Texas Projected To Land Five-Star OT Brandon Baker

Texas is the favorite over Oregon and Ohio State to land the Mater Dei lineman

As Texas looks to get ready for its move to the SEC, there has been an emphasis on bolstering both sides of the trenches.

Lately, they have been receiving great news in that regard, as on Wednesday they landed a commitment from four-star EDGE Zina Umeozulu and on Thursday received a major prediction in their favor. 

Two Texas insiders Gerry Hamilton and Justin Wells of On3, both inserted expert predictions for five-star offensive tackle Brandon Baker in favor of Texas. The predictions come a few weeks before the Mater Dei product is set to announce its destination on September 24. 

Following the two expert predictions Hamilton and Wells, the Longhorns hold a 47.0% percent chance of landing Baker. Oregon is behind them with a 34.1% and Ohio State is viewed as a long shot.

On3 Director of Recruiting Chad Simmons broke down where he thinks Baker's recruitment is at the moment. 

“Things have been trending toward Texas I would say for the last month or so, on my end,” Simmons said on Thursday. “Kyle Flood has done a great job, and they’ve laid out their plan on and off the field. We’ve seen this one shift a few different ways at different times. For a while, it was Oregon as the school trending in a very good spot. On multiple occasions for long periods of time. But taking the OVs to Ohio State and Texas, not getting back to Oregon like was once planned late in July, has the schools outside of the West Coast trending with the decision nearing now later this month.”

Baker ranks as the No. 23 player in the country, No. 1 offensive tackle, and the No. 2 player in the state of California. He would mark the second five-star of the class, joining five-star EDGE Colin Simmons.