Easton Royal looked like a done deal for Texas when he pledged in November, and for a while that’s exactly how it felt. The Longhorns landed the five-star wide receiver, the No. 1 receiver in the 2027 Rivals Industry Ranking and the No. 4 overall prospect, one day after Texas upset then-undefeated Texas A&M. Case closed, right?
Not so fast.
Seven months later, Royal is still taking the full tour. He has completed official visits to LSU, Tennessee, Florida and Texas this summer, and he still hasn’t shut the door on his recruitment. That alone tells you this one is far from settled.
After his late-June official visit to Austin, Royal made it clear he was still weighing things with his family. He told Gerry Hamilton of OnTexasFootball, "Trying to lock down my commitment, and I think they did a really good job towards that, but you know obviously, me and my mom still got things to talk about, but they definitely set the tone the right way."
That doesn’t sound like a prospect ready to stop listening.
And the two programs pushing hardest are both heavyweights with real pull: LSU and Florida. On a recent episode of the Wiltfong Whiparound on On3, recruiting analysts Steve Wiltfong and Chad Simmons laid out why this battle is still very much alive as the summer dead period nears.
Wiltfong said the buzz around LSU has been growing since Lane Kiffin’s hiring. "I think around LSU, ever since Lane Kiffin's been hired, he was one of the first recruits that Lane Kiffin reached out to, telling him that the offense is going to basically look like a video game," Wiltfong said.
"I think there's been confidence around LSU that steady wins the race, that ultimately they can get him in the fold. And Florida has given him a lot to think about as well."
Simmons went a step further, citing a source close to the recruitment. "LSU has a real shot to flip this one and keep this one home," Simmons said.
He also pointed to the receiver development history George McDonald and Kiffin built together at Ole Miss, "putting guys in position to make plays, become wide receiver one for the NFL Combine."
Texas is still very much in the mix, and Wiltfong said the Longhorns are spending real energy to hold onto him. "Under the current landscape of Texas, they normally are buttoned up, and there's one here where someone's chipping away at them," Wiltfong said.
Texas has plenty to sell. Steve Sarkisian has coached Heisman winner DeVonta Smith and turned Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell and Matthew Golden into NFL draft picks at the position. That kind of track record matters, especially for a receiver with Royal’s profile.
And Royal’s profile is huge. The Brother Martin standout put up 2,095 all-purpose yards and 29 touchdowns as a junior, earning Louisiana 5A Offensive MVP and first-team all-state honors.
He also posted a verified 10.17-second 100 meters and a 4.29-second 40-yard dash at the Under Armour Future 50, where he won the fastest man competition. Then he went out and grabbed MVP honors at the Under Armour All-America Game.
That combination of production and speed is why this recruitment still has life. Wiltfong said Texas "normally doesn't take early commitments" and is fighting harder than usual to keep Royal, which says plenty about how the Longhorns view him in the 2027 class.
Still, the hometown pull is real. Kiffin and McDonald bring a similar receiver-development pitch from Ole Miss, and Royal told Rivals' Sam Spiegelman earlier in the cycle that LSU and Florida were "definitely the two schools leading right now."
He also said a decision could come "possibly, maybe in July," though he added that if it doesn’t happen then, he would wait until signing day. That leaves this one open deep into the fall and possibly all the way to December.
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Fields is expected to announce his commitment on July 7, and the shape of this one matters for Texas because the programs still in the mix include several familiar rivals. For a player from just north of Austin, this has the feel of a homegrown evaluation the Longhorns let drift, and the next move will say plenty about how much ground Steve Sarkisian's staff still has to make up in its own backyard. [Read more 🡒]
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Steve Sarkisian has spent the last few years trying to build Texas the way he wants it built, with elite recruiting classes doing the heavy lifting and the transfer portal filling the gaps when needed. The result is a roster that feels more complete than the Longhorns have had in a while, especially with key pieces coming back and a handful of offseason additions giving the staff more answers at multiple spots.
The bigger question now is whether that depth finally solves the lingering issue around the supporting cast and gives Arch Manning the kind of help this offense has been missing. Texas has tried to address that problem while staying true to Sarkisians preferred style, and if the retention and reinforcements hold up, this could be the roster that lets the Longhorns stop talking about potential and start cashing it in. [Read more 🡒]