6'3" 311 lbs.
Rivals grade: 5.7 (three stars)

Russell was a four-star defensive tackle when he signed with Texas out of high school in 2011, but he failed to qualify academically and ended up enrolling at Trinity Valley Community College with an eye to getting his academics in order and eventually signing with Texas again. The UT staff monitored his progress but ultimately decided not to pursue him a second time. He doesn't lack for quality offers, though, having received them from Baylor, Houston, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, and Texas Tech.

Christopher Robinson (Shreveport Woodlawn)
6'2" 270 lbs.
Rivals grade: 5.7 (three stars); 25th ranked DT
247Sports grade: 85 (three stars); 50th ranked DT

This one is a bit of a stretch. I haven't seen any of Robinson's senior film and haven't been overly impressed with him before, but Rivals thought enough of him to rate him higher than some DTs I actually do like. Robinson was a high school teammate of 2012 Texas signee Torshiro Davis and had interest in Texas early in the recruiting cycle, even naming Texas as his top school in February. He was invited to attend UT's second Junior Days that month but was unable to make it. He committed to Mississippi in April but his offer was pulled in July, with academics reportedly being the reason. He is still uncommitted and according to Rivals his offer list consists of Baylor, Mississippi State, and Louisiana Tech (247Sports lists Arkansas State, Auburn, and Mississippi State).

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And here are two uncommitted (and lower-rated) defensive tackles who I believe are worth evaluating, the first one because of his athleticism and pure potential, and the second because of his frame and positional versatility.

Charles Walker (South Garland)
6'4" 270 lbs.
Rivals grade: 5.4 (two stars)
247Sports grade: 86 (three stars); 46th ranked DT

Walker is a player who hasn't gotten as much publicity as any of the ones mentioned above, but his physical tools stack up favorably against any of them. He has flown a bit under the radar because he hasn't attended many camps and so little film was available on him until recently. He played football in junior high, but coming into his senior year he had only played 10 games at the high school level (five each in his sophomore and junior seasons). He caught the attention of numerous schools during his limited time on the field but they were hesitant to offer him until he showed what he could do in a season's worth of work.

One look at him on film and it's difficult to fathom how he doesn't have 20 offers already. He creates all kinds of havoc in the trenches, slicing effortlessly through gaps, shoving offensive linemen into the backfield, pressuring quarterbacks, and chasing down running backs behind the line. As a junior he played at 280-285 lbs, and while still at in that weight range he ran the 40 in a laser-timed 4.78 back in March. (Seriously, you can watch the video here.) He worked hard over the summer and reported to fall camp in great shape and weighing 270.

South Garland head coach Mark Cox says Walker has "as much talent as any kid I've been around, and I've been doing this a while." To give you an idea of how far back "a while" goes, Cox spent his early coaching years as an assistant at Brownwood during the last years of legendary coach Gordon Wood's career. He was on Wood's staff in 1981 when Brownwood won the last of its seven state championships.

Cox speaks very highly about Walker and praises his work ethic in addition to raving about his blue-chip athleticism. Rivals rates Walker as a two-star player, but his recently-released Rivals video of highlights($) from the first half of his senior season shows that grade to be laughably low, an assessment with which Cox wholeheartedly agrees. "If he's a two-star player I want to see what they think a five-star player looks like."

Walker presently has offers from Colorado, Houston, North Texas, and Texas State, and Cox reports that Oklahoma has been showing major interest in recent weeks. Oklahoma has been on Walker for a while now. Former OU defensive coordinator Brent Venables was a fan of Walker and Cox told me that Oklahoma was almost ready to offer him after his sophomore season. Other schools that have made contact include Indiana, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska, TCU, and Texas A&M.

Walker doesn't seem to have a favorite school at this time. He's a kid who hasn't had the time or resources to visit a lot of schools or participate in more than a few camps. He's a great raw talent and Texas would be advised to take a hard look at him regardless of whether A'Shawn Robinson remains in the fold. Walker has a high ceiling but is raw and a redshirt year would be great for his development. As fast as he showed himself to be carrying 280 lbs. or so, he could probably play at 290 or above without losing much of his quickness. In my opinion, Charles Walker after a redshirt year would very likely be a better player than any true freshman signed from the group of in-state defensive tackles in the 2014 class.
(See: Charles Walker's game-by-game highlights on Hudl)

Ajahne Brager (Magnolia)
6'4" 285 lbs.
Rivals grade: 5.4 (two stars)

[Note: some sites (including Rivals) spell Brager's first name as Ajhane. I believe Ajahne is the correct spelling but I'm not completely sure.]
Brager (his last name rhymes with pager) is another little-known lineman who could be an impact D1 player in a few years. He's hard to miss on film at 6'4" and 285 or so, and he actually looks a bit taller than that because of his long arms. He's a disruptive defensive tackle at Class 4A Magnolia. Brager plays the nose in a 3-4 front (Magnolia switched to that alignment this season to take advantage of Brager's skills) and occasionally is used on offense as well, mainly at tight end in Magnolia's goal line package. Because of his frame and long arms, some schools are recruiting him as an offensive tackle rather than defensive lineman. Magnolia head coach Andy Sexton says, "It is about half and half as far as schools wanting him to play DL or OL."

(As a side note, Brager has an interesting personal story, as he has a younger brother who has cerebral palsy. You can read more on him in this story published in Vype Houston's October magazine.)

Arkansas and Texas A&M have shown interest, and a number of Big 12 schools have checked on him. Kansas State is his only FBS offer right now, but lest anyone scoff at that a few historical facts merit mentioning. The last time Texas defeated Kansas State in football was October 4, 2003. In the five recruiting classes from 2008 to 2012, Kansas State signed 7 players who had a four-star grade from Rivals. That's not 7 per year, that's 7 total! And 6 of those 7 were junior college players. In those same five classes, Texas signed 80 players graded with four stars or more (8 were five-star players).

For all that supposed four-star talent, Texas is 6-2 in 2012. Or, more accurately, the Longhorns are a dropped Case McCoy interception and a disputed Joe Bergeron touchdown call away from being 4-4. Kansas State - having signed 1/10th as many four star players over the past five recruiting classes - is 8-0, holds the #2 spot in the current BCS rankings, and is outscoring its opponents by an average margin of 27 points. The Wildcats must believe Brager will help them continue their winning (read: Texas-dominating) ways in future years or else they wouldn't have offered him. I'm not saying Texas should check in on every two-star in-state recruit offered by KSU or similarly overachieving programs, but the Wildcats have obviously been doing something right in evaluating the lesser-regarded players who now make up most of the roster for a top 3 team. And the fact that Brager has potential to be a D1 starter at two of UT's recruiting positions of need over the next two classes (DT and OT) makes him a player who should receive a look from the staff if they are truly going to leave no stone unturned in filling out the 2013 class.
(See: Ajahne Brager's highlight video on Hudl)