Insiders reveal 'the team to beat' to land elite LB recruit

It's shaping up to be a big-time recruiting battle for four-star linebacker Riley Pettijohn, and by all accounts, he's worth the attention.

Per 247Sports, Pettijohn is the No. 4 linebacker in the 2025 class. He's 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, and per On3, he just ran a 10.7 in the 100-meter dash, which points to elite athleticism — especially for a linebacker.

Although Pettijohn has over 30 offers, it seems like four are standing out the most. He's expected to take official visits to Ohio State, USC, Texas and Texas A&M this summer.

Those are four big-time programs, especially Texas and Ohio State right now, but indications coming out of Austin are that the Longhorns are the big favorites in this one.

“Pettijohn is probably still going to take those [official] visits, but I still love where Texas is at,” On3's Justin Wells recently said. "Texas is in a great, great position with Riley Pettijohn right now. The kid ran a 10.7 [100 meters] last week at the linebacker position, he’s a high-end four-star. He’s exactly what linebackers coach Johnny Nansen and this bunch need to get. Texas only took one linebacker in the last cycle — Tyanthony Smith out of Jasper (Texas), they flipped an A&M guy. Pettijohn is just as important as Elijah Barnes.”

While this may seem like a bit of recency bias considering the fact that Pettijohn was just on Texas' campus for the Longhorns' spring day, it's worth noting that national recruiting insider Steve Wiltfong also feels that Texas is the one to beat in this recruiting battle.