These 3-Star recruits became stars at Texas

Texas football is a recruiting powerhouse, especially given the recent success under head coach Steve Sarkisian upon the move to join the SEC in 2024. In the SEC, Sarkisian and Texas will have the resources, brand, and national prominence in college football's top conference.

These former Texas football three-star recruits show talent evaluation and development can be just as important as raw talent

The Longhorns will have all the tools and resources necessary to continue to be one of the top national programs on the recruiting trail to challenge the best of the best in the SEC well into the future.

While recruiting top talent has always been a strength of the Longhorns' on the recruiting trail, Texas has also found some hidden gems among three stars from the high school ranks in the last decade or so. Talent is still not the only part of the equation for recruiting in the modern era of college football.

Finding the right fits culture-wise and evaluating the potential of future talent and development are also critical factors for Sarkisian and staff to succeed on the recruiting trail.

Here's a look back at five of the best examples of underrated three-star recruits who were hidden gems on the trail and became stars for the Longhorns.

Connor Williams, OL

There were plenty of signs during the recruitment of Coppell (TX) offensive tackle Connor Williams that he was vastly underrated by the major recruiting services as a three-star prospect. Williams had offers and serious interest from the likes of Texas, the Georgia Bulldogs, Oregon Ducks, Oklahoma Sooners, and Ohio State Buckeyes, among other P5 schools.

At 6-foot-5 and 280-pounds coming out of high school in DFW, Williams also had the requisite size and length to be a future NFL offensive tackle if he fulfilled his lofty potential in college.

Almost immediately, Williams showed at Texas what he was capable of as a true freshman starting offensive tackle. He was a Freshman All-American and Honorable Mention All-Big 12 after starting 12 games for the Longhorns at left tackle in 2015.

Williams followed up his stellar true freshman campaign by taking his star to even taller heights as a sophomore in 2016. He received First-Team All-American honors from multiple media outlets and organizations, becoming just one of fewer than a half dozen Longhorns players in program history to receive those honors at the time he got them.

After two sensational starts to start his collegiate career at Texas, injuries unfortunately derailed Williams' once promising 2017 campaign as a junior. He only played in five of 12 games for the Longhorns that season in 2017.

Williams was the first Texas player selected in the 2018 NFL Draft, getting taken 50th overall in the second round by the Dallas Cowboys.

When healthy, Williams was one of the best offensive linemen for the Longhorns in the past few decades. He has a valid argument as the most underrated recruit to become an All-American in the history of the Texas program among offensive linemen.