When 2027 Palestine quarterback Kavian Bryant committed to the Texas Tech Raiders over the Texas Longhorns and others, it was hardly a surprise — the nation’s No. 2 quarterback in the 247Sports Composite rankings was trending to the Red Raiders over the last several months as the program built momentum on and off the field with significant investments in NIL.

It’s a brave new world in recruiting where winning battles against Texas Tech is no longer a virtual certainty for Texas, as evidenced by the summer pledge of Mansfield Lake Ridge offensive tackle Felix Ojo, the No. 2-ranked player at his position in the 2026 recruiting class.

But regardless of the overall context of head-to-head recruiting with the Red Raiders, the loss of Bryant is a significant blow to quarterback recruiting for the Longhorns in the 2027 class — head coach Steve Sarkisian and his staff are extremely selective about extending offers at the position, only offering three prospects in the 2026 class and three prospects in the 2027 class.

Bryant, the only in-state quarterback offered by Texas, was the top target, and the other two recruits, Shreveport (La.) Evangel Christian Academy’s Peyton Houston and Huntington Beach (Calif.)‘s Brady Edmunds, are both committed to other programs.

Houston committed to home-state LSU in mid-August, so with the upheaval in Baton Rouge that includes the termination of head coach Brian Kelly and athletics director Scott Woodward, it’s possible that the comparable stability in Austin would allow Texas to make inroads with Houston if the Longhorns decide to push.

On the other hand, allegiance to the Tigers runs deep in the Bayou State and Houston may see the opportunity to play for someone other than Kelly as a positive.

At a position where prospects normally commit early, usually during the summer before their junior season, the 2027 cycle is something of an anomaly because seven of the top 20 quarterbacks in the class remain uncommitted. So there are high-level targets the Horns could pursue without trying to convince those recruits to flip their pledge.

Holding a commitment from No. 2 quarterback Dia Bell, the fifth-ranked player in the current cycle, affords Texas the opportunity to take a more developmental passer in the following class, as the Horns did with Trey Owens in 2023. Notably, Sarkisian didn’t extend the offer to Owens until early November based on the junior film of the Cypress Cy-Fair product.

That could happen again in the 2027 class with co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach AJ Milwee continuing to evaluate in-state prospects like Smithson Valley quarterback Ty Knutson, a consensus three-star prospect who picked up summer offers from TCU, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech.

Since the Horned Frogs and Red Raiders now hold quarterback pledges in the class, the Aggies are now the most likely landing spot of those three schools, although Texas A&M also remains in pursuit of Bastrop’s Weston Nielsen, who is ranked just outside the top-200 nationally.

The other option is for Texas to pass on taking a quarterback in the 2027 class and fill whatever eventual needs emerge in the post-Arch Manning future through the NCAA transfer portal.

For now, however, missing on Bryant stings.