Four-star DT DJ Sanders commits to Texas A&M over Texas

For nearly two weeks, the vibes around defensive tackle recruiting for the Texas Longhorns improved with the flip of Folsom (Calif.)’s Josiah Sharma from the Oregon Ducks. On Wednesday, however, the momentum shifted against the L onghorns once again when Bellville defensive tackle DJ Sanders committed to the Texas A&M Aggies .

Ranked as the state’s top defensive lineman, Sanders took an official visit to Michigan in addition to seeing Aggieland and the Forty Acres in June, but played an even larger role on the Texas recruiting board — the 6’4, 290-pounder was arguably one of the top targets for the Longhorns regardless of position.

As Texas did with Sharma, new position coach Kenny Baker will surely remain in pursuit of Sanders up until Early Signing Day, but the more immediate concern is that the four defensive tackles who took official visits to Texas along with Sharma are committed to other schools, as is Lufkin’s Zion Williams, who canceled his official visit to Austin before ultimately pledging to LSU.

So the overall narrative remains the same at defensive tackle — Baker was hired at a time when other defensive line coaches had already built relationships with key targets and hasn’t been able to catch up in a cycle that requires some blue-chip recruits in a large class.

If Baker isn’t able to flip a couple more defensive tackles in the coming weeks, the Longhorns may have to fill those needs in the NCAA transfer portal for the second straight offseason.