Former Texas A&M OT Trevor Elbert on the Texas recruiting radar

Remarkably, a football career once deemed over by doctors is continuing and could lead a Lone Star State native back to Texas, as Ventura College offensive tackle Trevor Elbert is now on the recruiting radar of the Texas Longhorns.

A teammate of former Longhorns safety DeShon Elliott at Rockwall-Heath, Elbert signed with the Texas A&M Aggies out of high school in 2015 after he was honored as a US Army All-American. Texas pursued Elbert, having extended one of seven offers to the big offensive tackle, but the nation’s No. 236 prospect opted for College Station.

In high school, a shoulder injury cost Elbert most of his senior season. After redshirting at Texas A&M, he underwent surgery in 2016 that head coach Kevin Sumlin announced would end his career. During the summer, however, Elbert was cleared by doctors and enrolled at the California junior college.

Since then, Elbert has picked up offers from Minnesota and SMU, while also garnering attention from Texas offensive line coach Derek Warehime, who is scouring the country for tackle prospects.

The communication between the two parties hasn’t resulted in an offer yet, but there was a report out on Monday that Elbert will take an official visit to Austin. If Elbert does end up making that trip, it’s likely that an offer would precede it or occur on the trip.

Since Elbert is a mid-year enrollee who will graduate from Ventura College in December, that official visit will need to happen in the near future — the dead period starts on December 18.

This weekend, Miami is set to receive an official visit, leaving only one visit weekend before the dead period begins.

Texas is currently pursuing three other junior college offensive tackles, but Elbert’s previous familiarity with the school and connections to the state, coupled with a relatively thin offer list at this moment, make him an appealing prospect.

If Elbert’s shoulder is fully healthy and the Longhorns coaches feel like it can hold up through two more seasons of college football, then extending an offer would seem like an easy decision.