(Ketch)

* Let's start out with some positive news on Alabama transfer target Amari Niblack. The vibe on his recruitment on Thursday afternoon was very positive. I didn't have anyone describe it as 100%, but there's a sense that the Longhorns are going to end up landing Niblack, who was much less of an H-back at Bama than he was a very big wide receiver. One Bama person I spoke with on Thursday mentioned that he was "very skinny"... twice. The person I spoke with mentioned that he's a guy who's dangerous enough with the ball in his hands as an athlete that the Tide had designed plays in the playbook that used him on jet sweeps. Niblack still has two seasons of eligibility remaining.

* Stanford tight end Benjamin Yurosek is still scheduled to visit the Longhorns before he makes a decision, but the sense I got all week is that the Longhorns likely won't take both Niblack and Yurosek, and Niblack is the preferred player at this point. Of course, these things can be fluid and if the Longhorns miss on another player, maybe it opens the door for the Longhorns to take both, but that is not what I am anticipating. One person on the UGA side of the fence told me on Thursday night that the Dawgs expect to land Yurosek.

* Suchomel will have more on Jabbar Muhammad in his section (complete with quotes from Muhammad), but I did want to pass along that the confidence is a little all over the place on this one. There's split opinion on this one. We had sources report to us that this recruitment is a done deal to Texas and others that were not quite as emphatic. The average confidence from sourcing with regards to landing Muhammad isn't as high as the confidence in landing Niblack at this point. Do not sleep on the Ducks if he makes that visit next week.

* Yes, the Texas coaches know that the team needs interior defensive linemen added to the roster. It will happen, even if it means waiting until April to add them in the spring transfer window.

* While there continues to be smoke that Houston Texans assistant defensive line coach and former Texas All-American Rod Wright could become the new Texas defensive line coach, one source in the Texans organization was surprised by the suggestion when I asked about him on Thursday, although he was highly complimentary. "New Texas DL coach? We haven’t heard anything at all but we’re locked in on B’More," the source said. "If so, awesome get!! He’s been instrumental for these guys this year. EXTREMELY VALUABLE. Today, when they were going through walkthrough, he was leading the group…which is pretty awesome for a “defensive assistant”. The players and DeMeco can’t say enough about him. Great communicator and a major reason why our run defense/overall play has improved greatly."

* A few notes to pass along on the NIL front after doing some checking around this week ...

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