LaDamian Guyton, No. 2 player in class of 2027, commits to Texas Tech

In the end, Felix Ojo's status as the highest-rated recruit to ever commit to Texas Tech lasted about a month. 

The Red Raiders beat out Texas to land Ojo, an offensive tackle out of Mansfield, Texas, and the No. 10 player in the class of 2026 by the 247Sports composite, on July 4. On Thursday, Texas Tech landed LaDamian Guyton, the No. 2 player in the class of 2027. Guyton plays defensive end for Benedictine Military School in Savannah, Ga. 

A few facts, then some quotes, presented for your judgment: 

1) The last Texas Tech defensive end taken in the NFL draft was Brandon Williams, selected in the fourth round by the Dallas Cowboys in 2009.

2) The last player Texas Tech signed out of Georgia was... I have no idea.

3) From 1999 through the recently-signed 2025 class, Texas Tech signed three top-100 players in its history. The highest-rated player in its 2025 class was outside the national top 300. 

4) According to On3, Guyton agreed to a 3-year deal that will pay him $900,000 in his freshman season of 2027 and take him to $1.4 million by his junior year. 

“God doesn’t make mistakes,” Guyton told Rivals after his commitment. “I didn’t think I’d commit this early either, but after talking with my mom, it just felt right. That visit showed me exactly what I needed to see.”

Backed by Cody Campbell and friends, Texas Tech is clearly attempting to exploit a market inefficiency. The Red Raiders have committed to pay Guyton the money that the top defensive ends in college football make right now. Considering how fast the money is moving, this could prove to be a tremendous bargain by 2028 and 2029. To exploit that blind spot in the market, Tech had to commit $3.5 million to a kid who has yet to play his junior year of high school football. There's untold risk associated with that decision, starting with the fact that acting upon it could very well change the future for Guyton and Tech alike. There's just no way that committing $3.5 million to a high school junior won't turn Guyton into a different person, for better or worse. We're watching the butterfly effect play out in real time. 

Still, Tech has made two calculations and they're acting on them. The first, as mentioned above, is that elite high school recruits are undervalued relative to the transfer portal.

“We’re going to poach some guys,” Texas Tech GM Blanchard told On3’s earlier this week. “I’m going to do senior evals on the 2026 class across the country, and if somebody is underpaying an elite guy that has senior tape, he might be a four or five-star guy, and people are only paying him $100,000, $200,000. I’m going to give him $300,000 to $400,000 and go steal somebody.”

The second is that the paradigm has shifted, and Tech is not asking anyone's permission to act upon it. The Red Raiders' past limitations are not determining their future outcomes. After out-spending the entire country in the 2025 transfer portal, nabbing Ojo and Guyton, Texas Tech is now expected to move on to Cooper Hackett. The No. 10 player in the class of 2027 is also widely expected to commit to Texas Tech.