peg Wilson as a high-three-star recruit, which is absolutely obscene.
Wilson is a high-upside cornerback prospect that is better than average in just about every skill and measurement you look for at the position. He’s got good length and physicality thanks to a long wingspan and a strong lower base. Wilson’s ball skills, instincts, and timing are also excellent. Wilson picked off six passes and racked up 25 pass breakups in the last two seasons at Desert Mountain High School (per MaxPreps).
He also displays good hip flexion, above-average straight-line speed, and good acceleration, allowing him to stick to even some of the faster and more physical wideouts in man coverage.
Lastly, Wilson shows a lot of range, awareness, and good fundamental tackling skills, allowing him to cover a lot of space in the defensive backfield when pursuing the ball carrier.
A corner like Wilson that checks all these boxes with his physical traits, awareness, timing, instincts, and ball skills, should be rated higher than a low blue-chip or high-three-star DB in the 2024 class.