Bumped from the Fan Posts.

What can you expect from a consensus national top-five recruiting haul? Sadly, not as much as you think, at least if you use the Longhorns’ 2006 signing list as evidence.

Just weeks after Vince Young keyed a 15-point fourth-quarter comeback over USC that brought the BCS title to Austin, Mack Brown & staff put together the kind of class that seemed to assure future BCS bowl appearances. That class, led by Sergio Kindle, Eddie Jones, Vondrell McGee, Jevan Snead, Lamarr Houston and Chykie Brown, was regarded as the best Brown had signed since 2002 and maybe his second-best ever. It was ranked third nationally by Scout, fifth by Rivals. Several future stars, a batch of future starters, seemed a good bet.

And in the next two seasons, the class of 2006 went on to produce, uh, one starter – Houston, who stepped in when both starting defensive ends went down to injury last fall.

This discussion can begin with numbers, say, 6 . . . 4 . . . 12. In order, that’s the number of players from the Class of ’06 who are no longer in the program; the number who might reasonably be projected as starters entering 2008; and the number still around who have made virtually no impact 2½ years after signing.

The original class numbered 25. Nineteen remain. Nine players got on the field as true freshmen, but three of those were gone before the 2007 season started.

Houston started 11 games in 2007. Now a defensive tackle, he is the most established player in the class. McGee at running back, Kindle at linebacker and CB Deon Beasley enter August as starters. A few others (Jones at DE, Brown at CB, LB Jared Norton) will certainly play a lot and Norton might start.

So what happened? Well, it’s kinda ugly, but here goes.

Gone. Gone. Gone (6) Snead, a Top 100 player nationally, jumped ship for Mississippi before the 2006 season was over. Two offensive linemen, J’Marcus Webb (another national Top 100) and Roy Watts were academic casualties. Discipline issues KO’d safety Robert Joseph (he’d probably be a starter) and RB James Henry. DL Brian Ellis left the program this summer.

Still around, but . . . (6) WRs Phillip Payne and Montre Webber, both Top 20 prospects in the state, have yet to catch a pass. OG Steve Moore is probably a third-teamer and, with just one senior on the ’08 offensive line, not likely to go much higher. Josh Marshall switched from WR to TE last season; he’s made no impact yet. LB Dustin Earnest and FB Antwan Cobb are somewhere deep in the depth chart, though Cobb scored in the ’07 opener and had five carries in a game later on.

Making some impact (6) Sherrod Harris may be next-in-line at QB if John Chiles (Class of ’07) becomes a multiple-position threat. Hunter Lawrence has kicked off since the midway point of the ‘06 season. Ben Alexander got into five games in ’06 as a true freshman, nine last year. Given the depth issue at DT, he’s a key for ’08. Brown, the No. 6 player in Texas coming out of high school, played on special teams last season and looks like a backup corner entering ’08. Deep snapper Greg Smith and OG Britt Mitchell, both tight ends until a year ago, chipped in last season but do not appear to be part of the eight- or nine-man offensive line rotation.

Starters, or heading that way (7) Houston we’ve discussed, and he might be the most talked-about member of the class before long. Kindle seems to be only good health and some field time from showing why he was the best HS player in the state in 2005. McGee is the presumed starter at tailback; his ’07 showing was impressive, though limited mostly to short-yardage and between-the-tackles assignments. Beasley has started two games in two years and looks like a talent waiting to bloom at a critical spot. Jones, who played a good bit in ’07 (partly because of injuries), and Norton, who has been held back by ailments, figure as top-level subs whose impact will be felt. But Houston, Kindle, Norton and Beasley did not redshirt so their careers are halfway spent. Buck Burnette made one start in ’07 and enters this season as Chris Hall’s backup at center.

That’s the story. Or maybe that’s just the early chapters. But given the attrition and the many developmental failures, you wonder if the Class of 2006 won’t be more remembered for misses than hits.

This is where you add your views.