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Sunday morning look at defensive line recruiting

By Gerry Hamilton

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Sunday morning look at defensive line recruiting 

Kenny Baker is tasked with signing three or four defensive lineman in his first class at Texas. Good news is the Longhorns are in on some of the nations best. 

Texas has three defensive lineman scheduled for official visits so far. That list will triple in the coming weeks as new offers make their way to Austin in April, and June official visits are scheduled. 

OnTexasFootball begins the updated look at defensive line recruiting with the commitment and official visitors. 

The commitment
Brandon Brown, DL, Melbourne (Fla.) Eau Gallie #AllGasNoBrakes
OnTexasFootball ranking: 4-star
Official visit schedule: Tennessee June 7-9, Texas June 14-16, USC June 21-23

Official visits locked in
Ethan Utley, DL, Nashville (TN) Ensworth
OnTexasFootball ranking: 4–star
Official visit schedule: Tennessee June 14-16, Texas likely June 21-23
Note: Scheduled to commit March 28, with Tennessee likely. Utley told OTF he will not make any unofficial visits prior to his announcement.

Zion Williams, DL, Lufkin (Texas) high
Recruiting Ranking: OnTexasFootball 4-star
Official visit schedule: TCU May 3-5, LSU likely June 7-9, Texas A&M likely June 14-16 and Texas June 21-23
Note: LSU is 1A and Texas 1B right now. Texas A&M 3rd and TCU 4th. 

California target
Josiah Sharma, DL, Folsom (Calif.) Folsom
Recruiting Ranking: OnTexasFootball 4-star
The competition: Alabama, Oregon, Washington and Utah. The Utes are locked in for a June 14-16 official visit. The Huskies will receive a May OV. 

Large human in Humboldt 
Stephon Shivers, DL,  Humboldt (Tn.) High
Recruiting Ranking: OnTexasFootball 4-star
The competition: Georgia and Tennessee mentioned most. LSU and Texas offers have the attention of the 6-3, 355 pounder. 

Sunshine State offers
Myron Charles, DL, Port Charlotte (Fla.) High
OnTexasFootball ranking: 4-star
Official visit schedule: None reported as of mid-week.
Note: Spoke with Steve Sarkisian and Kenny Baker last week. Talking with Texas about an April and/or June official visit.

Derry Norris Jr., DL, Port Orange (Fla.) Spruce Creek
OnTexasFootball ranking: 4-star
Official visit schedule: Georgia Tech May 31-June 2, N.C. State June 7-9, possibly Minnesota June 14-16 and possibly Purdue June 21-23.
Note: Spoke with Tashard Choice and Kenny Baker last week when offered. April visit likely, and June official visit will happen with a Texas push.

Jarquez Carter, DL, Newberry (Fla.) High
OnTexasFootball ranking: 4-star
Official visit schedule: None reported as of early in the week.
Note: Made visits to Florida and Miami last week. A Texas visit in April in play. 

Southeast Region offers
Kevin Wynn, DL, Greensboro (Ga.) Greene County
Recruiting Ranking: OnTexasFootball 4-star
Official visit schedule: None reported.
Note: Florida State, Alabama and Georgia the top 3 with the Seminoles slightly trending headed into the spring. Texas, LSU and Florida in line for spring unofficial visits. 

Malik Autry, DL, Opelika (Ala.) High - *Auburn commit
Recruiting Ranking: OnTexasFootball 4-star
Official visit schedule: USC June 7-9, Florida June 14-16, and likely Auburn June 21-23. 

Sims will visit April 6
Chace Sims, DL, Richmond (Texas) Randle
Recruiting Ranking: OnTexasFootball 4-star
Official visit schedule: SMU May 17-19, TCU June 7-9, Texas A&M or Texas Tech June 21-23
Spring visit schedule: LSU March 9, Texas April 6 and Texas A&M April 20 for the Aggies spring game 

In state prospects
Dilan Battle, DL, Mansfield (Texas) Timberview
Recruiting Ranking: OnTexasFootball 4-star
Official visit schedule: TCU May 3-5.
Note: Visited LSU this weekend. Spoke with Kenny Baker last week, but there was not a visit locked in as of late in the week. 

DJ Sanders, DL, Bellville (Texas) High
Recruiting Ranking: OnTexasFootball 4-star
Official visit schedule: None reported.
Note: Texas A&M receiving most mention headed into spring with Texas in the mix. 

Xavier Ukponu, DL, Denton (Texas) Guyer
Recruiting Ranking: OnTexasFootball 3-star
Official visit schedule: Oklahoma State April 12-14, Florida May 31-June 2, Texas A&M June 21-23

Floyd Guidry, DL, Spring (Texas) High
Recruiting Ranking: OnTexasFootball 4-star
Official visit schedule: None reported.
Note: Texas can win this one if they make a push. TCU, Houston and Texas A&M very much in the mix.

    • Hook 'Em 16

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    Lifetime Longhorn

    Jbro52

    Supporters

    Good stuff Gerry! 

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    Senior

    Lnghrn

    Supporters

    A lot of guys in the list.  Just need to make it happen.

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    • Lifetime Longhorn

    GoHorns1

    Supporters

    Gerry, who are over the ball guys, who are the 3 tech etc.?

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    All-American

    tsip92

    Supporters

    A nice list, but who was the last 5 star DT to sign with Texas?

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    • Freshman

    ryantnelson02

    Members

    Brandon Brown and Zion Williams is a SEC DT duo starter kit. Those two are must haves for this class! 

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    Lifetime Longhorn

    Gerry Hamilton

    Moderators
    • Moderators
    13 minutes ago, GoHorns1 said:

    Gerry, who are over the ball guys, who are the 3 tech etc.?

    Zion Williams is definitely over the ball. 

    Brandon Brown can play both ... similar to Byron Murphy in that regard. 

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    Lifetime Longhorn

    Gerry Hamilton

    Moderators
    • Moderators
    9 minutes ago, tsip92 said:

    A nice list, but who was the last 5 star DT to sign with Texas?

    Malcom Brown was for sure a 5-star. 

    Of course, there is more to DT recruiting than 5-star's. 

     

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    Senior

    t.newman

    Members

    Gerry, is it important to Brandon Brown to play in the SEC?  It seems usc may be our biggest competition and I wonder if big 10 vs. SEC will be a factor? 

    BTW... Even He rested on the 7th day... of course he didn't cover Longhorn recruiting, so there's that.

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    • Haha 2
    Lifetime Longhorn

    Gerry Hamilton

    Moderators
    • Moderators
    Just now, Gerry Hamilton said:

    Malcom Brown was for sure a 5-star. 

    Of course, there is more to DT recruiting than 5-star's. 

     

    Your top DL's in the NFL ...

    Aaron Donald - high 3-star

    Chris Jones - 5-star 

    Quinnen Williams - mid 4-star

    Javon Hargrave - not ranked

    Jeffrey Simmons - high 4-star 

    Dexter Lawrence - 5-star 

    Cameron Hayward - low 4-star 

    Christian Wilkins - 5-star

    Jonathan Allen - 5-star

    Vita Vea - high 3-star

    D.J. Reader - mid 4-star

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    Freshman

    SkiBreck

    Members

    Good list, I want them all — Well done GH

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    • Lifetime Longhorn

    Gerry Hamilton

    Moderators
    • Moderators
    1 minute ago, t.newman said:

    Gerry, is it important to Brandon Brown to play in the SEC?  It seems usc may be our biggest competition and I wonder if big 10 vs. SEC will be a factor? 

    BTW... Even He rested on the 7th day... of course he didn't cover Longhorn recruiting, so there's that.

    From talking to Brandon and someone close to the recruitment ... SEC definitely preferred in the recruitment. But in the NIL world ... I can't call it a lock. 

    Colin Simmons from day one I ever talked to him said "I'm going to play in the SEC". 

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    Freshman

    Longhornfocus

    Members

    Interesting there are 15 names and Rink wasn’t included. Has communication stopped there? Seemingly been trending A&M lately but wasn’t sure what transpired behind the scenes.

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    • Lifetime Longhorn

    GoHorns1

    Supporters
    27 minutes ago, Longhornfocus said:

    Interesting there are 15 names and Rink wasn’t included. Has communication stopped there? Seemingly been trending A&M lately but wasn’t sure what transpired behind the scenes.

    Rink is simply not a priority 

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    Lifetime Longhorn

    Quinncent McManning, Jr.

    Supporters

    Interesting most of these guys are rated 3 stars from the services but you know there are a bunch of nfl guys on this list. 

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    • Freshman

    zzz chese

    Members
    (edited)
    2 hours ago, Gerry Hamilton said:

    Your top DL's in the NFL ...

    Aaron Donald - high 3-star

    Chris Jones - 5-star 

    Quinnen Williams - mid 4-star

    Javon Hargrave - not ranked

    Jeffrey Simmons - high 4-star 

    Dexter Lawrence - 5-star 

    Cameron Hayward - low 4-star 

    Christian Wilkins - 5-star

    Jonathan Allen - 5-star

    Vita Vea - high 3-star

    D.J. Reader - mid 4-star

    A lot of 5 stars in that list and recent top DTs drafted. Would be nice to get back to recruiting 5 star Dline

    Edited by zzz chese

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    Lifetime Longhorn

    Gerry Hamilton

    Moderators
    • Moderators
    2 hours ago, Longhornfocus said:

    Interesting there are 15 names and Rink wasn’t included. Has communication stopped there? Seemingly been trending A&M lately but wasn’t sure what transpired behind the scenes.

    Don’t think communication has stopped. 
     

    Texas is hunting bigger bodies … will be interesting to follow

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    Lifetime Longhorn

    Bobby Burton

    Administrators

    I’ve tried to tune out for a week for vacay.

    But I return to this, and Gerry immediately pulls me back in! 🙂 

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    • Haha 2
    All-American

    John Moore

    Members
    5 hours ago, Longhornfocus said:

    Interesting there are 15 names and Rink wasn’t included. Has communication stopped there? Seemingly been trending A&M lately but wasn’t sure what transpired behind the scenes.

    I was worried about his size when he started being discussed as a prospect. His dad was a hard gainer and there's no guarantee he'll get to where Texas needs him at DT. Sark/PK/Baker don't have the luxury of time at the position to really wait around and see if a guy will get there (i.e. Zac Swanson). 

    Bo brought in nothing but development guys in terms of body and/or play. At this point, I believe they're looking solely at cats that have the requisite size so at least the development curve won't be as long or steep when they hit campus. 

    They might also believe they can circle back around later if space or need arises.

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    Sophomore

    goathumper

    Members

    Success in this class begins and ends with the DL class. Defensive tackle is the most important position to recruit year in, year out in the SEC and Texas will be low on numbers after this year 

     

    Get as many elite guys on campus and then sort it all out over the summer. It looks like Coach Baker is prioritizing more guys who can penetrate into the backfield and have lengthy frames to fill out 

     

    More guys offered with the ability to get in the backfield vs plug holes

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    • Lifetime Longhorn

    Gerry Hamilton

    Moderators
    • Moderators

    IMO, Texas will also start prioritizing D-line more in NIL moving forward. To this point, it hasn't been where it needs to be IMO. 

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    Lifetime Longhorn

    Shane

    Supporters
    23 hours ago, Bobby Burton said:

    I’ve tried to tune out for a week for vacay.

    But I return to this, and Gerry immediately pulls me back in! 🙂 

    Welcome back Bobby ! Great stuff Gerry as always 

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    • Lifetime Longhorn

    bourbasted

    Supporters
    On 3/11/2024 at 3:31 AM, Gerry Hamilton said:

    Don’t think communication has stopped. 
     

    Texas is hunting bigger bodies … will be interesting to follow

    Gerry, it looks like Rink is going to be committing soon.  Am I right in saying when Davis left it seems like Rink lost a little interest here and the feeling was mutual when Baker came on board and had a chance to assess Rink?  I know he's a legacy, but sometimes kids just don't fit what you're trying to do schematically.  

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    • Lifetime Longhorn

    Gerry Hamilton

    Moderators
    • Moderators
    2 hours ago, bourbasted said:

    Gerry, it looks like Rink is going to be committing soon.  Am I right in saying when Davis left it seems like Rink lost a little interest here and the feeling was mutual when Baker came on board and had a chance to assess Rink?  I know he's a legacy, but sometimes kids just don't fit what you're trying to do schematically.  

    Correct. Texas was never all in on Rink ... even when Bo Davis was in Austin. Texas hunting bigger frame and body types in the 2025 cycle. 

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