Baylor tops Texas on the recruiting trail?
It takes some getting used to.
Baylor doesn't do it often, but Art Briles worked his magic once again, securing a commitment for the 2013 class from Robbie Rhodes.
Rhodes, a Fort Worth, Texas native, was the nation's No. 5 receiver and the No. 43 overall prospect in our ESPN 150, giving Baylor two commits in the ESPN 300.
The 6-foot-1, 185-pounder held scholarship offers from Texas, Texas A&M, Missouri, TCU, and Texas Tech, but elected to give his pledge to the Bears. He can't sign a letter of intent to make it official until next February, of course, but do we call this the Briles effect or the RG3 effect?
Robert Griffin III certainly gave the Bears more legitimacy, but the program already landed a few top-flight recruits in the past, like Kendall Wright and Ahmad Dixon, a Waco native.
Baylor's not too worried about the why. It's too busy celebrating Texas' No. 6 overall prospect joining the fold.
Here's what our scouts had to say about him:
This is one smooth and fluid prospect. Rhodes may have more natural gracefulness as an athlete than just about anyone in this class. He has a wiry, lean frame and he is stronger than you might think. He possesses fluidity, speed, sudden quickness off the line and the ability to stretch the field. He gets over the top of defenders in a hurry. He shows excellent surge off the line of scrimmage and is a quality route runner. Reaches top gear rapidly. He has a good feel for attacking coverage, is very quick in and out of his cuts and shows he can get separation. Stems and weaves DBs to gain leverage. Shows outstanding burst in all his change-of-direction skills. He simply knows how to get open. Has a very nice feel for finding soft spots in zone coverage and settling. Seems to have a good sense of his surroundings. His hands are excellent. Is very natural as a pass catcher.
Sounds like a great fit for the Bears' system, and if you were a top receiver, why wouldn't you want to play in Briles' offense?
David Ubben | email
College Football- ESPN.com Big 12 blogger
- Joined ESPN.com in 2010
- Wrote for The Oklahoman
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Richard Durrett joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. He writes about colleges, the Dallas Stars and the Texas Rangers. Richard spent nine years at The Dallas Morning News covering the Rangers, Stars, colleges, motorsports and high schools.
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Tim MacMahon joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. Tim covers the Cowboys and Mavericks. He has covered the local sports scene from high schools to colleges to pros during his six-year tenure at The Dallas Morning News. MacMahon is a graduate of UNT.
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