Needs: Two or three
| Name | School | JD invite? | Offer? |
Commitment/ odds |
Quick take |
| Brandon Williams | Brookshire-Royal | Feb. 27 -- did not attend |
Not offered |
Committed to Baylor (2/15/10) De-committed from Baylor, Committed to Oklahoma (4/19/10) |
2/10 -- Wow. Gimme, gimme. It doesn't take long for Williams to blow you away on film. Closest thing to Adrian Peterson since AD himself -- runs hard, has elite speed, but is probably an even more polished receiver than AD at the same age. Has the size to be effective in blitz pick up. No questions about size or speed. 3/1 -- After his commitment, the word was that Williams was not planning on taking visits, but will visit Oklahoma -- hard to call a kid who is committed and taking visits a "solid verbal." 3/17 -- Reportedly visited Austin for a practice last week. Safe to say now that his verbal to Baylor is a soft one. 3/28 -- May visit Austin for a second time for the spring game, though it looks like that trip won't happen now. 4/19 -- Supposedly ended his recruitment for good with Oklahoma commitment. Probably a pretty expected loss for Baylor fans, but devastating nonetheless. |
| Malcolm Brown | Cibolo Steele | Feb. 13 | Offered | 70% |
2/10 -- Extremely solidly built back who runs with a bulldozing mentality and has plenty of speed. Elite speed? No, but plenty of speed. The concern is that he isn't a perfect fit in the Texas scheme. 3/22 -- The change in scheme effectively eliminates any concerns about Brown as his balance, toughness, and speed become more apparent over increased film viewing. Film. Consider any and all doubt removed at this point. 4/19 -- Brown revealed this week ($) that he is looking seriously at Texas, 5/12 -- The update from Brown ($) this week is that Oklahoma is still pursuing him despite having limited numbers in the class, as well as Texas, Florida State, and Alabama. TCU appears to have dropped from the mix. |
| Aaron Green | San Antonio Madison | Feb. 13 |
Offered | 35% |
2/10 -- A late injury and an overall subpar junior season has dropped Green's stock a bit, but his sophomore success was not a fluke -- he's an elite talent. 3/28 -- Expected to visit for the spring game. Reportedly not interested in Oklahoma at this point. Film. 4/19 -- Spoke glowingly about his trip to Nebraska for the spring game, calling it a "10." Does, however, like the new changes in the Texas offense to a downhill running scheme. |
| Herschel Sims | Abilene | Feb. 27 -- did not attend |
Not offered |
Committed to Oklahoma State 4/29/2010 |
2/10 -- Excellent receiver and in the return game. Perhaps best pure burst of all the backs. At around 5-8 or 5-9, his size is a concern and he may not project to be an every-down back in college and his ability to pick up the blitz is questionable at best. 3/1 -- Watching him in the state championship left questions about his pure speed. Was basically told by the Texas coaching staff that he was not going to receive an offer at the second Junior Day and did not attend -- Mack Brown and company simply have Brown and Green ranked more highly. 3/17 -- Doesn't have elite burst/speed and is trapped in an undersized body. Even after a spectacular junior season in terms of production and a 5A state championship, Sims' stock is now falling amidst concerns that he doesn't have elite-level quickness. Film. 4/19 -- Rumored that OU has dropped their offer and TCU could now be in the lead. |
| Bradley Marquez | Odessa | Feb. 27 -- did not attend |
Not offered |
Committed to Texas Tech 5/7/2010 |
Big OU fan experienced as a blocker and receiver, but lacks the explosiveness and top-end speed of the top prospects in the class. Second tier. 4/20 -- OU reportedly done with recruiting at the running back position. 5/12 -- Will play football and baseball at Tech after opting to stay close to home when Oklahoma pulled his offer. |
| Daniel Lasco | The Woodlands | Feb. 27 -- did not attend |
Not offered |
N/A |
2/10 -- Burst onto the scene with a huge sophomore season and has excellent speed, but a little lanky and doesn't have a lot of shake in his hips. Questionable if he is a running back at the next level. Reportedly prefers the Florida schools. Second tier. 3/1 -- Looks extremely fast on film and has one-cut ability to fit the zone scheme and could even project as an athlete. Little chance of receiving an offer at this point. Film. |
| Joe Bergeron | North Mesquite | Feb. 13 | Offered |
Committed to Texas (2/13/10) |
2/10 -- Big kid with excellent feet for his size who could be the short-yardage replacement for Cody Johnson and also spend some time at fullback. Virtual lock for commitment. |
Outstanding offers: Malcolm Brown and Aaron Green
Timetable:
- Brown -- Right before or right after the start of football season. In other words, most likely late August or early September.
- Green -- National Signing Day.
Last Update (following Brandon Williams' commitment to Oklahoma)
Moving forward: The only read news is a more firm timeline from Brown, as there doesn't seem to be any movement in terms of the four teams most in contact with him (Brown doesn't even use the term "favorites") and so any ranking of those four teams (Texas, Oklahoma, Florida State, and Alabama) remains purely speculative. Speculation that of course continues to have the Longhorns in a strong position as the coaching staff continues to be "all in" with Brown in regards to recruiting other running backs.
So there doesn't seem to be a back-up plan in place in case Brown commits to another school at the beginning of the football season. If the coaching staff chooses to pursue another running back at that point won't be known. It's possible that the recruitment of Aaron Green would pick up at that point and the football season would allow the coaches to scour the landscape for any other non-committed running backs or even inquire about the interest of a player committed elsewhere. It's even possible that they would send feelers out to Brandon Williams, most likely through his head coach.
In regards to Green, the best-case scenario in his recruitment is that Brown heads elsewhere and the Texas running game takes off during the fall, giving Green a look a more downhill scheme he seems to prefer and the Longhorns pick up a late commitment from the talented back.
As inconceivable as it may have seemed as the recruiting process heated up with the Junior Days back in February, there are enough running backs on the roster to preclude taking another in the class, especially if the interest from Austin Sefereian-Jenkins is legitimate, for instance, or the coaches decide that they need to take another defensive tackle.
In that case, the focus would turn again to 2012, where the Longhorns would have a better shot at landing a top prospect like Johnathan Gray or Spring Dekaney's Trey Williams, an undersized sparkplug of a back who has excellent speed and physicality and told the Rivals Aggie site that he's "really liking UT ($)." If Texas does lose out on both Brown and Green, expect the pressure to ratchet up on Major Applewhite, although the beloved former quarterback will surely remain in his current position at Texas until he decides to leave or Greg Davis retires.