Jordan Whittington’s commitment should help push Texas recruiting momentum

In the 2015 recruiting class, Malik Jefferson’s magnetic personality helped earn him comparisons to Tim Tebow from then-head coach Charlie Strong. During the current cycle, Jordan Whittington could take on a similar role for the Texas Longhorns.

The consensus five-star wide receiver from Cuero is a respected personality around the state with ties to some of the top players. Now he’s solidly on the burnt orange side.

Whittington also understands the subtle touch needed to advocate for Texas without pressuring his peers:

There are several dynamics going on here — beyond the addition of Whittington to the Texas recruiting class, the recent visits from key targets over the last several weeks have helped to reverse some early Texas A&M recruiting momentum in the state.

In that way, the addition of Whittington came at a fortuitous time for the Longhorns.

And while psychoanalyzing the intent beyond the tweets from uncommitted recruits requires a guessing game that in large part involves acknowledging the pure desire for attention, any time the state’s No. 1 prospect echoes Texas Director of Recruiting Bryan Carrington, that’s a good thing:

Whatever Texas is paying Carrington now after his recent promotion, the star recruiter might still be worth more.

Since momentum can often beget further momentum, other recruits are taking notice, like 2020 Carrollton Hebron safety Darius Snow:

Of course, there have been plenty of recent Oklahoma projections in the 247Sports Crystal Ball for Young and his teammate, fellow defensive back Jamal Morris. And there’s no indication yet that Green’s weekend visit knocked the Aggies out of the top position in his recruitment.

What seems clear, however, is that Whittington’s commitment and recent visits from players like Green and fellow offensive tackles Tyler Johnson and Javonne Shepherd, in addition to the critical Junior Day that vaulted Texas make into contention with Young and Morris, have checked some key boxes in the wide-angle perspective on the start of the 2019 recruiting class.