Evans headlines Statesman’s Next 25 list

Recruiting reached warp speed when the new early signing period began to allow early official visits by the 2019 recruiting class. The process is still a marathon more than a sprint. Nothing is binding until a player signs a national letter of intent. Still, it’s clear that programs are speeding up the process and preparing for a recruiting world that ends in December rather than February. Twenty-three of the 2019 Fabulous 55 members are already committed.

That means a larger focus is placed on the younger classes even earlier than before. Texas, and programs all around the country, are working just as hard at building relationships and establishing targets in the 2020 class as it is working to complete the 2019 class. Texas holds only six commitments, but the targets on offense and defense are clear.

The 2020 class, though, is still working itself out. Texas has extended 26 offers to sophomores. Only 11 of those 26 are in-state targets. That number is sure to grow once spring practice ends and the Longhorns can host prospects on cam- pus for camps. Tom Herman is notoriously slow to extend an offer because he wants it to mean something.

For reference, Oklahoma has offered 58 prospects in the 2020 class, while SEC schools like Texas A&M (73) and Alabama (99) have offered many more. Only three of the members on our 2020 Next 25 are committed — two to Oklahoma, Aledo running back Jase McClel-