4-star DL Jaray Bledsoe commits to Texas

The Texas Longhorns continue to add talented bodies in the interior with the commitment of four-star defensive lineman Jaray Bledsoe.

Bledsoe was a two-way star while playing for the Bremond Tigers a year ago, notching 104 tackles and 17 tackles for loss on defense while adding in 1,259 yards and 21 touchdowns as a running back. His performance earned him four stars and a No. 123 ranking overall as well as the No. 23 spot in the state of Texas, per the 247Sports Composite.

At 6-foot-4 and 270 pounds, the talented defender has 14 offers including the Texas A&M Aggies, the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Oklahoma Sooners, but only took one official visit before making his decision.

Bledsoe looked like a man among boys playing 2A ball for the Tigers, helping propel them to the second round of the playoffs. After changing schools in the offseason and moving to Marlin, the UIL ruled him ineligible for the upcoming season.

He becomes the fourth recruiting win of the cycle for defensive line coach Bo Davis, joining Kristopher Ross, Aaron Bryant and Zac Swanson in the defensive line group. Bledsoe is commitment No. 19 for the Longhorns in the 2022 cycle, moving the Texas class up three spots to the No. 7 class in the country.

Analysis (by Daniel Seahorn):

Bledsoe is an impressive prospect for a couple different reasons for me. For one, half of his resume for the most part is ignored in his junior highlights. Bledsoe rushed for over 1200 yards and 21 touchdowns lining up at running back and you see two clips of him on offense. They are both hysterical respectively, but that is a very small sample size for a pretty impressive accomplishment. Secondly, it is clear that Bledsoe is far from a finished product and he is still playing at a high level and showing great effort in doing so in the snaps I was able to watch. When you are built like Bledsoe is and you have to play both ways, it is almost a given that you are going to see that snap count take its toll over the course of the game, but you are consistently seeing him exert lots of energy in pursuit chasing down ball carriers. From the snap Bledsoe shows the ability to get off the ball with urgency and displays good play strength, as opposing offensive linemen are absolutely overwhelmed with him physically. Part of the downside I see currently with how Bledsoe plays is that he has a tendency to let his pad level be a little high and he needs to improve playing with his hands. He has been able to get by on natural ability and athleticism (and quite well I might add), but that is something he will coached up hard on at the next level when the talent on the other side of the ball is greater than or equal. The clip at the 51st second of this junior cutups is the epitome of what he can be when he puts everything together. He gets off the snap well, pad level is low, he gets skinny through the double team, finds the ball carrier with his eyes, exerts good effort, and finishes the play. There is a reason a lot of big time programs were chasing Bledsoe and there is a reason Texas pushed hard to get him in the boat relatively early. The upside is right there on tape to be seen and I have to think a guy like Bo Davis is licking his chops awaiting Bledsoe’s arrival in Austin.