Texas Recruiting 2012: Defensive End Big Board Update

by Wescott Eberts (GoBR) on Feb 24, 2011 12:54 PM CST in Texas Longhorns Recruiting

Needs -- Two or three

Name	School	JD invite?	Offer?	Commitment/ odds	Favorites	Quick take
Mario Edwards	Denton Ryan	Visited Feb. 12	Offered	5%	Florida State Texas	2/15: Unexpected Feb. 12 visit was good news for Texas, but still a lot of ground to make up for Longhorns. 2/10: Possibly the best player in the state, the 6-5, 260-pound Edwards is an elite athlete at his position and solid technically for his age. Video. Only planned visit this spring is to Florida State, his current leader and his father's alma mater.
Hassan Ridgeway	Mansfield	Feb. 13	Offered	Committed to Texas (2/16/11)	Texas ~~LSU~~ ~~Texas A&M~~ ~~TCU~~	2/23: Ridgeway became the 6th 2012 commit. 2/15: Did not commit as expected, but his coach does not think his recruitment will draw out very long. 2/10: Also on the TE Big Board, but mostly as filler there. Young for his class and his coach believes he has some physical upside left. Good athlete. Video. Plans on committing soon.
Devonte Fields	Arlington Martin	Feb. 26	Likely	50%	Texas Baylor Kansas Oklahoma Texas A&M	2/23: Stud on film. May be most explosive DE in class. True edge rusher with great first step and top speed. Plays behind pads like running back. Gimme. 2/15: Missed JD1 due to transportation issues. Perhaps strongest candidate to receive offer of JD2 attendees because of JD1 invite. Former teammate Danzel Williams is a 2011 Oklahoma commit. 6-2, 220. No film is available for Fields.
Caleb Bluiett	Beaumont West Brook	Feb. 26	Likely	90%	Texas Texas A&M Houston	2/23: West Brook coaching staff believes Bluiett will receive offer. Will likely commit if offered. Good athlete who played 3 tech as a junior. Plays with a strong motor, will rally to the football. Room for growth on his frame. Video. 2/15: Mr. Bluiett was nice enough to contact me and let me know that film on Caleb should be up soon. Looking forward to seeing it. 2/10: Well, Scout says he's quick. And Rivals says he's 6-3, 235. So there ya go.
Taiwan Johnson	Manvel	Feb. 26	Unlikely	60%	Texas Texas A&M	2/23: Probably behind Bluiett in line for an offer at this point. 2/15: Surfaced on the radar with news of his Junior Day invite. Good size at 6-3/225. Good first step and top-end speed. Has the motor to fight through blocks. Good striker with some natural knee bend. Lateral quickness not as good as his straight-line speed. Video. Strong offer candidate.

Off the board -- Michael Richardson (DeSoto), Eric Davis (Tyler John Tyler), Glynn Cheeks (Manvel)

Moving forward -- First a note on the players that have dropped off the board. Davis and Richardson both committed to Texas A&M, while Cheeks is being recruited by colleges as an outside linebacker. He will be making an appearance on the Linebacker Big Board when it gets updated tomorrow.

As for the rest of the defensive ends, the big news is the likelihood of an offer and a commitment from Bluiett and the status of Devonte Fields. After the release of his junior film, Fields looks like he may have the best first step of any of the in-state defensive ends -- even Mario Edwards. Given his talent, it would be a major mistake not to offer him.

As for Bluiett, the fact that he has a projectable frame, good athleticism, and a high motor makes him a solid take in the class and he probably pulls the trigger for Texas this weekend if he gets an offer.

At this point, because it looks like Bluiett could become a Longhorn this weekend and Fields being an important target, Taiwan Johnson is probably on the outside looking and likely will remain that way until something happens with Fields, who should be the top target right now after Mario Edwards.

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Comments

How much is

this a position of need?

What has happened to make Fla. St. a player for national recruits?

by TCB Orange Dino on Feb 24, 2011 1:03 PM CST reply actions

Huge position of need.

A young, energetic recruiting staff has helped Florida State tremendously. With Mario Edwards, the fact that his father is a Seminole is surely playing a big role.

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by Wescott Eberts (GoBR) on Feb 24, 2011 1:05 PM CST up reply actions

And not just the recruiting staff, but Jimbo Fisher has built a rock-solid reputation as a coach

We’ll see if it translates into some actual on-field success. They showed very nice improvement in 2010, with only four losses: a blowout to OU, a to-the-wire squeaker by 4pts. to NC State, a last-minute-FG loss by 2pts. to UNC, and an 11pt. loss to VT in the ACC championship game. That was a pretty good showing. I’m now a little less anti-FSU than I was for years, but although I do still dislike them, I see a pretty good program there. They’re earning respect from recruits.

Then we'll write our own bible, with less Sodom and more Gomorrah.

by burntorangehorn on Feb 24, 2011 2:03 PM CST up reply actions

And the best thing about an FSU uprising ...

… is possibly making UF struggle a bit more in recruiting. Atleast, you’d think it would work that way. Auburn on the upswing will help keep Bama in check. Now, if we could only get the OSU Cowpokes to be the main destination in their own state. That’d be a miracle, for sure.

by robthecob on Feb 24, 2011 4:31 PM CST up reply actions