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Texas Spotlight: Five biggest commitments since NSD

Jordan Wittington
Jordan Wittington (Rivals.com)

One of the biggest changes in the recruiting calendar going into effect this year is the option for recruits to take official visits during the spring and summer months. With that, it seems as though the number of early commitments ahead of many players’ senior seasons has decreased, but there have been a few high-profile names in the state of Texas that have made their decisions already.

Since National Signing Day in February, here is a look at the five biggest commitments from the Lone Star State.

TOP COMMITS SINCE NSD: Midwest | Southeast | Mid-Atlantic | West

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Whittington has been an intriguing prospect for some time, and a player that programs from across the country have been pursuing simply because he’s capable of so much as a player. Whittington is built like a linebacker, can be a ball-hawking safety on defense, and has sneaky quickness and field vision as a receiver.

Ultimately, teams yielded to his desire to play offense, and his commitment to Texas earlier in March gives the Longhorns a valuable receiving threat that can line up anywhere on offense. Texas did well to keep its recruiting momentum going into 2019 with Whittington, who is a popular personality among other top recruits in the state.

The parallels between Beason and Whittington are pretty obvious. In Beason, the Illini land a much-needed playmaker that is capable of playing any number of positions on either side of the ball and perhaps more importantly, land a charismatic player in a state they’re working diligently to establish a pipeline from.

Illinois clearly has its hooks in the Bishop Dunne program that Beason plays at, after signing offensive tackle Kievan Myers and Rivals250 defensive tackle Calvin Avery in 2018, but the hope is that Beason’s high-profile commitment will send off the flare that the Illini are serious about turning their program around and want to recruit with the big boys.

Perhaps it wasn’t a huge surprise when Brown de-committed from UCLA following Jim Mora’s departure from the program following last season. What was a little more of a surprise was his willingness to commit to Texas A&M while on a junior day visit in February.

The Aggies also landed a commitment from four-star cornerback Bobby Wolfe in similar fashion, but he’s since de-committed. Brown has typically kept a pretty low profile relative to other top recruits, but has been watched as one of the top wide receiver talents in this class going back to his freshman season.

Brown was another somewhat surprising commitment, as he simply made his announcement on a Tuesday night in early March with a tweet. The Horned Frogs have been loading up along the offensive line with five signees in 2018 and three early commitments so far in 2019.

Brown is a prospect that has captured the attention of a number of in-state programs, and could be a good fit for any interior position on the offensive line. He’s not exactly a punishing offensive lineman, per se, but does a fine job getting into his pass sets and also helps further establish a link to up-and-coming offensive line talent Logan Parr at Helotes-O’Connor.

Not too long ago, it was the Buffaloes that were looking to become one of the more imposing teams in the DFW area with their recruiting efforts. After taking a bit of a step back last season on the field, Colorado hasn’t been quite as hot of a name, but they still were able to pick up a nice commitment in Farrar, who looks well-suited to play defense in the Pac-12.

Farrar is a decisive and hard hitter that is comfortable in space out in pass coverage. Colorado remains Farrar’s only Power Five offer, but it seems as the Buffs have found a bit of a hidden gem for the time being.

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