3-star DB Chris Brown commits to the Texas Longhorns

The Texas Longhorns managed to land at least one halfAlief Elsik duo on Wednesday morning, as defensive back Chris Brown committed to the Longhorns. The 5'11, 183-pounder picked Texas over his other two finalists, Florida and Michigan.

Brown also took official visits to Arizona State in late November and UCLA in early October.

Though Brown's recruitment wasn't as mysterious as those of defensive tackle Marcel Southall and running back Kyle Porter, there wasn't a strong consensus on where Brown might be headed when he released his top three schools after hosting Texas head coach Charlie Strong on an in-home visit in the middle of January.

But that all changed after taking an official visit to Austin the following weekend and then returning a week later with Jackson on an unofficial visit. Earlier in the process, he'd certainly been willing to demonstrate his interest in the Longhorns, visiting for the Junior Day last February and then in June, making the Under the Lights camp in July, and taking an unofficial visit with Jackson in November. The June visit resulted in his long-awaited offer from Texas.

As a result of all those trips to Austin -- most especially the last two -- he looked like a lock for the Longhorns in the final days before his decision and may have been one of the silent commits teased by wide receiver pledge Reggie Hemphill-Mapps:

Even if Brown isn't considered a prospect on the level of the two main safety targets down the stretch, Brandon Jones and Deontay Anderson, he does bring an intriguing skill set to the table that has kept him on the Texas radar -- he's physical enough to play safety, but has the instincts and ball skills to play some cornerback in coverage, as evidenced by his five interceptions as a junior. Brown also broke up five passes and forced two fumbles.

Brown's testing numbers at the Dallas The Opening regional camp present an interesting profile of athleticism, as his 4.47 shuttle time was rather poor, but he did post a 35.7-inch vertical leap, a strong effort. Given the latter result, the former numbers may not accurately reflect his change-of-direction ability. In a worst-case scenario, just give him the label of football player and move on, because his offer list, film, and rankings all suggest that he's among the top 30 safeties in the country.

Considered a consensus three-star prospect, Brown is the No. 431 player nationally, the No. 26 safety, and the No. 68 player in the state of Texas, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. Throughout his recruitment, he accumulated nearly 25 offers, including scholarships from Colorado, Colorado State, Houston, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisville, Maryland, Michigan State, Missouri, Oklahoma, Purdue, South Carolina, and Wisconsin, along with the schools that hosted him on official visits.

Brown's decision made him the fifth National Signing Day pledge for the Longhorns, a number that equaled the combined efforts of Strong over his first two years at Texas. The class now features 21 members and ranks No. 1 in the Big 12 and No. 11 in the 247Sports Composite rankings.