How Good Are Those 17 Pledges? Who's Left?
I've written so much about the three outstanding =ecruits the Texas coach are
still seriously pursuing that I thought I would go =ack and go into some
details about the 17 outstanding pledges already =eceived.
The three juniors (who will be seniors when football =eason starts) who still
occupy the top spots on the Longhorns' wish list are =Ts Jamarkus McFarland
of Lufkin and Calvin Howell of San Antonio Warrren =nd DE Devon Kennard of
Desert Vista HS in Phoenix.
I'll write more about them, later, but first, let's =ook at the 17 who are
already firmly committed.
QB Garrett Gilbert of Austin Lake Travis and RB Chris =haley of Madisonville
are super recruits.
Gilbert threw for 52 TDs in leading his team to the =lass 4A State
Championship. He is the most accurate passer I have =ver seen in high school, and he can
make a little yardage with his feet, too.
Whaley rushed for more than 2,000 yards as a =ophomore and did it again as a
junior, and his
offensive line doesn't have any blue chip guys or =ven semi blue chip guys.
Both have outstanding size. Gilbert is almost 6-4 and =eighs in the
180-to-190 range, and Whaley is 6-3 and his weight =luctuates between 220 and 230.
They are the state's best players at their positions =nd I doubt if there is
a better QB in the nation than Gilbert, and there =ight not be a better RB
than Whaley.
I was saying that before they committed to Texas, =oo.
Some people say Whaley might get too big to be a =unning back. I don't think
some extra pounds would move him unless they slow him =own, and he has the
frame to carry more weight without it affecting his =peed.
Some other Longhorn recruits might join them in =he super class this season.
In fact, all 17 Longhorn recruits have talent and =ould blossom into
something special.
Some of them will and some of them won't, but the =reat thing about this
class is that there are no so-called who-dats in =t.
Offensively, WR Greg Timmons of Aldine Eisenhower and =Ls Mason Walters of
Wolfforth Frenship, Thomas Ashcraft of Cedar Hill, =arrett Porter of Odessa
Permian and Paden Kelley of Austin Lake Travis and TE =arrett Matthews of Galena
Park North Shore all have a chance to be outstanding =ollege players.
All of them except Matthews are on at least one =ational top 100 list and
Matthews was chosen for one of the All-Star =ames.
Timmons is 6-3 and fast and sure-handed, Matthews was =uch a good blocker
that most of North Shore's plays went right through =he holes he created and all
of those OLs are big and strong and quick on their =eet.
Defensively, end Alex Okafor of Pflugerville was a =ig part of the reason
Pflugerville reached the Class 5A state =inals.
Fellow end Kyle Kriegel of Elysian Fields also was a =tar on a playoff team
that went deep into the state playoffs. He's a big =nd who might grow into a DT.
The other DE, Dominique Jones of Kilgore, is really =uick and his motor runs
all the time.
At LB, Tariq Allen of Irving MacArthur is the best =ne in the state and
Patrick Nkwopara of South Grand Prairie might be the =astest LB in the state.
The three DBs are Marcus Davis of Clear Creek, Eryon =arnett of Euless
Trinity and Ken Vaccaro of Brownwood. All three are =t least 6-1 and 180 pounds, and
all three are fast.
They won't all be great players, of course, but each =f them has what it
takes to develop into one.
All of them had numerous offers and all of them are =till getting mail from
other colleges trying to get them to change their =ommitment from Texas to
their school.
The junior class is an outstanding class and the =onghorns landed the best
player at nearly every position.
If they can get McFarland and Howell, they will have =he two best DTs, too,
and they should get Howell and have a very good =hance to get McFarland.
Despite rumors you might be hearing that McFarland is =oing to LSU, the
Longhorns are still in very good shape with the =ufkin star.
I don't bet on recruiting because it would be nuts to =ry to figure out what
a bunch of 17-year-old kids are going to do, but if I =ad to set a betting
line, I'd make it 90-10 Texas would get Howell, =-0-40 on McFarland and 40-60 on
Kennard.
The Texas coaches have always recruited well, but the =lasses they signed in
2003 and 2004 were not as deep in players who =ontributed a lot as most of
their other classes.
The 2005 class, led by Colt McCoy and Jamaal Charles, =as a small class, but
a good one.
The 2006, 2007 and 2008 classes were very good ones =nd the 2009 class is
going to be a great one, particularly if the =onghorns close by getting Howell
and McFarland and possibly Kennard.
The three-loss seasons Texas experienced in 2006 and =007 were good seasons,
but not as good as the ones the team had been =xperiencing.
The 2008 season could go either way, but those =ecruits from 2006 through
2009 will be the ones playing the next few seasons, =nd they should be able to
contend for national honors.
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