40 Acres Sports

Update: Bevo Sports is giving away NCAA Football 09, enter to win!

NCAA Football 09 is less than a month away, the demo is up on Xbox Live and the Playstation Network, and player ratings are starting to make their way on to the Internet. EA Sports released the team top 25 and player ratings for all those teams.

I went through the list and put the players’ real names in where possible. I had trouble with a lot of the true freshmen in the game so if you know who any of the blank names are or if I made any mistakes please let me know in the comments. It really looks like EA did a poor job this year on the roster and depth chart. Hopefully it’s a little more accurate when the game is released.

You can download Excel files of the player ratings at the bottom of this post or check out the overall ratings for the Texas team below:

Downloads

• Texas player ratings
• Full top 25 player ratings

We’ll be updating this list as we get news (mostly from Rivals) of which players have officially signed their letters of intent and if everything goes as planned will be the newest Texas Longhorns in August. The first two players to become Longhorns were Ian Harris out of San Antonio and Cody Johnson from Waller. Keep checking back here because we’ll update this list as we hear more names.

Confirmed Signings

• Ian Harris
• Cody Johnson
• Kyle Hix
• Tray Allen
• Michael Wilcoxon
• Russell Carter
• Aundre McGaskey
• Tyrell Higgins
• Sam Acho
• James Kirkendoll
• Brandon Collins
• G.J. Kinne
• Ahmard Howard
• Keenan Robinson
• Malcolm Williams
• Blaine Irby
• Earl Thomas
• Christian Scott

Early Enrollees

• Curtis Brown
• John Chiles
• Michael Huey
• Andre Jones
• Ben Wells
• Fozzy Whittaker

Update: Just added Blaine Irby and Earl Thomas to the list which leaves only Christian Scott remaining. The stud safety just was the last player to commit to the Horns (just this weekend) and it looks like he’ll be the last one to fax in his letter of intent as well. Hopefully he’s not having any second thoughts. (10:38 am)

Update: Christian Scott’s letter is in and confirmed by both Rivals and Inside Texas (thanks Eric!). That means all 24 recruits, 18 today plus the 6 already on campus, are signed and will officially be Longhorns either this summer or in the fall if their grades are in order. Congrats to the class of 2007 and welcome to the family. (11:58 am)

I’ve been busy and haven’t had time to post about this weekend’s invitation-only junior day and the successful recruiting flurry that Mack Brown and the Longhorns had. The Horns picked up eight commits from some of the best athletes in the state. While I was putting off this post, three more commits rolled in today including a couple of big ones to bring the total to eleven. These early offers are only handed out to the players Brown and staff feel are true standouts. Other recruits will be evaluated more and decisions on them will be made later, so we know how highly they think of the group they offered.

Gilmer wide receiver Curtis Brown is probably the biggest star of the group so far. Big, fast, and physical he could see either side of the ball at Texas. The Horns are really assembling a monster class of offensive linemen, with five commits already onboard including future 4-stars Kyle Hix, Aundre McGaskey, and Matt Nader. They’ll probably hold a scholarship for blue chipper Tray Allen, but otherwise they’re probably done at the position for the year already.

With three of four members of next season’s secondary set to graduate, defensive back is a big need in the 2007 recruiting class and it’s already been addressed. Brown could end up at corner and athlete Earl Thomas is headed for that position as well. Ben Wells has the size to play either CB or safety. Highly rated Lennon Creer is also rumored to be a big Texas lean as well and could join the growing list of future Longhorns soon.

I don’t think it’s hyperbole to call this the best weekend ever in Texas recruiting, and possibly the biggest and best group of kids pulled in by any school in such a short time span.

Check out the full haul from the weekend below…

*Note: The star ratings are just my best guesses based on the little bit of video I’ve seen of the recruits and Orangeblood.com’s Lone Star Top 100.