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eli lederman
Texas and coach Steve Sarkisian got on board the 2027 recruiting class on Saturday when five-star wide receiver Easton Royal, ranked No. 16 in the ESPN Jr. 300, announced his commitment to the Longhorns.
Royal’s commitment comes as the Longhorns are also working to finalize their 2026 recruiting class, which is currently ranked seventh in ESPN’s class rankings for the cycle.
Hours after Royal’s pledge, Texas flipped the commitment of four-star Baylor defensive end pledge JaMarion Carlton, ESPN’s No. 96 overall prospect in the 2026 class.
Carleton, a longtime target of the Longhorns, visited Texas several times over the past month, including a 27-17 win over No. 3 Texas A&M on Friday. He is now third out of nine ESPN 300 defenders who are set to sign with the Longhorns when the early signing period begins on Wednesday.
Royal, a 6-foot, 195-pound pass catcher from New Orleans, is ESPN’s No. 3 wide receiver in the 2027 cycle. He chose Texas over Ole Miss, LSU, Oregon and a long list of other Power 4 programs.
Royal landed the first member of the Longhorns’ 2027 class less than 24 hours after visiting the program during their win over Texas A&M.
Royal is a junior at Brother Martin High School in Louisiana, where he had 53 catches for 1,151 yards and 17 touchdowns this fall. He now trails only five-stars Jamier Brown (Ohio State) and Jalen Brewster (Texas Tech) as ESPN’s highest-ranked commit in the 2027 class.
Three-star UCLA safety Torrey Davis was another major flip target on campus in Week 14.
The Longhorns are also pursuing a pair of top-100 LSU pledges, offensive tackle Briston Martinez (No. 84) and defensive tackle Richard Anderson (No. 90), ahead of this week’s early signing period. As things stand, four-star wide receiver Chris Stewart (No. 185) is the only ESPN 300 pass catcher to sign with the Longhorns in the 2026 class.
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