Texas Football: 2022 DL class stellar with 4-Star commit Aaron Bryant

You can’t help but be impressed with the group that new defensive line coach Bo Davis has assembled in the 2022 Texas football recruiting class. After landing a commitment from the touted four-star Southaven (MS) defensive lineman Aaron Bryant on the afternoon of Aug. 26, Texas now has three blue-chips in the trenches on this side of the ball.

Bryant is also the first blue-chip commit for the Longhorns 2022 class since early July. It is a much-needed boost after some recent misses on the recruiting trail for new head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns in the 2022 class.

Texas landed the commitment from Bryant by way of an announcement at his high school, and on his Twitter timeline, on the afternoon of Aug. 26. It is a nice get for the Longhorns 2022 class just ahead of the start of the upcoming regular season.

It looked like Texas was on pace to land the commitment of Bryant throughout the past couple of weeks.

Texas football continues success in the 2022 class along the defensive line by landing 4-Star Aaron Bryant

Texas is doing really well with landing out-of-state defensive linemen in the 2022 class. This now makes it the Mississippi native Bryant and Arizona native four-star defensive lineman Zac Swanson that the Longhorns have committed in the 2022 class at this point.

Moreover, this is a big win on the recruiting trail specifically for new safeties coach Blake Gideon and Davis. Gideon is picking up momentum on the trail of late, and he used his connection from his days on staff with the Ole Miss Rebels to build this relationship with Bryant.

And you can’t question the consistent results that Davis has provided on the recruiting trail during his time in college as a defensive line coach. He continued his good work this week by landing Bryant.

Texas landed this commitment from Bryant over other top schools such as the Georgia Bulldogs, Texas A&M Aggies, and Ole Miss. Texas got an official visit from Bryant back on June 25. That was his last official visit this summer prior to announcing his commitment to Texas.

The last visit that Bryant took in general was an unofficial with Ole miss back on July 30.

What Texas is getting out of Bryant is likely a defensive tackle that has a decent ceiling, but looks to have a very high floor. Scouts have mentioned that Bryant doesn’t really compete in any other sports outside of football, so the athleticism might not be at the level of the other commits that play along the front seven in the 2022 class.

On the other hand, Bryant is a developing pass rusher and a very solid run-stopper up the middle. He’s got good hands and solid fundamental footwork that, when combined with an extremely high motor, can make him a really disruptive force off the line of scrimmage.

Bryant stands at 6-foot-4 and 305-pounds, so he’s already got the frame to compete in college in the trenches. He could still improve as a pass rusher and showing off his physical tools this fall in high school wouldn’t do anything to hurt his stock.

Last season at Southaven, Bryant registered 68 tackles, a dozen tackles for loss, six sacks, and an impressive four forced fumbles. He should be looking at an even more potent senior campaign ahead.

Texas has a healthy amount of commits in the 2022 class now. Bryant is the 11th blue-chip commit. But the Longhorns are still waiting for the first five-star commit in the 2022 class since Evan Stewart decommitted back in March.

Bryant recently got his fourth star in both the Top247 and 247Sports Composite rankings. He now ranks as the nation’s No. 335 2022 high school prospect, No. 46 defensive lineman, and No. 9 prospect out of Mississippi (247Sports Composite). And the Top247 ranks him as the No. 44 defensive lineman and No. 8 prospect out of Mississippi.

According to the 247Sports Team Composite Rankings, the 2022 Texas recruiting class now ranks at No. 10 in the nation and in the top spot in the Big 12 ahead of the Oklahoma Sooners. Adding this commitment from Bryant now brings the total number of prospects in the 2022 class up to 18.