5-star Easton Royal may be as good as gone if recruiting insider is proven right

Eight months ago, the Texas Longhorns and head coach Steve Sarkisian landed a commitment from five-star wide receiver Easton Royal. Since then, there has been nothing but drama surrounding that commitment.

While Royal has stood by his original decision, despite taking numerous official visits to other programs across the SEC, as well as praising the coaches and teams that he took those trips to see.

Now, after months of the Longhorns clinging to Royal with everything they have, it may finally be time to loosen their grasp.

Read more: 5-star Easton Royal can't seem to stop giving Texas fans reasons to worry about potential LSU flip

Recruiting expert and Texas insider Sam Spiegelman reported that the LSU Tigers are "trending toward a five-star flip" while writing about Royal, and shared that the wideout's final decision should be expected to come in September or October.

Of course, he isn't the first recruiting expert to have this thought, with On3 and Rivals' Steve Wiltfong logging an expert prediction that the Tigers would flip Royal's commitment to the Horns. Wiltfong logged that official prediction with 60 percent confidence, but with Spiegelman spinning a similar theory, Royal is most likely taking his talents to LSU instead of Texas.

LSU may have Texas Longhorns waving goodbye to Easton Royal

It was huge news when Texas landed Royal's commitment in November of last year. He was the Horns' highest-rated recruit in the class of 2027 and found himself atop the group once again when five-star cornerback John Meredith III reclassified to 2026.

Without Royal's commitment, the Horns would only have one five-star commitment in the class, interior offensive lineman Ismael Camara, and would undoubtedly run the risk of dropping out of the top 10 of the national recruiting rankings.

Of course, LSU has always had the upper hand of being Royal's home-state team, the wide receiver growing up in New Orleans, just an hour or so from the Tigers' home in Baton Rouge.

Not to mention that when Royal initially committed to the Longhorns, the Tigers were in a state of chaos, having just fired then-head coach Brian Kelly and not poaching now-head coach Lane Kiffin from the Ole Miss Rebels quite yet.

Also read: Brian Kelly's belief in the Horns might not actually be what Texas wants to hear

Now, Kiffin is running the show in Baton Rouge, and it looks like he, along with National Championship-winning head coach turned LSU recruiter Ed Orgeron, has done everything right when it comes to keeping Royal at home.

As of now, it truly seems like the only "upper hand" that the Horns still hold is the fact that Royal is currently committed to Texas, not LSU. But in this day and age of college football, a commitment seems to mean less and less.

At the very least, it sounds like the Longhorns and Sarkisian could finally have a "final" answer in a few months, bringing an end to all of the drama surrounding Royal's recruitment.

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