3-star JUCO OT Mikey Grandy signs with Texas over UCLA

A last-minute push by the Texas Longhorns was enough to convince College of San Mateo offensive tackle Mikey Grandy that Austin was the place for him, as he officially signed with the ‘Horns on Wednesday night.

The ‘Horns had been the first major program to offer to Palo Alto product at the end of November, but the home-state Bruins then entered the mix three days later and changed the complexion of Grandy’s recruitment.

After the 6’5, 305-pounder visited Westwood on December 9 for an official visit, all the momentum pointed to UCLA. However, an official visit to Austin last weekend was eventually enough to convince Grandy to play his college football for Texas.

Grandy took an unusual route to Austin — he was a full qualifier out of high school who signed with San Jose State, but eventually opted to go to junior college after taking a year off from school. When he signed with the Spartans in 2016, he was ranked as a consensus three-star prospect and the No. 106 offensive tackle nationally.

Since he has only spent one season in junior college, Grandy has four years to exhaust his remaining three seasons of eligibility, which makes him even more appealing as a prospect. Not to mention the fact that he’s also a mid-year enrollee, so he’ll be on campus for spring practice.

A left tackle at College of San Mateo, Grandy has a chance to play that same position for Texas, as he show some solid feet in pass protection on his highlights and looks like a strong athlete. However, he’ll have to learn to play lower in his pass set or opponents will bull rush him in college — keeping that base is extremely important.

He’s also physically mature for a player who will be a sophomore this season, so he should also be strong enough to hold up in the running game. When finishing plays, Grandy certainly shows a nastiness and a willingness to play to and even past the whistle.

Grandy is a consensus three-star prospect ranked as the No. 48 junior college prospect, the No. 8 offensive tackle, and the No. 5 player in California, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.

Texas is still pursuing Arizona Western College standout Jahmir Johnson as the coaching staff efforts to find an instant-impact prospect to replace departed All-American left tackle Connor Williams.