What I'm Hearing: Washington CB Jabbar Muhammad

Oregon landed a commitment from Duke nickel Brandon Johnson on Wednesday as Dan Lanning and the Ducks continue to add key pieces to their roster for next season.

The next player that immediately came to mind for Duck fans was Washington cornerback Jabbar Muhammad. He's working from a top three of Texas, Oregon and Alabama, with a commitment coming in the near future.

Here's what I'm hearing as of Thursday morning.

Muhammad arrived in Austin on Wednesday for his visit and is still on campus with the Longhorns. I was told that head coach Steve Sarkisian personally took the lead on the visit.

While that isn't rare by any means, it points to how big of a priority he is for the Texas staff. It seems like the staff was rolling out the red carpet for him on his trip, which one would expect given how much the Longhorns secondary struggled against the pass last year. 

Furthermore, it feels like Alabama has had more traction for a visit this week than Oregon has. Maybe that's because of the obvious coaching connection with Kalen DeBoer, or maybe because Tuscaloosa is closer. 

The impression I got after my latest conversations on Thursday was that Texas was trying to lock down Muhammad's commitment and would prefer that he not visit Alabama. Again, it's not uncommon for coaching staffs to try and prevent top players from visiting other schools. Think of it like, have such a strong visit that you don't need to take more, or you recruit a guy so well he's seen all he needs to see.

I doubt that Muhammad would commit to Oregon without taking a trip to Eugene, and a trip doesn't seem likely to me at this point. Lastly, the opportunity to play back in his home state has to carry obvious appeal here.

I'm told this is a very very tight-knit family and with a cousin already on the team (Malik Muhammad), it would be tough for any school outside of the state to overcome all that the Longhorns have going for them in this recruitment. I'm not making an outright prediction, but it feels more and more that Muhammad is likely heading to Texas. 

We'll see if he takes any other visits.