Horns beef up offensive line before early signing period
AUSTIN — Just a week ago, the first Texas recruiting class for coach Steve Sarkisian to call his own was looking light on offensive linemen.
Texas picked up commitments from Austin Westlake interior lineman Connor Robertson and Frisco interior lineman Cole Hutson on July 2. Since then, nothing. Until last week.
The Longhorns’ sudden run on 2022 linemen began Saturday when Summer Creek five-star tackle Kelvin Banks committed. One day later, Duncanville threestar tackle Cameron Williams went for Texas. Monday night, Allen four-star interior lineman Neto Umeozulu announced he too would sign with the Longhorns when the early signing period opens Wednesday.
Just like that, over the span of about 72 hours, one of the Longhorns’ thinnest position groups had beefed up considerably. Sarkisian and offensive line coach Kyle Flood’s patience paid off, delivering Texas both quantity and quality.
Banks, an Oregon commit before coach Mario Cristobal bolted for Miami, will become the program’s first five-star line recruit since Harker Heights guard Darius James in 2013. The 6foot-5, 300-pound Banks is one of the country’s best, ranked second at offensive tackle, fourth in the state and 15th in the nation, per the 247Sports composite rankings.
His future teammates are pretty accomplished themselves.
Umeozulu is an Under Armour All-American regarded as one of the nation’s 10 best interior linemen. Williams was another former Oregon commit who held offers from numerous Power Five programs like Oklahoma, Miami and Auburn.
“Just from a depth chart standpoint, we only signed two offensive linemen in last year’s class,” Sarkisian said on Nov. 1, referring to Katy Taylor tackle Hayden Conner and Strake Jesuit tackle Max Merril. “Which is a real rarity in recruiting. So there’s great opportunity moving forward for a kid coming in as a freshman because of a lack of depth there that was in the last year’s recruiting class. So there’s no doubt, you know, we need to sign a minimum five (offensive linemen) in this class. We want to make sure we’re signing quality players, not just filling the roster spot.”
Texas might not be done adding linemen, either.
The Longhorns remain in the mix for five-star Arlington Bowie prospect Devon Campbell, though he does not plan to sign with any school until February. But adding the nation’s topranked interior offensive lineman is a real possibility, and his inclusion would make this arguably the most impressive batch of linemen the Longhorns have ever signed in a single cycle.
Offensive coordinator Kyle Flood is also making a late push to sign Atascocita four-star interior lineman Kam Dewberry and Todd Beamer (Wash.) four-star tackle Malik Agbo, according to a report from Horns247.
Even if Texas doesn’t add more, this current class should be more than enough to help replenish a position group that struggled last season. Come next fall, the Longhorns’ starting five up front could look much different.
The Longhorns lost starters Tope Imade, Derek Kerstetter and Tope Imade to graduation. And even returning veterans like junior Christian Jones and junior Junior Angilau will be pushed during the offseason by new signees and hungry underclassmen like Conner, redshirt freshman Logan Parr and redshirt freshman Andrej Karic.
“I think there’s a fine line, and if you want to settle on linemen, we could probably get five linemen by tonight,” Sarkisian said last month. “But if you want to recruit the best players and you want to ultimately put together a line for your future that is upper echelon, upper tier in the country, you’ve got to recruit the best players.”