Last week’s news of 2017 tight end Major Tennison’s decommittment from the Texas Longhorns assured one thing — the ‘Horns will have a void to fill upon Caleb Bluiett’s graduation. With the current crop of tight ends on the roster, which includes Andrew Beck, Blake Whiteley and newcomer Peyton Aucoin, there are options, but much to be desired in terms of proven productivity.
To that end, the primary fix is hope of an unforeseen emergence unless head coach Charlie Strong can pluck some talent from the currently unfruitful recruiting trail.
Bearing in mind Texas recently capitalized on the current unraveling at Baylor, the same could be in order for Kedrick James. The Waco La Vega product decommitted from Baylor May 26, but Texas has never been James’ priority. That could now change if Texas did the same for him, but James recently told ($) 247Sports, “I’m keeping a close eye on A&M, no so much UT.”
While the ‘Horns offered the four-star tight end in May 2015, James never managed to make the 100-mile trip down I-35 to visit the Forty Acres. With tight end now being a necessity for Texas to address, that will need to change as soon as possible before James calls College Station his next home — assuming that the staff is still interested.
Another name to watch, and a much more likely target, is Chance McLeod. The three-star prospect out of Victoria East has been on campus a handful of times, including unofficial visits in April and September and attending the Junior Day in February. McLeod doesn’t currently hold a Texas offer, but will be in attendance for Under the Lights this weekend and considering the current circumstances, that could easily change. McLeod holds five offers and if the Longhorns were to extend one, it would be, by far, his most noteworthy to date.
Aside from James and McLeod, the tight end recruiting pool looks a bit dry at the moment for Texas, though that could certainly change.
Currently, only three 2017 tight ends hold Texas offers, which are Tennison, James, and Notre Dame commit Brock Wright.
Obviously, it’s not too late until National Signing Day so Houston commit Parker Eichenberger, Texas A&M commit Camron Horry, Canada Prep Football Academy product Blake Williams and unranked prospect Shay Rodgers could become names to know, but with those players there’s no known mutual interest at this point.
Luckily for Texas, Strong and his staff have proven to be more-than-successful closers thus far in Austin and if Strong wants a tight end, he likely has one on board when National Signing Day rolls around.