Tunmise Adeleye recently committed to Ohio State, following the long line of defensive ends to play for the Buckeyes. The 6-3 240 pound pass rusher is originally from Houston before transferring to IMG Academy in Florida.
A four-star recruit on the 247Sports composite, Adeleye was a target for Texas in the 2021 recruiting class. When he announced he was committing to Ohio State instead, the Longhorns went a different direction at the defensive end position.
On his Instagram page, Adeleye was taking questions from fans. One asked him why he chose the Buckeyes over Texas. Here was his response:
“Cause in the past 5 years they’ve only sent 15% of their 4 and 5 star recruits to the NFL draft.”
4* defensive end Tunmise Adeleye explains why he did not commit to Texas via his Instagram pic.twitter.com/8d6ZHeMp1Y
— Griffin McVeigh (@Griffin_McVeigh) May 19, 2020
This has been and it will continue to be the main problem for Texas. Tom Herman and his staff have done a great job bringing in the talent to win football games on paper. Where they have fallen short is taking those players and building a championship-caliber roster.
Since 2015, Texas has recruited one five-star and 35 four-star recruits who are now draft-eligible. Malik Jefferson (five-star, class of 2015), DeShon Elliot (four-star, class of 2015), Kris Boyd (four-star, class of 2015), Brandon Jones (four-star, class of 2016), Devin Duvernay (four-star, class of 2016), and Collin Johnson (four-star, class of 2016) are the only ones who have been drafted.
Nobody from the recruiting class of 2017 left for the NFL early. While it is nice to have an experienced roster full of seniors, the Longhorns continued their struggle of having blue-chip recruits and turning them into professional prospects with another class.
Adeleye is correct in saying Texas struggles to turn their recruited talent into NFL ready players. Until the Longhorns prove the development is there, not only will they struggle on the field but they will continue to miss out on elite talent across the country.
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