Texas Offers 2 Top O-Linemen; Visiting With Star RB?

Despite being in the final stretch of the 2021 recruiting cycle, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian is hard at work building his 2022 class.

Matt Galatzan | Jan 19, 2021

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian has been hard at work filling out the remainder of his 2021 recruiting class. However, the newly-minted Longhorns CEO has been extending his efforts for next year's class as well, in his attempt to put the program back on the recruiting map.

Much to his fans' delight, Sarkisian has begun his 2022 recruiting project by going big-game hunting, offering scholarships to a pair of out-of-state five-star recruits, as well as a pair of in-state defenders.

First of the group to announce their Texas offer was five-star offensive tackle and Lynchburg, Virginia native, Zach Rice. The rising senior announced his offer via his personal Twitter account.

Due to new STAFF blessed to receive a Official Offer from the University of Texas #HookEm #longhorns pic.twitter.com/GBBnd58WBe
— ZACH RICE (@od_zach) January 19, 2021

Rice, who stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 282 pounds, currently ranks as the No. 1 offensive tackle in the country and the No. 12 overall prospect in the nation.

Shortly following the announcement of Rice, five-star offensive tackle Gunner Givens, also out of Virginia, announced his offer from Sarkisian and staff.

Givens comes in just behind Rice in the national rankings, coming in as the No. 2 offensive tackle, and the No. 17 overall recruits in the country.

Both Rice and Givens announced their offers on Monday night.

The Longhorns weren't done there, however, as they also offered a pair of in-state recruits on Tuesday, in three-star defensive end Garfield Lawrence of Tyler Legacy, and Bremond High School defensive tackle Jaray Bledsoe.

Bledsoe is not currently ranked in this year's rankings but is said to be an up-and-coming prospect at the position. He has received offers from other power-five schools such as Oklahoma, Oregon, Arkansas, Baylor, and Texas A&M.

Last but not least, the Horns are also rumored to be in line for a visit from 2021 four-star Houston-Area running back L.J. Johnson. A four-star recruit, Johnson is the No.3 ranked running back in the country, and the nation's No. 40 overall recruit per 247Sports.

Johnson is thought to be a Texas A&M lean.

Published Jan 19, 2021

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.