Recruiting news for ags and horns

[BTEXDAD]

A&M COMMITTED/NOT YET SIGNED

Pos Ht Wt 40 Hometown

Frank Avery TE 6-4 230 - 4.8 Galveston, TX
Daniel Baker OL 6-6 285 5.1 Fort Bend, TX
Ben Bass DE 6-4 263 4.8 Plano, TX
Michael Ebbitt DE 6-5 245 4.7 Westlake Village, CA
Evan Eike OL 6-4 320 5.4 Bryan, TX
Roger Holland WR 5-11 178 4.4 Houston, TX
Shawnbrey McNeal RB 5-9 181 4.45 Dallas, TX
Joseph Reese RB 6-2 190 4.4 Pflugerville, TX
Lionel Smith DB 6-1 180 4.4 Bellaire, TX
Bradley Stephens RB 5-10 185 4.41 McAllen, TX
Derrick Stephens LB 6-3 220 4.58 Houston, TX
Ryan Tannehill QB 6-4 193 4.63 Big Spring, TX
Nick Trice WR 6-2 188 4.44 Killeen, TX
Brandon Williams ATH 6-4 210 4.5 Beaumont, TX
Charles Young LB 6-3 215 4.67 Mamou, LA


U of Texas
COMMITTED/NOT YET SIGNED

Pos Ht Wt 40 Hometown
Sam Acho DE 6-2 250 4.7 Dallas, TX
Tray Allen OL 6-4 305 5.3 Grand Prairie, TX
John Brantley QB 6-3 190 4.64 Ocala, FL
Curtis Brown ATH 6-0 174 4.4 Gilmer, TX
Russell Carter DE 6-3 230 4.7 Houston, TX
John Chiles ATH 6-1 195 4.4 Mansfield, TX
Brandon Collins ATH 6-0 167 4.4 Brenham, TX
Jerrod Gooch OL 6-4 290 5.58 Vidor, TX
Kyle Hix OL 6-6 290 5.3 Aledo, TX
Ahmard Howard TE 6-4 225 4.67 Brenham, TX
Michael Huey OL 6-5 290 5.4 Kilgore, TX
Blaine Irby TE 6-2 224 4.58 Ventura, CA
Cody Johnson RB 5-10 225 4.6 Waller, TX
Andre Jones DT 6-4 305 5.66 El Paso, TX
Aundre McGaskey OL 6-4 290 5.2 La Marque, TX
Matt Nader OL 6-6 295 5.13 Austin, TX
Zack Pianalto TE 6-4 215 4.63 Springdale, AR
Keenan Robinson LB 6-3 211 4.5 Plano, TX
Earl Thomas ATH 5-10 174 4.4 Orange, TX
Ben Wells DB 6-0 174 4.45 Beaumont, TX
Foswhitt Whittaker RB 5-9 170 4.4 Pearland, TX
Michael Wilcoxon DT 6-2 271 4.78 Aledo, TX
Malcolm Williams WR 6-3 205 4.43 Garland, TX

Per Rivals.com, both teams doing pretty well on verbal recruits. Texas ranked #1 overall and A&M ranked 20. But believe it or not Aggies are #2 in Big 12 (which may not speak well for Big 12's overall recruiting). However, as I've mentioned b4 there are a lot of uncommitted 4 and 5 star players and the rankings may change dramatically later in year.

[AggieJohn]

guarantee you this changes...recruits pull their commitment so quickly now a days

[big daddy russ]

Does anyone have a grasp of what the Ags may do with Shawnbrey McNeal? They already have two four-star RB's committed (McNeal's a three-star) along with four RB's from last year's class.

McNeal may be the fastest player on the team the second he steps out on the field. Does anyone know if he could possibly see a switch to defense, or maybe receiver? Or would he be better just staying at RB?

[g$$]

Russ, I don't know for sure but I have been told they plan to get him on campus & go from there. I agree the RB position is solid right now, but defensive team speed is lacking. I hope they move him to DB & get that speed & athleticism on the field. Same with Brandon Williams.

He's an athlete pure & simple. Maybe the fastest player in the state. Just get him on campus, & more just like him. You know, RC Slocum was moving DBs to LB, & LBs to DL, etc. long before Jimmy Johnson started doing it at OK State & later Miami. Obviously this takes time & added weight/strength. Johnny Holland (All American LB) was a hs QB, William Thomas the same, etc. Philosophy of getting best athletes on the field & speed kills. I wish A&M would get back to that.

[big daddy russ]

Originally posted by g$$
Russ, I don't know for sure but I have been told they plan to get him on campus & go from there. I agree the RB position is solid right now, but defensive team speed is lacking. I hope they move him to DB & get that speed & athleticism on the field. Same with Brandon Williams.

He's an athlete pure & simple. Maybe the fastest player in the state. Just get him on campus, & more just like him. You know, RC Slocum was moving DBs to LB, & LBs to DL, etc. long before Jimmy Johnson started doing it at OK State & later Miami. Obviously this takes time & added weight/strength. Johnny Holland (All American LB) was a hs QB, William Thomas the same, etc. Philosophy of getting best athletes on the field & speed kills. I wish A&M would get back to that.
That's what I was thinking we'd see. Team speed is lacking, but so is "hustle" and I think the two go hand-in-hand. Still, if McNeal's just going to ride the pine as a RB I'd like to see him moved somewhere he could contribute. At 5-9, 181 he's not huge but he's good-sized.

But then again, I've only seen highlights of him on HS Extra so I really have no clue what he brings to the table other than blazing speed.

[KL3]

g$$, have you seen Brandon Williams play in person? I've just seen his highlights. He is probably the best big athlete runner in this state since Vince Young.

[g$$]

Yes, I have seen Williams & was impressed too. I'm not ready to put him in VY's category though! All I was saying is A&M must increase team speed & athleticism SOON. Get them on campus & then decide. The problem as I see it (& those I have spoken with in the department) is Fran has loaded up the offense & the defense is severely lacking. Look at some of the 3rd stringers on offense, guys like Pierre Brown, Samson Taylor (now hurt), Keondra Smith, etc. who are fast & athletic sitting on the bench. No coincidence Fran coaches offense huh? Yet guys like Dodge & others see the field on defense.

Granted, some guys cannot make the switch, but most did play both ways at times in hs. It is at least worth exploring IMO.

[Old Tiger]

Texas is ranked #1 on Rivals thus far for the Class of 2007

[STXBramha]

Looks like 4 more years of UT domination over A&M

[Bulldog_12]

Originally posted by STXBramha
Looks like 4 more years of UT domination over A&M

Way to add in such an intellignet post and gracing us with your tremendous insight.:rolleyes:

[big daddy russ]

Originally posted by Tiger WR
Texas is ranked #1 on Rivals thus far for the Class of 2007
Have you seen the class? It's absolutely loaded. Most teams would kill to get a bunch of 4-star prospects. Auburn makes a living off an average of one 5-star every other year, about eight or nine 4-stars a year, and a bunch of 3-star prospects.

As of right now, UT has committments from four 5-stars and 13 4-stars. What's even scarier is that it's not concentrated on a single position or two, it's all over the place. Their 5-stars include an OL, a QB, and two athletes (both played some QB in high school, but project to either WR or DB in college).

Top that off with that stud 4-star RB out of Waller, a 4-star WR, two 4-star TE's, four 4-star OL, one 4-star prospect DE, DT, LB, and ATH (WO-S's own Earl Thomas-- also projecting to either WR or DB), and an underrated 3-star DE, and that's a class that is loaded everywhere. IMO, this is Mack's second-best recruiting class ever, only trumped by the Vince Young- and Justin Blalock-led class of 2002... one of the best recruiting classes of all time.

[STXBramha]

So your saying i'm wrong?

[Bulldog_12]

Originally posted by STXBramha
So your saying i'm wrong?

No, im saying your an idiot for throwing in a jab when NOBODY was even poking fun at each other. It always happens, an idiot like you gets onto a thread that is perfectly civil and tries to start crap with a post like that. If you dont have anything insightful about either program to put into this thread, go here and have a ball (http://forums.hornfans.com/php/wwwthreads/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=football) .

[Bulldog_12]

To get back to the topic at hand, that texas class is insane. I can only pray that maybe some will decommit and defect to us.:D

At least our running game will be solid for the next few years. Oh and I am really excited about Reese, I have seen and heard only good things about him.

[Phil C]

Originally posted by Bulldog_12
To get back to the topic at hand, that texas class is insane. I can only pray that maybe some will decommit and defect to us.:D

At least our running game will be solid for the next few years. Oh and I am really excited about Reese, I have seen and heard only good things about him.

But one thing you have to remember Bull is that these verbal committments don't always mean a thing. What matters is who you get signed in February.

[AggieJohn]

Originally posted by STXBramha
Looks like 4 more years of UT domination over A&M you might want to pop that zit Mr. Sixteen year old first time poster

[WestTXLonghorn]

Originally posted by Phil C
But one thing you have to remember Bull is that these verbal committments don't always mean a thing. What matters is who you get signed in February.

Mack has an insane record for pulling in kids that verbally commit to the program. That's why Mack usually doesn't pick up many if any kids late in the year because he gets all verbals the year prior and they all sign.

I'm really stoked because we've been succeeding at UT with just really good recruiting classes. It's going to be awesome seeing what a freakish class like this can do for us.

[big daddy russ]

Originally posted by WestTXLonghorn
Mack has an insane record for pulling in kids that verbally commit to the program. That's why Mack usually doesn't pick up many if any kids late in the year because he gets all verbals the year prior and they all sign.

I'm really stoked because we've been succeeding at UT with just really good recruiting classes. It's going to be awesome seeing what a freakish class like this can do for us.
Mack's had a bunch of freakish classes. He's regarded one of the best recruiters in the nation. Go back and look at the '99, '00, and '02 classes. UT probably had more talent on their roster from 2000 through 2003 than they did last year.

Here's how Scout.com ranked their recruiting classes year by year, plus how many kids, both HS and JUCO, signed that particular year.

Yr.--RANK--TOTAL COMMITMENTS
'02....1.......28
'03...14......18
'04...10......14
'05...13......14
'06....3.......25
'07....1.......23 (tentative #1 ranking, but it's unlikely anyone else will garner the recruits to unseat them)

Sure, they dipped into the teens for a few years, but it's only because they didn't need as many kids. These rankings take into account how many kids you sign, and if you're already loaded, then you only need the 15 best kids that fit your team. UT's cupboard was full, so they just needed to fill out the positions they needed. The past two years, they've been losing a lot of kids to graduation, the NFL, etc, so Mack's hit the recruiting trail hard and pumped out a third-ranked class to go along with this year's first-ranked class.