Texas and coach Steve Sarkisian got on the board in the 2027 recruiting class on Saturday when five-star wide receiver Easton Royal, No. 16 in the ESPN Junior 300, announced his commitment to the Longhorns. Royal, a 6-foot, 195-pound pass catcher from New Orleans, is ESPN's No. 3 wide receiver in the 2027 cycle. He picked Texas over Ole Miss, LSU, Oregon and a long list of other Power 4 programs.
West Virginia and coach Rich Rodriguez secured a massive commitment in the 2026 class Tuesday from four-star offensive tackle Kevin Brown, who will land as the Mountaineers' highest-ranked signee in at least 15 years. Brown, No. 78 in the 2026 SCNEXT 300, is a 6-foot-5, 265-pound prospect from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He previously spent more than a year committed to Penn State's incoming recruiting class before reopening his process following the firing of coach James Franklin last month.
When Weis wanted to confirm that he was really seeing what he thought he was seeing, he called in quarterbacks coach Joe Judge. Then, just to make sure they were both right about Chambliss' ability, they brought in co-offensive coordinator/tight ends coach Joe Cox for further confirmation. As Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin watched Chambliss scrambling and throwing deep balls, he saw the traits of someone familiar: former Miami quarterback Cam Ward, the No. 1 pick in April's NFL draft.
College football teams across the country are far from finished products this season, but the first weeks of the 2025 slate are already giving them a better sense of who they are -- for better or worse. At the same time, coaching staffs face the delicate balancing act of winning today and looking ahead, knowing some of the answers to weaknesses with their current rosters might come from the 2026 class and beyond.
We're highlighting the top 10 prospects from the 2025 ESPN 300, diving into how they've fared across their initial months on campus, where they stand at the close of fall camp and projecting the roles they'll fill in their debut seasons. That group of five-star newcomers is spread across eight schools, including each of the programs -- Texas, Georgia, Oregon, Alabama and Ohio State -- that made up the top five of ESPN's 2025 recruiting class rankings.
