Star 2016 S Deontay Anderson visiting Texas

Recruiting efforts in the 2016 class for the Texas Longhorns have started off slowly as the staff continues 2015 evaluations, but important Manvel safety target Deontay Anderson visited Wednesday:

OTW to UT #HookEm

— Deontay Anderson#⃣1⃣ (@DTRAIN__) June 11, 2014

The nation's No. 2 safety in the early rankings, Anderson is the No. 5 player in Texas and the No. 23 player in the country by 247Sports.

A visitor for the state track meet with the Manvel relay team back in early May, Anderson's visit has to be good news for head coach Charlie Strong and his assistants, as Manvel is a program that has been producing a lot of talent in recent years, but other than the commitment from fellow 2016 teammate Reggie Hemphill that lasted until Strong pulled his offer, the Horns haven't had much interest or success in recruiting players from the school.

So that's the wide-angle view of his visit. The more narrow view is that any trips to campus are key with a player who currently looks like one of the best prospects in the country and backed it up by winning the defensive back MVP award at the Houston NFTC in a loaded group that included two players in Gilmer's Kris Boyd and West Orange-Stark's Deionte Thompson who eventually earned invitations to The Opening. Were Anderson a member of the 2015 group, he could well have earned an invitation based on his performance.

He's also considered an SEC lean early with the ubiquitous Aggies leading the way in his 247Sports Crystal Ball projections and the Crimson Tide trailing with one prediction. The 6'1, 192-pounder also took a recent visit to LSU and holds offers from Auburn, Baylor, Clemson, Colorado, Houston, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan State, Mississippi State, Missouri, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Purdue, Stanford, TCU, UCLA, Virginia Tech, and Washington State.

The national offer lists back up the early rankings and putting it all together, Anderson should be one of the top targets in the entire 2016 class for Texas. The experience possessed by a staff that features a head coach who played defensive back, a defensive coordinator who played defensive back and coached the position in the NFL, and a competent defensive backs coach on top of the rest should make this a group that can sell prospects on their teaching skills and the value of playing at DBU.

If not, the pressure will be on those three to turn more lightly-recruited prospects into college stars. Better to land the Andersons of the world.