Former Texas Longhorn recruiting victories predicted to become breakout stars heading into the 2025 college football season
The Texas Longhorns are coming off of a season where they won 13 games and had a deep playoff run. As you would imagine, a big reason for that success was a lot of talent on the roster. The program will now need to replace a long list of standouts, including offensive tackles Kelvin Banks […]
The Texas Longhorns are coming off of a season where they won 13 games and had a deep playoff run. As you would imagine, a big reason for that success was a lot of talent on the roster. The program will now need to replace a long list of standouts, including offensive tackles Kelvin Banks and Cameron Williams, cornerback Jahdae Barron, and safety Andrew Makuba among many others.
Luckily for the Texas coaches, they have recruited at an extremely high level. They may have some inexperienced players stepping in, but they are all very gifted. The future is still extremely bright. 247Sports director of scouting Andrew Ivins highlighted some potential breakout players you should know heading into the 2025 college football season.
The two breakouts mentioned were offensive tackle Brandon Baker and cornerback Kobe Black. Both were members of the 2024 recruiting class, and were considered top-100 recruits by 247Sports coming out.
Baker, who was originally out of powerhouse Mater Dei in California, and chose Texas over a long list of impressive suitors. Some of Baker’s top offers included the Longhorns, Ohio State, Alabama, Notre Dame, Georgia, Michigan, Oklahoma, Oregon, USC, Tennessee, Penn State, Miami, Florida, Auburn, Florida State, and Nebraska among many others.
The sophomore is projected to start at right tackle to take over for Cameron Williams. At 6-4 and 315 pounds, Baker is an impressive athlete with a reported 83-inch wingspan.
Black was rated as the No. 60 overall player in the 2024 class according to 247Sports, but ended up as a five-star player on the Composite ranking. He chose the Longhorns over finalists Ohio State, Alabama, and Oklahoma. The Connally product was noted for his size and length coming out.
While it won’t be easy, Black will be tasked with replacing Barron coming off an All-American season. Black had just 13 total tackles and one pass breakup in his first campaign. He will combine with Malik Muhammad to create a really talented cornerback duo.
