Texas football making big moves for 4-Star 2025 TE Emaree Winston

Texas football special teams coordinator/tight ends coach Jeff Banks is busy at work on the recruiting trail amid the 2023 season this fall. He is working to find the top priorities at tight end on the recruiting trail in the 2025 class.

Among the highest-rated tight end offers for the Longhorns in the 2025 class is the highly touted four-star Calhoun (TE) product, Emaree Winston. Texas offered Winston in mid-April 2023 after Banks visited his high school in Georgia.

And while Texas was serious about its pursuit of Winston on the recruiting trail during the spring and summer, he couldn’t visit Austin in the offseason.

Texas football joins the finalist schools for 4-Star 2025 TE Emaree Winston

That is about to change, though, at least to some degree. Winston announced on social media on Oct. 3 that he will attend the Red River Rivalry game this weekend at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas at the Texas State Fairgrounds against the No. 12 Oklahoma Sooners.

https://twitter.com/e_wins2025/status/1648731087911124995

Texas making a move with Winston this fall

Winston is a fan of what Banks and the Longhorns have going on at tight end this fall. Texas has one of the best tight ends in the nation in standout junior Ja’Tavion Sanders, who led the FBS in receiving yards before suffering an ankle injury in the win over the No. 24 Kansas Jayhawks at home last weekend.

The combination of Banks and the Longhorns continuously pursuing Winston on the recruiting trail and Texas’ usage of their tight ends have made them a real player in this recruitment this fall.

Texas jumps into Winston’s top six

Winston dropped a group of top six finalist schools on social media on Aug. 17, 2023, which didn’t originally include Texas. But Winston updated his group of top six schools in an interview with Horns247 on Oct. 4 (paid content). Winston told Hank South of Horns247 that Texas replaced the North Carolina Tar Heels among his top six finalist schools.

Winston’s other five finalist schools are the USC Trojans, UCF Knights, Ohio State Buckeyes, Tennessee Volunteers, and Cincinnati Bearcats.

Banks making Winston a priority at TE in the 2025 class this fall

Texas is reportedly pitching the potential of early playing time to Winston with the expected departure of Sanders next offseason. The 6-foot-3 and 230-pound tight end is a gifted athlete and a skilled pass-catcher. He looks to have the skill set necessary to compete for early playing time on the 40 in a couple of years were he to commit to Texas over his other finalist schools.

It’s also noteworthy that Winston told Horns247 that he talks with Sanders “a lot”. Sanders is playing a pivotal role in this recruitment for the Longhorns.

Banks and the Longhorns will likely take two scholarship tight ends in the 2025 class after taking a commitment from three-star Houston (TX) Langham Creek tight end Jordan Washington in the 2024 class.