Four-star DL Joseph Mbatchou commits to Texas

The Longhorns land a pledge from a former Gators pledge.

Steve Sarkisian and the Texas Longhorns staff have positioned themselves to close out with another top-three rated recruiting class in the 2025 cycle, and that pursuit got another shot in the arm on Saturday with the commitment of Loganville (Ga.) Grayson defensive lineman Joseph Mbatchou, one of the biggest targets for the Horns as part of an aggressive pursuit of talent to play in the defensive trenches.

The Longhorns got involved in Mbatchou’s recruitment relatively late considering they didn’t offer him until August. Sarkisian and staff quickly made up for lost time, as they were able to host him for an official visit back in September before getting back to campus for a fantastic official visit in October. Shortly after his official to Texas, Mbatchou officially re-opened his recruitment and decommitted from Florida after committing to the Gators in the summer.

Mbatchou’s recruitment really took off after his initial commitment, as he reeled in offers from programs like Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Tennessee, and USC. With things looking shaky in Gainesville, Mbatchou took several trips including additional official visits given his stock was taking off and he had even more options.

This was a very competitive recruitment given the programs in pursuit, but Texas remained a constant after his second trip to Austin. On Saturday, Mbatchou and his family made their third trip of the season to Texas, and needless to say that was a very positive data point for the Longhorns.

Mbatchou and family felt like they had seen everything they needed to see and therefore went ahead and made the call in favor of the Longhorns during their visit and gave the Longhorns another big time commitment heading into the early signing period.

Now a consensus four-star prospect, Mbatchou is ranked as the No. 291 player nationally and the No. 31 defensive lineman, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.

Mbatchou is the fifth commitment for Texas this cycle along the defensive front to go along with Lance Jackson, Myron Charles, Josiah Sharma, and Smith Orogbo. That is quite the haul for defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski and defensive line coach Kenny Baker, and the Longhorns likely aren’t done pursuing targets along the defensive line.

Following Mbatchou’s commitment, the Longhorns class now has an overall point total of 299.01, according to 247Sports, and has now narrowed the gap between themselves in Alabama (301.10) for the third overall spot nationally.

The Longhorns are trying to close out this cycle with a bang, as they continue their pursuit of a College Football Playoff berth for the second year in a row.

Buckle up, folks. These next couple weeks are going to be very interesting.