4-star Texas QB target Devin Brown commits to Ohio State

On Wednesday evening, Draper (Utah) Corner Canyon quarterback and Texas Longhorns target Devin Brown committed to the Ohio State Buckeyes one week after decommitting from the USC Trojans.

Brown spent more than a year committed to the Trojans, a pledge he made less than three weeks after receiving his offer. He maintained his pledge to USC for a little more than nine weeks after Clay Helton was fired as the head coach.

The 6’3, 189-pounder officially stuck with his USC pledge over that stretch even as he considered other options, including taking official visits to Texas, Notre Dame, and Ohio State. The Longhorns offered Brown in October and hosted him for the game against the Jayhawks earlier this month as head coach Steve Sarkisian increased his pursuit of a second quarterback in the 2022 recruiting class to join California standout Maalik Murphy. Then quarterbacks coach AJ Milwee visited him several days ago.

Last week, Sarkisian publicly opened up the offseason quarterback competition after the recent struggles of junior Casey Thompson and redshirt freshman Hudson Card as freshman Charles Wright fell off the depth chart in favor of walk-on Ben Ballard.

But the opportunity to compete for early playing time against Thompson, Card, and 2022 commitment Maalik Murphy wasn’t enough for the Longhorns to overcome the Buckeyes despite CJ Stroud’s strong performance as a redshirt freshman after winning the job.

There is a better chance for Brown to earn a spot on the depth chart after third-string redshirt freshman quarterback Jack Miller entered the NCAA transfer portal, but it may be difficult for Brown to beat out 2021 signee Quinn Ewers, who was elevated to Miller’s spot after Miller was arrested for operating a vehicle while impaired.

Brown’s decision illustrates the lack of traction that Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian’s pitch is getting with some top-flight recruits after a 5-7 season that featured a six-game losing streak, the program’s longest since 1956.

And now the Longhorns may need to find a quarterback in the transfer portal to add depth to the 2022 roster.