Five-star wide receiver Ryan Wingo commits to Texas

Steve Sarkisian, Chris Jackson, and the Longhorns went into St. Louis and earned a commitment from one of the best players in the nation on Wednesday. 2024 St. Louis (Mo.) University High wideout and On3 Industry Ranking five-star Ryan Wingo committed to Texas, choosing the Longhorns over Missouri, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Georgia, and Miami.

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Wingo is the third On3 Industry Ranking five-star to join the class along with Duncanville (EDGE) Colin Simmons and Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei OT Brandon Baker. He is the fourth top-100 prospect, joining Simmons, Baker, and IMG Academy RB Jerrick Gibson.

Jackson’s first wide receiver class as the Longhorns wideouts coach now consists of Wingo, San Antonio (Texas) Smithson Valley four-star Freddie Dubose Jr., and Lucas (Texas) Lovejoy four-star Parker Livingstone. In addition, Daingerfield (Texas) athlete Aeryn Hampton could end up at wide receiver.

Wingo is the No. 2 prospect in Missouri according to the On3 Industry Ranking.

How he fits at Texas:

Wingo is an elite athlete with pretty rare proportions for a wide receiver. At about 6-foot-2 and 210 while still in high school, he’s the sort that would have played running back in most eras and quarterback for most teams today. But he plays receiver so his fluidity and long speed have already been put to work in executing double moves and various route running skills. With a 10.64 100m time to his name Wingo has deep threat speed and is clearly very comfortable playing like a Xavier Worthy type, moving around in space and torching people with pure speed. He could play at any receiver position, and probably will before he’s done as his team moves him around to find matchups. He could probably also play anywhere in the secondary including cornerback. The interesting dynamic to his game to monitor will be how well he uses his size to play up on the line of scrimmage in the boundary against a press-cornerback. There’s good reason to believe he could be very good at it and be a deep threat who commands a safety over the top at all times, either freeing up teammates or getting moved around so he can get involved. – Ian Boyd

Coach Says

Strengths — Excellent height and weight for the position. Size-wise can play now. Carries most of the weight in the upper body/chest. Longish arms (need a measurement). A fluid long-strider with excellent acceleration who just blows past people. Has some hip explosiveness evident in route running which is quite good at times. Route tree is well-represented on his film. Featured at every WR position on his HS film, he has a smooth and balanced get off with rarely a false-step. He destroys the cushion of the off-defender and constantly challenges the leverage. Gather steps and snap down are relatively smooth. Keeps good, consistent eye level and always selling the deep ball. Tracks the ball well over the shoulder and does well to track the poorly thrown ball (of which there seem to be more than a few). Has a nice, fluid catching motion with soft hands. He secures the ball quickly. As a runner after the catch is very competitive. A threat to score from anywhere with sprinter’s speed. Featured as a wildcat QB which speaks to the trust his coaches have in him and that he’s the best athlete on his team. Has an OC that knows how to get him the ball in every conceivable way. Plays defense flat-footed because he can. As a returner will track and field the ball cleanly. Eyes come down quickly and sets up the return. Sees the creases early. Gets upfield easily and looks like he could contribute on specials day one.

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Areas for Improvement: Run blocking is unknown. Would like to see some agility work to refine his cuts. Is so much better than the competition, I’m not sure his weaknesses would stand out.