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Colton Vasek elects Texas, bolsters Edge recruiting

Eric Nahlinby:Eric Nahlin•11/08/22
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Pete Kwiatkowski (John Rivera/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images)

It’s already a super Tuesday for Texas Longhorns fans who have long been concerned over the recruitment of Colton Vasek. As a Longhorn legacy (his father Brian played defensive end for Texas in the 90’s) and a local product, Vasek choosing rival Oklahoma was too much for fans to stomach.

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It was also too much for Texas coaches who stayed on Vasek throughout the spring and summer after he choose OU over Texas and Oregon on August 1st.

Compounding the heavy interest in the recruitment was UT’s need at Edge in the class. Texas landed a very strong haul last cycle but needed another Edge this year to go along with Bill Walton. Adding Vasek at Jack to a group that includes Barryn Sorrell, Justice Finkley, and Jaray Bledsoe, is how you eventually create a plug and play environment.

Given his size, strength, and technical ability, Vasek is a high floor recruit. He may not move quite as well as former teammate and current Longhorn outside linebacker Ethan Burke, but he is naturally bigger, more physical, and doesn’t play the same position.

It is interesting Texas also had to flip Burke late last year after he was initially committed to Michigan on the heels of the success of Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo.

Given proximity and success with Westlake players, Texas may have had to work harder than one might think to reunite the dynamic duo, but that won’t matter once they suit back up together with fellow Chaparrals Michael Taaffe and Connor Robertson.

What’s the state of Edge at Texas? It’s better than is commonly believed, the young players just need a full offseason to develop. Along with the aforementioned, there’s also J’Mond Tapp who will likely split reps with Burke next year at the Buck. Texas also has a couple of hybrid defenders like Derrick Brown and Derion Gullette in the pipeline.

Pure speculation, but given lack of roster experience, it’s possible we’ll see a portal addition if a player is just too good to pass up.

The rebuild at Edge continues apace after being hurt by years of discontinuity at coordinator and in recruiting. Texas now has a stockpile of proper fits and talent. Now it comes down to what defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski is known for: development.

Encouragingly, we’re seeing the same rebuild occurring at linebacker.

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