Texas extends offer to 2023 Lucas Lovejoy WR Kyle Parker
The Texas Longhorns recruiting focus officially shifted to the 2023 cycle today as Steve Sarkisian and staff welcomed more than 100 visitors for Texas Junior Day. Within an hour of Junior Day starting the Horns extended an offer to 2023 Lucas Lovejoy WR Kyle Parker.
Parker broke out on the Texas high school football scene this year catching 48 receptions for 775 yards and 13 touchdowns, along with over 1,400 all-purpose yards for the Leopards.
The Lovejoy standout caught up with IT when new Texas WR coach Brennan Marion was hired three weeks ago and described how Marion offering him early in the process has created an extremely strong bond between the two.
“Coach (Brennan) Marion and I have an extremely strong relationship,” the Lovejoy wideout told IT. “We can relate to each other on a lot of different things and he’s an extremely good coach. You can see the impact that he’s had at each school he’s been at and I would be extremely happy playing for him.”
Parker then went into detail on what the 34-year old GoGo offense innovator likes most about his game.
“The biggest thing that Coach (Brennan) Marion likes about my game is my ability to make people miss after the catch,” said Parker. “I’m an extremely agile player with great speed as well and I know that he was the exact same type of receiver when he was in college at Tulsa.”
On3 National recruiting analyst Gerry Hamilton caught up with DFW-based WR instructor Margin Hooks to break down his longtime student’s game.
“He’s a throwback type of kid. He doesn’t say much. He’s very respected by his peers. His peers respect his game. I have seen that in our workouts. He works hard at his craft. He plays with a chip on his shoulder. An attitude. He’s elusive, he can return punts at the next level. I can tell you Brennan Marion loves Kyle.”
Parker’s greatest strength after the ball is snapped:
“His strength is his being able to decelerate in two steps. He’s one of the best at hitting top speed, and decelerating in two steps that I have worked with.”
Lastly, Parker was recently in the Flyover recruiting notebook:
Outlook- Broke out on the Texas high school football scene this year catching 48 receptions for 775 yards and 13 touchdowns, along with over 1,400 all-purpose yards for the 5AD2 region two finalists Lovejoy Leopards. Parker has a great relationship with Texas WR coach Brennan Marion from his time at Pitt.
How he fits at the next level- Parker has the tools to move inside or outside to hunt matchups.
Strengths- Verified speed and yards after catch ability are the two attributes that immediately grab your attention. Parker works with DFW WR trainer Margin Hooks and it shows with how polished of a route runner he already is. Also has the ability to return kicks and punts at the next level.
Areas for Improvement / Concern- Most of the concerns with Parker are more nitpicks than genuine concerns, would like to see more receptions for Lovejoy next year but he is in a loaded WR room with SMU commit Jaxson Lavender and 2024 WR/TE Parker Livingstone.
Comparison- Former Oklahoma All-American WR Ryan Broyles
On3 National recruiting analyst Gerry Hamilton contributed to this article
