The Texas Longhorns had the No.1-ranked recruiting class in the nation in 2025, and there's a very good possibility that they could do it again in 2026 if they continue on their current pace. Though it's been kind of "dead" over the past few weeks, things could start to pick up again soon.
They're currently ranked at No. 5 with a 71% blue-chip ratio, which is the percentage of 4- and 5-star players that a team has in relation to its overall number of recruits.
Breaking down Texas’ No. 5 overall class in the 2026 Rivals Industry Team Recruiting Rankings🤘
— Rivals (@Rivals) August 12, 2025
The Longhorns are chasing the nation's No. 1 class for a second straight year.
View: https://t.co/q1snoIaWWZ pic.twitter.com/nWKVSDNdd2
5-stars
- QB Dia Bell
- LB Tyler Atkinson
- DE Richard Wesley
4-stars
- RB Derrek Cooper
- DT James Johnson
- OT John Turntine
- ATH Jermaine Bishop
- CB Samari Matthews
- DT Vodney Cleveland
- DT Dylan Berymon
- WR Chris Stewart
- DT Corey Wells
- LB Kosi Okpala
- CB Hayward Howard Jr.
- OG Nicolas Robertson
3-stars
- OT Max Wright
- WR Kohen Brown
- S Yaheim Riley
- P Mikey Bukauskas
- K Jake Collett
- LS Trott O'Neal
The 2026 class is shaping up to be one of the best they've had in a while, seeing as they're ranked so high yet still have fewer recruits than some other top teams. They've done an excellent job of sticking to the "quality over quantity" approach during the summer, and pretty soon they'll be bringing in more top 2026 recruits for gameday visits and in-season official visits.
They've already seemingly found their next quarterback of the future for when Arch Manning departs, as well as two potential defensive stalwarts in Tyler Atkinson and Richard Wesley. Guys like Jermaine Bishop, John Turntine, Derrek Cooper, James Johnson, and even Samari Matthews have favorable paths to early playing time in Austin as well.
Texas is officially getting to the point where drop-offs in talent at different positions each year will become less and less frequent due to the amount of blue-chip talent they're bringing in on an annual basis.
Here's to hoping that the Longhorns continue their recruiting success over the next few months because if they do, they should be able to top last year's class.