High School

CJ Witten, son of Jason Witten and star Texas linebacker, commits to Rice

Witten helped Argyle Liberty Christian to 14-0 season, TAPPS (Texas) high school state Division II football championship

Andy Buhler

CJ Witten, Argyle Liberty Christian (Texas) 2025 linebacker, committed to Rice.
CJ Witten, Argyle Liberty Christian (Texas) 2025 linebacker, committed to Rice. /

Texas high school football standout CJ Witten announced his college commitment on Wednesday evening — and the son of former all-Pro tight end Jason Witten is staying in the Lone Star State.

Witten, a 6-foot-1, 215-pound three-star linebacker at Argyle Liberty Christian, committed to Rice days before the start of his senior season.

He led the Warriors to a TAPPS Division II state championship and 14-0 season in 2023, nabbing district defensive player and all-TAPPS honors.

>> Top 25 Texas high school football preseason rankings

A whopping 81 of his 108 tackles were solo and he added 12 tackles for loss, four fumble recoveries and a forced fumble.

Jason Witten, now 42, has been the school's football coach since 2021. CJ is his oldest son and Cooper is a 4-star sophomore safety at Liberty Christian.

Best remembered for his NFL career largely played with the Dallas Cowboys — where he holds the career receptions, receiving yards, single-game receptions and both games played and started — he's lived in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex since retiring from the NFL in 2020.

Liberty Christian returns a bulk of its core that ran the table to a state title in 2023. That starts with the Witten brothers, running back Chase Garnett (1,743 yards, 29 TDs in 2023) and Jaylon Hawkins, a wideout who had 13 TDs last season.

The Warriors open the 2024 season with Fort Bend Christian Academy at home on Aug. 30.

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2024 Texas high school football preview

Stay with SBLive's preseason coverage in the lead up to the 2024 Texas high school football season and the start of games on Aug. 29.

Who are the 25 best teams in Texas, regardless of classification or association? Here are the SBLive Preseason Texas Power 25 rankings, as well as the 20 winningest active coaches.

We're taking a position-by-position look at the top players returning in the Lone Star State this fall, starting with 50 quarterbacks, 70 running backs, 40 wide receivers, 25 tight ends, 25 offensive linemen, 30 cornerbacks, 25 safeties and 45 linebackers.

Which teams are district favorites? Top sleepers? We're going district-by-district and choosing both, starting with 6A Districts 1-16, 6A Districts 17-32, 5A Division I and 5A Division II.

We examined offseason player movement and the 12 transfers that will have the biggest impact in the fall.

Who are the most underrated teams in the Lone Star State entering the season? We're taking a look by region at the programs poised to out-perform expectations, starting with North Texas, Southeast Texas and Central Texas.

-- Andy Buhler | andy@scorebooklive.com | @sblivetx

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Andy Buhler
ANDY BUHLER

Andy Buhler is a Regional Editor of Texas and the national breaking news desk. He brings more than five years of experience covering high school sports across the state of Washington and beyond, where he covered the likes of Paolo Banchero and Tari Eason served on state tournament seeding committees. He works on the SBLive/Sports Illustrated Power 25 national boys basketball rankings. He has covered everything from the Final Four, MLS in Atlanta to local velodrome before diving into the world of preps. His bylines can be found in The News Tribune (Tacoma, Washington), The Associated Press, The Columbian (Vancouver, Washington), The Oregonian and more. He holds a degree from Gonzaga and is based out of Portland, Oregon.

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