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At this point last month, Aldine MacArthur cornerback Joshua Eaton had just two offers to his name — Rutgers and Baylor.
Then, seemingly overnight, Eaton emerged as a national name and one of the fastest-rising recruits in his class. Between Feb. 1 and Feb. 20, Eaton nearly averaged an offer a day, collecting 16 in fewer than three full weeks.
“Right now, the recruiting process is going real good for me,” Eaton told Burnt Orange Nation. “The man upstairs is just blessing me everyday with many opportunities to play college football, and I thank him for that.”
In addition to invitations rolling in from Florida, TCU, Oklahoma, LSU, and Oregon, just to name a select few, Texas is among that many to offer Eaton as of late, and the way in which the Longhorns presented the offer was unique, to say the least.
Congratulations @JoshuaEaton_1 and awesome job Coach @washjwash #Hookem @SuperK_TFB pic.twitter.com/njnLVJHnsy
— The Trophy Coach (@RoSimonJr) February 16, 2019
“Receiving that Texas offer was exciting. That was a big offer for me,” Eaton said. “It’s UT, the biggest school in Texas, really. I’m blessed for it and give all the glory to God.”
Eaton’s Texas offer came while he was in town touring the Forty Acres for the Longhorns Junior Day on Feb. 16. Just one short week later, Eaton was back around burnt orange, visiting Texas for the second time in as many weekends.
Everything is Bigger in Texas #JoshTheIslander pic.twitter.com/xJl9Ztyljr
— JE 1 (@JoshuaEaton_1) February 24, 2019
As his back-to-back weekend visits indicate, Eaton has tremendous interest in Texas, and that’s for a variety of reasons. Beyond Eaton dubbing Texas as the biggest school in the state, which he alluded to again during his latest visit, the 10-win effort last season caught Eaton’s attention.
“They had a big season last year. They went 10-4, 7-2 in the Big 12, and they beat Georgia. They surprised everybody with that,” Eaton said. “They have the players to do anything.”
“This upcoming season, I want to see Tom Herman do the same thing he did this past season,” he added. “They have a dog at corner stepping up, Anthony Cook, that’s who I look up to.”
Unsurprisingly, Eaton told BON that Texas is one of his top teams at this point, as is Oklahoma, LSU, and Florida. The Longhorns, however, are now considered his early leader, as Tom Herman’s program owns each of Eaton’s early Crystal Ball projections.
If you take a look at Eaton and analyze the type of player he is, you’ll see someone that embodies what Herman and his staff want at that cornerback position. Listed at 6’2, 175 pounds, Eaton is a long, rangy kid with tremendous speed and has receiver-like ball skills. His big-play ability on the defensive side of the ball makes him a high commodity at the moment and could potentially take him to even greater heights as a gridiron standout.
Beyond his sheer skill set, though, Eaton is most proud of his intangibles.
“I bring leadership, athleticism, and a dog mentality,” Eaton said, and his film supports those sentiments.
Eaton is currently unranked in the 247Sports Composite, though Rivals and ESPN each label him as a three-star prospect.