Texas targeting local S Devin Lemear

There’s now a second local safety product on the radar for the Texas Longhorns after head coach Tom Herman and his staff extender an offer to Manor’s Devin Lemear on Saturday.

The Longhorns are already considered a strong contender for LBJ’s Andrew Mukuba, who holds a national offer list, and may be emerging as the favorite for Lemear.

The 6’0, 170-pounder currently holds 19 offers, including Baylor, Iowa State, Missouri, TCU, and Texas Tech. As a consensus three-star prospect ranked just inside the top 1,000 players nationally and as the No. 74 safety, Lemear isn’t as highly considered as other Texas safety targets like Mukuba and Kennedale’s JD Coffey.

However, any prospect with offers from head coaches like Gary Patterson, Matt Campbell, and Dave Aranda does merit some further consideration beyond his rankings. In fact, Lemear committed to the Horned Frogs in late January, just days after receiving his TCU, but reopened his recruitment in early April when Baylor offered.

Lemear was credited with 59 tackles, two interceptions, and one tackle for loss during his junior season at Manor. At 6’0, he has good size for the position and appears to have a long wingspan that will fill out in a college strength and conditioning program. Despite his listed weight of 170 pounds, Lemear shows some pop as a tackler, benefits from his wingspan, and likes to attack the football to try to create fumbles. He profiles as the type of safety who makes wide receivers worried when they come over the middle.

The Manor product is also versatile enough to make plays in coverage — he has enough speed, fluidity, and instincts to consistently put himself around the football, where his length helps him break up passes. If there’s one area where Lemear could show improvement as a senior, it’s in turning some of those plays into interceptions. There is one high-level example of that on his junior film in which he elevates to intercept a pass in the end zone on a corner route, but he’s not accomplishing that regularly given how often he’s in position to make interceptions.

Where does Texas stand right now? Two 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions were cast in favor of the Longhorns in the direct aftermath of Lemear receiving his offer over the weekend. So don’t be surprised if Lemear opts to stay close to home and join the 2021 Texas recruiting class.