Texas Football: Impact 4-Star DE Jordon Thomas brings for Longhorns

The 2021 Texas football recruiting class landed its first defensive end commit on May 2 with the pledge of 4-Star WDE Jordon Thomas.

A second big addition of the last 10 days arrived for the 2021 Texas football recruiting class this weekend. On May 2, four-star Memorial weak-side defensive end Jordon Thomas announced his commitment on social media to Texas over the rival Texas A&M Aggies. This is a big get in a matter of days for head coach Tom Herman, and it’s much needed right now.

Thomas becomes just the second commitment for the Texas Longhorns football program since the turn of the calendar year. The other from this calendar year is three-star tight end Landen King, who gave his commitment to the Longhorns late last month.

This talented 6-foot-3 and 240 pound Port Arthur, TX, native defensive end announced on his Twitter timeline on May 1 that he would have an announcement coming the following day. That’s when Thomas would announce his official commitment to Texas in the early afternoon of May 2.

May 2 delivered great news to Herman and recently hired defensive coordinator Chris Ash to begin the weekend. Thomas became the eighth commitment in the 2021 Longhorns recruiting class and the first true defensive end. Although, five-star Denton-Ryan athlete Ja’Tavion Sanders does play a bit of defensive end.

Thomas ranks as the nation’s No. 235 2021 high school prospect, No. 15 weak-side defensive end, and No. 36 prospect out of Texas (247Sports Composite). He had previously announced that he would be narrowing his commitment decision down to the Longhorns and Aggies.

That, in effect, meant that pretty early on in Thomas’ recruitment he wouldn’t be getting that many more offers. He only had offers from eight schools before committing to Texas. The other six came from the LSU Tigers, Baylor Bears, Houston Cougars, SMU Mustangs, Southern Miss Golden Eagles, and TCU Horned Frogs.

Moreover, as long as the 2020 Texas high school football season holds up, then it will be very interesting to see how Thomas responds after missing all of his junior campaign due to a leg injury. He did register 32 total tackles, seven tackles for loss, and five sacks as a sophomore at Memorial High School.

Thomas packs a good punch for his size and strength right now. For a bit of a smaller defensive end, in terms of weight, Thomas does have quick get off and the ability to overwhelm opposing offensive linemen. He’s definitely not the size to handle an interior defensive line role yet, but he could thrive as a quicker and stronger defensive end in a 3-4 scheme.

Ash likes to play an aggressive quarters scheme that is likely to hold up well in the Big 12 if the Longhorns can actually develop all of the four and five-star defensive talent they have on the roster. Thomas could slot in as one of the outside three or four-down linemen that Ash likes to run with.

The extraordinary ability of Thomas to get a big push at the line of scrimmage and command the tone in the trenches will be a valuable pickup for Ash. If Thomas can bounce back quickly from that leg injury this coming season, he should be able to improve his versatility and production as a pass rusher.

Thomas already showed that he excels in setting the edge and blowing up opposing ball carries in the backfield. His get off and agility in tight spaces allows him to get a hand on opposing ball carriers in the blink of an eye. That type of quickness will be a huge boost for the Texas defensive line.

When he first arrives on the Forty Acres, Thomas might not be ready to assume a significant role in the defensive line rotation. Missing his junior season will have an adverse effect in his development late in his high school football career. He’s still a pretty raw defensive end by all accounts.

The promise that Thomas brings to the table over the long haul is where the Longhorns will see the biggest benefit. His 247Sports recruiting profile projects him as a potential late round pick in the NFL Draft, which is a pretty high ceiling for a four-star defensive end ranked outside the top 10 at his position in the nation.

According to the 247Sports Team Composite Rankings, the 2021 Longhorns recruiting class now ranks at No. 12 in the nation and in the top spot in the Big 12. Getting the commitment from Thomas jumped them up five spots in the national class rankings, and even further ahead of the Oklahoma Sooners in the Big 12 rankings.