Texas Football: 2021 class caps NSD with 4-Star DE commit David Abiara

On the afternoon of Feb. 3, the 2021 Texas football recruiting class was able to officially round out their group ahead of the start of spring camp. Whenever spring ball does begin, drills can take place with a good number of signees and early enrollees from the 2021 Texas recruiting class already on the Forty Acres ready to get going.

One player that newly hired head coach Steve Sarkisian was able to add to the Longhorns 2021 class in the waning hours of National Signing Day 2021 was a key blue chip defensive end. Texas got a commitment from the underrated four-star Mansfield Legacy 6-foot-4 and 250 pound strong-side defensive end David Abiara.

It was by way of his Twitter timeline on the late morning of Feb. 3 that the college football recruiting landscape got word of the commitment and signing of Abiara to the Longhorns. It didn’t take long for Abiara to ink down his National Letter of Intent following the announcement of his commitment to Texas on the morning of National Signing Day.

Texas rounded out their 2021 recruiting class on National Signing Day with 21 signees in the mix, and two more hauls out of the NCAA Transfer Portal on the way. Abiara was the final commit among high school prospects in this class.

There could still be more action from the JUCO ranks on the way this offseason, but that storyline has yet to really emerge on the Forty Acres.

What Texas football is getting out of Abiara

Moreover, what Texas is getting out of this commitment and signing of Abiara is the nation’s No. 437 2021 high school prospect, No. 29 strong-side defensive end, and No. 62 prospect out of Texas (247Sports Composite). And the Top247 ranks him as the No. 43 strong-side defensive end and No. 107 prospect out of Texas.

Abiara is a potent defensive end that could fit in at multiple slots in recently hired defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski’s front seven. The former Notre Dame Fighting Irish commit is a lengthy and athletic lineman that is a quick, fundamental, and powerful player that can set the edge. He will still have to put on some size before getting ready to compete in the trenches on a consistent basis at the collegiate level.

Abiara wound up choosing Texas over offers from two dozen other schools. The other highlighting schools on his offer sheet included the Fighting Irish, Alabama Crimson Tide, Baylor Bears, Indiana Hoosiers, Kansas State Wildcats, LSU Tigers, Michigan State Spartans, Oklahoma Sooners, Oklahoma State Cowboys, Ole Miss Rebels, SMU Mustangs, Texas A&M Aggies, Texas Tech Red Raiders, Virginia Tech Hokies, and Wisconsin Badgers.

The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex product Abiara is now one of four defensive ends (among the weak-side and strong-side defensive end signees) in the Longhorns 2021 class. The highest rated of that quad of defensive ends in the Longhorns 2021 class is the highly touted four-star New Caney product Derrick Harris Jr.

According to the 247Sports Team Composite Rankings, the 2021 Texas recruiting class now ranks at No. 17 in the nation and remains in the second spot in the Big 12 behind Oklahoma. The highest rated commit/signee in the Longhorns 2021 class is the elite five-star Denton-Ryan athlete Ja’Tavion Sanders.

This is nice to see, though, for the Longhorns getting two straight commits on two days this week, with the other coming from 2022 four-star Klein Cain running back Jaydon Blue.