Texas Football: Impact underrated 3-Star DE Van Fillinger bring Horns

A crucial addition to the 2020 Texas football recruiting class came along on July 18 with 3-Star Corner Canyon DE Van Fillinger.

A big surprise commitment, in a good way, for the 2020 Texas football recruiting class came on July 18 with three-star Utah native strong-side defensive end Van Fillinger. Texas football landed Fillinger just one day after they added four-star Cy Ridge defensive tackle Vernon Broughton.

The fact that Fillinger was basically narrowing his final commitment decision down to the Texas Longhorns football program and their 2020 recruiting class and the Michigan Wolverines shows the kind of national attention and respect he received. The final set of 247Sports Crystal Ball Predictions that were released for Fillinger had him leaning to the 2020 Texas football recruiting class over Michigan.

However, it took a late run from head Texas football coach Tom Herman and his 2020 recruiting class to move past Michigan and land the pledge from Fillinger. The 6-foot-4 and 250 pound Corner Canyon High School and Draper, UT, defensive end Fillinger is the perfect example of how the Longhorns can get defensive coordinator Todd Orlando a full pipeline of depth in the front seven.

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Not only is Fillinger a great depth addition in the trenches, he brings a mature skill set to the table that allows him to make an early impact as a rotational defensive end. He sets the edge as well as anyone and is a very sure-handed tackler when given the chance.

Fillinger also embodies the versatility and steadiness that the Longhorns look for out of players in the past three recruiting classes. Herman and Orlando preach versatility and utility for the younger players that could be deeper down the depth chart. That could be the case for why they pitched Fillinger so hard when it was all said and done.

This pledge also expands the footprint that this 2020 recruiting class for the Longhorns has out-of-state, and heading into PAC-12 territory. Fillinger is the first out-of-state commitment in this 2020 Texas football recruiting class since four-star athlete Mookie Cooper decommitted.

According to the 247Sports Team Composite Rankings, Fillinger’s pledge now pushes Texas to the No. 20 ranked 2020 recruiting class in the nation and No. 2 in the Big 12 still.

Moreover, Fillinger could be a good fit for this Texas defense at either a bigger defensive end position or defensive tackle if he puts on size and strength. But Fillinger is already a rock for Corner Canyon that racked up double-digit tackles for loss and five sacks during his junior season of high school football.

Texas is landing the No. 373 2020 high school prospect in the nation and the No. 18 strong-side defensive end here. Fillinger also ranks as the No. 3 prospect out of the state of Utah. The last three visits that he took came with the Ohio State Buckeyes, Oregon Ducks, and LSU Tigers. Given that list of visits of late for Fillinger, this is a solid get for the Longhorns.

The other notable programs that Fillinger cut on his way to committing to Texas included the Boise State Broncos, Colorado Buffaloes, Nebraska Cornhuskers, Kansas State Wildcats, UCLA Bruins, USC Trojans, Washington Huskies, and Utah Utes. This is a big get for Texas to nab a Utah native out of the PAC-12 recruiting grounds.