by Gabe Brooks for Inside the Red Raiders
Lyrik Rawls, one of the top 2021 safety prospects in the state of Texas, has trimmed his list of more than a dozen college offers to a list of five. Rawls confirmed Thursday night that the final five in his recruitment are Houston, Kansas, Oklahoma State, TCU, and Texas Tech, in alphabetical order.
Of those five, TCU is the latest offer, as the Horned Frogs targeted the 6-foot-1, 180-pound East Texas standout in early April. Kansas offered in late January, a few weeks after Oklahoma State initiated its pursuit. Houston offered in late Sept. 2019, while Texas Tech has been recruiting Rawls the longest of his five finalists, dating to an early Sept. 2019 offer.
The industry-generated 247Sports Composite rates Rawls as a three-star recruit who is ranked No. 39 nationally among 2021 safety prospects, as well as No. 76 overall regardless of position in the state of Texas for his class. However, the 247Sports rankings consider Rawls a high three-star with a grade of 89, which puts the East Texas playmaker 31st among 2021 safeties and No. 54 overall in the Lone Star State’s 2021 cycle.
In addition to his final five, Rawls has reported Power Five conference offers from Arizona, Indiana, Mississippi State, Missouri, and Ole Miss. SMU, Southern Miss, and Tulsa have also offered Rawls. SMU secured the first two 247Sports Crystal Ball forecasts for Rawls in late May, but interestingly, the Mustangs did not make Rawls’ cut to a top five list.
Rawls started his high school career at Jefferson (Texas) and played his freshman and sophomore seasons for the Class 3A program. Before his junior campaign in 2019, Rawls moved 15 minutes south to Marshall (Texas) High School, where he earned District 9-5A Division II second-team honors at safety this past season.
Rawls made a big impact on both sides of the ball as a receiver and safety in 2019. He finished the year with 459 yards from scrimmage and seven total touchdowns. He caught 13 passes for 367 yards and four TD’s on 28.2 yards per reception, while rushing 10 times for 88 yards and three more scores on almost nine yards per tote.
A breakout sophomore season in 2018 saw Rawls record 94 tackles, two tackles for loss, two interceptions (one returned for a touchdown), two forced fumbles, and five pass breakups for Jefferson High.
TCU has landed six commitments so far in the 2021 recruiting cycle. None of the Frogs’ half dozen pledges is a defensive back, and five of those six are offensive players. Oklahoma State has 11 pledges with four who are possible defensive backs at the next level: a safety, a cornerback, and two prospects classified as athletes who may wind up in the secondary. Kansas, which has gotten 13 commitments in this class, has landed one DB to date.
Texas Tech’s nine commitments include five offensive and four defensive players, but all four of those on defense are front-line prospects. Two of Houston’s six commitments in this class are projected to safety, with another expected to play cornerback.
