Texas Football: 4 Sooners that the Longhorns recruited hard

Nik Bonitto, LB/EDGE

At this point of the season, it’s really hard to argue that the best player on either side of the ball for the Sooners was the former four-star recruit and redshirt junior edge rusher Nik Bonitto. The Florida native is having another stellar season, and should hear his name called in day one or two of the NFL Draft before too long.

But there was a time when the Longhorns and Sooners were two of the top three or four schools that Bonitto had narrowed his decision down to. The four schools that looked to be in the running really until the end with Bonitto were the Longhorns, Sooners, Miami Hurricanes, and Louisville Cardinals.

It was former Oklahoma defensive coordinator Mike Stoops and inside linebackers coach Tim Kish that largely sealed the deal with Bonitto over former Texas defensive coordinator Todd Orlando and the Longhorns back during the 2018 recruiting cycle. Orlando tried to put the full-court press on Bonitto, but it wound up being all for naught.

Texas is about to have a tough time dealing with Bonitto now that he will be the most capable pass rusher lining up on the other side of the line of scrimmage in Red River. Bonitto was a real force to be reckoned with in Red River last season, coming up with two sacks and a whopping eight quarterback pressure against Sam Ehlinger and the Longhorns.

Through five games played this season, Bonitto registered 5.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, two fumble recoveries, and more than 15 quarterback pressures. It will be a load for Texas to deal with him this weekend, especially if he’s often matched up against senior offensive tackle Christian Jones in pass rushing plays.