Ty Haywood

It's time to take a look around at the biggest pickups on the recruiting front as well as some of the top recruiting news and notes from around the SEC. Jason Howell details that and more in this week's Around the SEC.

The Early Signing Period has come and gone as a number of the nation's top prospects have signed on the dotted line. It is time to take a look at the latest happenings in the Lone Star state and SEC footprint on the recruiting front.

The TexAgs recruiting team met this week to update the rankings as October comes to a close and playoff season nears. We updated the 2025 and 2026 Texas Top 100 lists as well as the 2027 Watch List. Outside the state, we have also updated the rankings of Texas A&M's commitments. Coming into the this update we talked about a few big moves we needed to make to the 2025 rankings. One, DE Tobi Haastrup was far overdue for a spot in the rankings. We last updated the rankings in the preseason when he was largely unknown, and well, the rest of the story is well documented. He lit it up in week 1 and has been impressive ever since, and college offers have been piling up. He arrives at No. 23 with a 92 four-star rating. Two, a couple of in-state Texas A&M commits - Nelson McGuire and Chace Sims - needed to make some significant moves. McGuire showed a lot of promise when he made the move to OL this spring and he was a standout on the camp circuit. In fact his camp performances were enough for us to put him in the top 100 preseason list and he made his debut at No. 63. However, he did not have any game tape at OL and once the tape became available it was clear he needed to make a move up the list. He does and he arrives at No. 31 as a 91 rated four-star and the No. 6 OL in the state and the No. 3 iOL. Sims has been on a steady rise up the list since the spring and this fall he has been a wrecking ball in the trenches for a Randle team that looks primed for a deep run this playoff season. He moves up from 42 to 30. The state's top four spots did not change with five-star standout Dakorien Moore, Michael Fasusi, Devin Sanchez, and Jonah Williams holding down spots 1-4, but a new five-star was added as QB Keelon Russell moves from No. 9 to No. 5. Longhorn commit Lance Jackson moves to No. 6 in the rankings and becomes the No. 1 ranked DL in the state as he continues to impress this fall. Ty Haywood, DJ Sanders, Riley Pettijohn, and Kaliq Lockett round out the top 10. Three prospects are new to the top 20 as Nick Townsend (No. 13), Bo Barnes (No. 16), and Kelshaun Johnson (No. 20) rise up the rankings. Other prospects making significant moves include LB Kaleb Burns (from No. 70 to No. 38), DB Jayden Sanders (from No. 86 to No. 40), WR Ed Small (from No. 99 to No. 64), QB Lloyd Jones III (No. 92 to No. 67), and CB Bryson Webber (from No. 100 to No. 81). Joining Haastrup as new additions to the rankings are Coppell QB Edward Griffin (No. 65), North Crowley LB Jonathan Cunningham (No. 88), Cibolo Steele ATH Sean Robinson (No. 91), Mansfield ATH Jacobe Hayes (No. 99), and North Crowley WR Quentin Gibson (No. 100).TexAgs 2025 Texas Top 100*****************In the 2026 class Jermaine Bishop continues to hold onto the No. 1 ranking while Davian Groce, Tradarian Ball, and John Turntine round out the top four. A couple of OTs jumped into the top 10 with Mansfield Lake Ridge's Felix Ojo and Fort Bend Ridge Point's Avery Morcho arriving at No. 7 and No. 9. Houston Legacy QB Keisean Henderson moves back into the top 10 as the No. 1 QB in the class at No. 10. Duncanville's KJ Ford, Forney's Javian Osborne, and Panther Creek's Jalen Lott maintain their spots in the top 10. The top 20 saw two new faces. Cibolo Steele RB Jonathan Hatton Jr rises to No. 14 and Katy Jordan DE Jimmy-Phrisco Alo-Suliafu arrives at No. 18. Texas A&M commits Markel Ford and Ryan Gilbert check in at No. 20 and No. 40 in the state, both holding four-star rankings. Richardson DL Jaimeon Winfield makes his rankings debut at No. 34. He moved into Richardson this spring from Meridian (MS), and since mid-September he has gone from no offers to holding P4 offers from coast-to-coast. Dallas Lake Highlands RB Christian Rhodes also makes his way into the top 100 at No. 64. He was relegated to JV as a sophomore last fall with senior Deonte Dean putting up big numbers, but the 6-1, 200-pound standout is averaging over 9 yards a carry this fall and is starting to see the offers arrive. New additions Jett Walker (RB Georgetown) and Ayson Theus (WR Duncanville) round out the rankings at No. 99 and 100. TexAgs 2026 Texas Top 100 *********************The 2027 watch list expands to 75 and most of the list is already reeling in big time scholarship offers. The Aggies have already offered 27 members of the list including new additions Kennedy Brown and Kaeden Scott. The offensive skill positions are already setting up to be strong groups with the likes of RBs Landen Williams-Callis, Jakoby Dixon, Lathan Whisenton, and Myson Johnson-Cook, WRs Ethan Feaster, Antayvious Ellis, and Trenton Yancey, and QBs Colton Nussmeier, Kavian Bryant, Weston Nielsen, and Jerry Meyer already making their presence felt on the national level. In the trenches OLs Qua Ford, Brooks and Scott, Jasper Ngokwere, and Brian Swanson along with DLs Khyren Haywood, Amari Vickerson, and Zane Rowe. Beyond the trenches the defensive side also boasts standouts such as CB John Meredith, S Cooper Witten, and LB Braylon Williams.This is an alphabetical list unlike the other two, and there are several more on the list than mentioned above. Click the link to check out the full list.