Post-Early Signing Day Texas recruiting notes

By flipping three recruits on Early Signing Day and landing Washington offensive tackle Malik Agbo, the Texas Longhorns continued an impressive run in recruiting to vault the 2022 recruiting class to No. 5 nationally in the 247Sports Composite team rankings.

Here are a few recruiting notes to clean up some loose ends and look ahead to how the Longhorns might close out the class.

• Henderson (Nev.) Liberty athlete Anthony Jones signed with Oregon on Wednesday after Texas decided to take Austin Westlake edge Ethan Burke instead.

• The future is less clear for New Orleans (La.) Warren Easton cornerback Ronald Lewis, who has not signed during the early period. Officially, Lewis remains committed to Texas, but now has to decide whether he’ll wait to see if the Longhorns have a spot for him to sign in February, take a blueshirt at Texas to count towards the 2023 class, or reopen his recruitment and look to land somewhere else. Lewis was a Colorado commit before opting for Texas instead and also took an official visit to Oregon State over the summer.
• Five-star Frisco Liberty wide receiver Evan Stewart signed with Texas A&M on Thursday, ending his unpredictable recruitment and any hopes of Texas getting him back in the fold.

• With Stewart officially heading to College Station, the recruit to watch at the wide receiver position is Fort Bend Hightower’s Caleb Douglas, who picked up an offer from Texas last week and has not signed during the early period. Douglas is a former USC commit who also took official visits to Baylor and Virginia Tech during the summer. The Longhorns have two signees at the position, but will the staff pursue Douglas seriously?
• Former Notre Dame wide receiver pledge CJ Williams is also unsigned after decommitting from the Fighting Irish on Monday, but it looks like his focus is on remaining on California following official visits to UCLA and USC. The Trojans appear to be the favorite at the moment.
• Wide receiver may ultimately be a position that the Longhorns choose to address through the transfer portal. Oklahoma’s Theo Wease is a notable name still on the market, but so far there haven’t been any wide receiver seriously linked to Texas.
• Along the offensive line, former Western Kentucky offensive tackle Mason Brooks is an intriguing player. A two-time all-conference performer, Brooks is from Cedar Park and plays a position that Texas could look to upgrade through the portal. But his connection to Zach Kittley could help him land at Texas Tech and there aren’t any indications of interest from Texas so far.
• With only one interior linebacker signee, that’s arguably a remaining position of need in the class. Five-star Harold Perkins is set to announce at the Under Armour game in early January, but there’s not a lot of optimism for Texas in that recruitment. So the most likely option there might be Alabama product TJ Dudley, a former Oregon commit who took an official visit to Texas over the summer and remains unsigned.
• A name to watch in the transfer portal is former Ohio State defensive back Ryan Watts, who was recruited by Texas in the 2020 class out of Little Elm. The former consensus four-star prospect started one game in 2021 and had two interceptions in a largely reserve role. Watts was a cornerback out of high school, but if Texas is seriously interested in him, a move to safety would help fill the pressing need to land a player at the position with some experience.
• Another player it would make sense for Texas to pursue is former Iowa State safety Isheem Young, who recorded 106 tackles and three interceptions in 24 games for the Cyclones.
• Ahead of Denver Harris announcing his decision after Galena Park North Shore plays for a state title on Saturday, Louisiana athlete Kendrick Law is committing on Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. Central. Law is a top-100 prospect who took an official visit to Texas early this month, but Alabama is seen as the favorite to land the 5’11, 195-pounder.

[Update]: Law is heading to Tuscaloosa.