Texas Football: Re-Evaluating Texas' Recruiting Class After the 2015 Opening

Shane Buechele certainly gave his prospective teammates something to think about with his performance at The Opening.

Texas' quarterback was absolutely lights-out at the Elite 11, finishing second in the quarterbacking phase of Nike's elite competition and standing toe-to-toe with some of the nation's top prospects.

Buechele had the kind of week that should get fans and recruits alike excited about the Horns. And based on what we saw from top targets like Devin Duvernay and Dontavious Jackson, the quarterback's work should change the entire complexion of what's been a pretty underwhelming 2016 class.

What Buechele's Performance Means for the Longhorns

Buechele proved he's the real deal last week. Plain and simple.

Ranked as the 11th-best quarterback in the event per 247Sports' Composite, Buechele made his case to climb up near the 5-star prospects he ran circles around all week. He started out by winning the Golden Gun accuracy award on Monday, then never looked back in leading the competition until the final day.

While an easy case can be argued that he should have won MVP honors, Buechele made his point. His all-around mastery of the football was obvious to everyone in attendance, prompting some sky-high praise from Trent Dilfer.

Also sporting some solid wheels, Buechele could be a devastating force in Texas' uptempo attack. Unlike current quarterbacks Tyrone Swoopes, Jerrod Heard and Kai Locksley, he's going to be ready to make college-level throws from the moment he steps on campus, and that was obvious the entire time he was in Oregon.

In the meantime, Buechele's showing will pay dividends on the recruiting trail. As of this writing, the Horns have just six commits in their 60th-ranked 2015 class, with only Buechele and Collin Johnson cracking the Top 247.

But now that Buechele has declared himself as an elite passer, in front of a slew of Texas targets no less, that should change. Malik Jefferson did the same thing last year when he showed off his freak athleticism and became one of the most powerful recruits college football has ever seen.

As with Jefferson, Buechele's performance has the potential to steer some of the nation's best players toward a commitment to the Longhorns.

Courtesy of 247Sports

Other Participants Who Could Commit Soon

Buechele was the only Longhorn commit to attend The Opening last week, but several of Texas' top targets were in attendance and showed well.

We'll start with athlete Christian Wallace, who is undoubtedly committing in the near future after getting a Bevo-themed hair design. According to 247Sports' EJ Holland, Wallace seemed disinterested at times during the event but was tremendous when he turned it on at safety. That's one of four positions he could end up playing, and it'll be interesting to see where Texas puts him.

Sticking with the defensive side of the ball, probable linebacker commits Jeffrey McCulloch and Dontavious Jackson each had big weeks. McCulloch posted a position-best 138.3 SPARQ score, while Jackson was unbeatable in drills, as noted by 247Sports' Keith Niebuhr.

As for the offensive side, it's hard not to get excited about Texas lean Devin Duvernay. Buechele's recruiting target ran an insane 4.32 and had one of the best catches at the event. He and current commit Collin Johnson would be a devastating combo on the outside.

The hope for Texas is that these four will feel better about committing to the Horns after seeing Buechele's readiness to contribute. Duvernay and Jackson especially have the potential to swing some of the other elite talent in the state and would completely change the complexion of this class.

There's no guarantee that any of this will happen. There's a reason these players are waiting to commit, but Buechele has given these targets a reason to get excited about playing for the Longhorns. That's a big development from a week ago.

So while the 2016 offseason has been mostly underwhelming to this point, its key member now has a national face. From here, it will really start to take shape.