The awesome reason why Derrek Cooper chose Texas on decision day

Longhorn nation had a pretty eventful Sunday night, as blue-chip running back Derrek Cooper committed to the Longhorns surrounded by his family and friends. As we've rambled about in previous articles and recruiting updates, the coaching staff was increasing their efforts in order to get Cooper to Austin over the past few weeks.

It obviously paid off as they were able to sway him away from his "home" team, the Georgia Bulldogs.

Though Cooper mentioned Steve Sarkisian and the coaching staff a couple of times last night, one of his main reasons for committing to Texas was, in his words:

"They're known as RBU, they've put a lot of backs in the league [NFL] with five running backs in three years. That's crazy."

It goes without saying that academics and feel for the campus are huge aspects of choosing a collegiate destination for recruits but it's even more important for athletes to have a chance at achieving their NFL Dreams.

Since the 2022 season, like Cooper said, Keaontay Ingram, Bijan Robinson, Roschon Johnson, Keilan Robinson, Jonathan Brooks, and Jaydon Blue have all been drafted to the NFL. Two of them being drafted within the top 50 since 2023, and only Bijan Robinson was ranked higher than Derrek Cooper as a recruit according to 247sports.

He also has an excellent chance to see playing time early on in his career, with Quintrevion Wisner and C.J. Baxter potentially headed off to the NFL before he arrives on campus.

Cooper's built a lot like Roschon Johnson was, in terms of his solid frame and lower-body thickness coming out of high school. They coincidentally have a similar style of play as well, being more of a power back but also being effective in the passing game.

He also mentioned how Sark is an offensive minded coach as well, and that this was also part of the reason for his commitment. Sarkisian's offense is incredibly conducive to a strong ground game, with multiple heavy sets and 12P formations. As a prep-level running-back, it's not hard to see why the University of Texas is such an intiguing destination.