Key TE target Peyton Aucoin commits to the Texas Longhorns

New Orleans (La.) Brother Martin tight end Pyeton Aucoin's Friday visit with the Texas Longhorns was enough to convince the consensus three-star prospec to pledge to the Horns over the Florida Gators and others:

#Hook'Em #LetsRide pic.twitter.com/3rVCwNCHbb

— Peyton Aucoin (@PeytonAucoin1) July 25, 2015

Great way to start off this weekend! #LetsRide

— Charlie Strong (@Strong_TexasFB) July 25, 2015

"When I visited, it just gave me an at home feeling," Aucoin told Horns247. "It was going to come down to which school gave made me feel at home. Coach (Charlie) Strong reminds me a lot of my high school coach. And I love the history behind the program as well."

After the commitments of Colorado tight end Jack Stoll to Nebraska and Aucoin's teammate Irvin Smith to Texas A&M, Aucoin emerged as the key target at the position because there's only one uncommitted prospect among the eight other tight ends offered by the Horns so far -- Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) American Heritage's Nick Eubanks, who hasn't shown any significant interest in Texas since picking up his offer in May.

Texas hosted LSU pledge Jamal Pettigrew at Under the Lights last weekend and could receive a visit from Texas Tech pledge Donte Coleman, so there is at least a slight chance of flipping one of those prospects. Since position coach Jeff Traylor wants to take two recruits, landing Aucoin and then flipping one of the two receiving specialists is the ideal scenario that now seems much more possible following Aucoin's pledge.

He's is the No. 949 prospect overall, the No. 41 tight end, and the No. 48 player in Louisiana, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. Other schools to offer include Arizona State, Michigan, Missouri, NC State, and Ole Miss.

The battle between the Longhorns and Gators was an interesting one -- both are proud programs that have fallen on hard times in recent years. Both feature new head coaches selling a vision for the future. In this case, Traylor and the Horns won out for the important pledge.

There's now a blocking specialist at tight end in the class who may have some upside in the passing game if he gets more opportunities in college than he does at Brother Martin. So the floor for Aucoin could be a Geoff Swaim approximation with the upside of the player the Dallas Cowboys think Swaim will become, especially since Aucoin will have twice the eligibility at Texas.

Aucoin is the eighth commit in the 2016 class, which now ranks No. 44 nationally and No. 5 in the Big 12, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.