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The Texas Longhorns hosted an important visitor on Saturday in 2017 Houston Episcopal defensive tackle Marvin Wilson and used the opportunity to extend an offer to the state's top prospect in that class:
Blessed to be offered by the University of Texas pic.twitter.com/NTJhCzvM4y
— El Papi Grande (@my_moment83) April 4, 2015
Wilson described the visit was "amazing" and said it felt like home. The 6'4, 300-pounder is thought to have a high opinion of the Longhorns program already:
Even though only a handful of other 2017 prospects currently hold offers from the Longhorns as head coach Charlie Strong and his staff focus on continued evaluation of the 2016 group, extending one to Wilson was a no brainer -- he's the No. 13 prospect nationally, the top defensive tackle, and the top player in Texas in the early 2017 rankings.
He also holds eight other offers already -- a list that will likely grow quickly during the spring -- including Florida State, Louisville, Michigan, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, UCLA, and USC. So that's an impressive list for such a young prospect, though Wilson is one who looks like a can't-miss player at this stage.
Besides making plays under the Friday night lights, Wilson also showed out in camp settings this spring, including winning MVP honors at a Next Level Athlete Showcase and then going "beast mode" at The Opening New Orleans regional camp recently in a dominant performance that could eventually himself an invitation to The Opening Finals.
Wilson burst onto the scene as a young player, recording 15 tackles for loss and four sacks as a freshman before truly breaking out as a sophomore, when he made 67 tackles, with 19 tackles for loss and 15 sacks. There's been plenty of Marvin Wilson beast mode going around, in other words.
Besides making the offer to Wilson a no brainer, that production resulting from his combination of ideal size, mass, strength, and quickness also makes him a key target at what is a need position every year. So put Wilson right up there with Denton Guyer quarterback Shawn Robinson as the two most important 2017 targets right now.