Texas football recruiting has zeroed in on its top priorities on the trail for the 2026 class as we approach the upcoming offseason and the first Junior Day after the New Year. The exact calendar date of the first Junior Day of the 2025 offseason for Texas and head coach Steve Sarkisian likely depends on when UT’s run in the College Football Playoff is over.
Which elite recruits in the 2026 class could Texas football get on campus for the first Junior Day next offseason?
Since the Longhorns are in the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff against the Arizona State Sun Devils on New Year’s Day, it’s certainly possible that the first Junior Day for the 2025 offseason happens in late January or sometime in February.
That said, the Longhorns are already off to a decent start recruiting key positions, especially on the offensive side of the ball, for the 2026 class. Texas has commitments from five-star Fort Lauderdale (FL) American Heritage quarterback Dia Bell and four-star Pearland (TX) Shadow Creek wide receiver Chris Stewart.
With the holidays approaching over the next couple of weeks, the Longhorns have a group of elite priority recruits in the 2026 class in mind for who they will pursue on the trail for the upcoming cycle.
Here are three elite 2026 recruits the Longhorns would love to get commitments from on their Christmas wish list.
Javian Osborne, RB
High-four-star Forney (TX) running back Javian Osborne has been a top priority on the recruiting trail for the 2026 class for RB coach Tashard Choice and the Longhorns going back multiple years. Choice has a great relationship with Osborne, which has the Longhorns among his top schools entering the 2025 offseason.
Osborne has already visited Texas multiple times since last offseason, including for a couple of gamedays at DKR this fall. He’s witnessed the coaching and development that Texas’s running back room has received this fall, including the rise of sophomore running back Quintrevion Wisner, who is on the cusp of his first career 1,000-rushing yard season.
Choice and the Longhorns want to take two running back commitments in the 2026 class. And Osborne is arguably the top name on the big board at the position for the Longhorns’ recruiting efforts at running back for the 2026 cycle.
Osborne told Inside Texas that the two schools currently “standing out” to him are the Michigan Wolverines and Texas.
Chris Henry Jr., WR (Ohio State commit)
The No. 1 wide receiver recruit in the nation in the 2026 class in the 247Sports Composite and On3 Industry Ranking, Santa Ana (CA) Mater Dei five-star Chris Henry Jr. has been recovering from a lower-body injury that ended his 2024 season.
The elite Ohio State Buckeyes commit has been considering multiple other schools on the trail entering the upcoming offseason for 2025, including the Longhorns, Tennessee Volunteers, and Oregon Ducks, among others.
It appears that the Longhorns are pushing to get Henry to campus for a visit around Junior Day or early next offseason during spring camp in March or April. Henry hasn’t visited Texas since he committed to Ohio State in late July 2023.
Henry also looks like he wants to take visits to other schools that are pursuing him on the recruiting trail next year.
Texas has recruited and developed at a very high level at the wide receiver position under Sarkisian and wide receivers coach Chris Jackson. The Longhorns also have elite quarterback talent on campus and in the pipeline in future recruiting classes, including the No. 2 QB recruit in the nation for the 2026 cycle Bell committed to them.
Multiple SEC schools look to remain in the mix for the elite 6-foot-5 and 205-pound wideout from California entering next offseason, with the spring visit season fast approaching on the trail.
John Turntine III, OT
Texas’s top offensive line priority recruit in the 2026 class, the elite five-star Fort Worth (TX) North Crowley offensive tackle John Turntine III, recently won a state championship with the Panthers over the weekend. Turntine and 2025 Texas linebacker commit/signee Jonathan Cunningham powered North Crowley to a dominant 50-21 win over Austin (TX) Westlake High School in the state championship last weekend.
North Crowley also had a big upset in the state semifinals against the defending state champions and cross-Metroplex rival in DFW, the Duncanville Panthers.
“John Turntine III, a 4⭐️ OT and the No. 3 rated tackle in the nation (On3), is Texas’ top priority for 2026—and he’s proving why. Told me from day one his team was destined for greatness, and now he and his North Crowley Panthers are state champions. 💪🏾🏆 #HookEm #TexasTarget” pic.twitter.com/Z9AqpmohOb
— Charlie Williams (@CoachWilliamsII) December 22, 2024
Turntine has done a lot to prove why he’s rated as one of the most talented offensive tackle prospects in the nation in the 2026 class. Offensive line coach Kyle Flood and the Longhorns have treated him as a top priority on the recruiting trail for the past couple of years for Turntine’s recruitment.
If a leader had to be named for Turntine’s recruitment at this moment before the start of the 2025 offseason, it would probably be the Longhorns.
It wouldn’t surprise me to see Turntine visit Texas multiple times in the first few months of next offseason. He’s visited Texas more than any other school since the 2023 offseason, including for the first Junior Day of 2024 and the Georgia game back in mid-October at DKR. It’ll be worth watching to see if he is on the visitor list for Texas’s first Junior Day of the 2025 offseason, which also wouldn’t be shocking to me for this recruitment for Turntine.
Other schools involved in Turntine’s recruitment entering the 2025 offseason are the Georgia Bulldogs, Oklahoma Sooners, Texas A&M Aggies, LSU Tigers, and Oregon.
