Texas football adds size, leverage in 3-Star OT commit Connor Stroh

The writing was on the wall heading into the weekend that there was a good chance for Texas football offensive line coach/offensive coordinator Kyle Flood to add a commitment from the sizable three-star Frisco Wakeland offensive tackle Connor Stroh. And that’s exactly what transpired as Texas wrapped up yet another big-time visit weekend on the Forty Acres.

Flood and the Longhorns added a commitment from Stroh via an announcement on his Twitter timeline on the afternoon of June 26. This is the first offensive line commit in the Longhorns 2023 class. And Stroh could be the first of many to come as Texas continues to gain more and more momentum on the recruiting trail for the 2023 class.

Stroh had an official visit to Texas this weekend that started back on June 24. There looked to be a chance for Flood and the Longhorns to make a big move with Stroh this weekend after it seemed like he was starting to find more traction with the in-state rival Texas A&M Aggies and head coach Jimbo Fisher.

https://twitter.com/stroh_connor/status/1541136221908475905

Texas football adds big in-state OT commit in 3-Star Connor Stroh

Stroh is a Texas A&M legacy, which made it difficult to see Texas getting too far ahead of the Aggies during the summer. That made the feat of landing a commitment from Stroh that much more difficult with the Aggies pushing much harder for him in the last couple of months.

Moreover, despite the level of offensive line talent and depth in-state for the 2023 recruiting cycle not being as fruitful as it was in the 2022 class, this is still a good start for the Longhorns in the trenches. Stroh is about the literal biggest offensive linemen that the Longhorns could land this summer to start building out this class at the offensive tackle position.

At 6-foot-7 and 345-pounds, Stroh already has the size necessary to compete against SEC linemen in the trenches. The size, strength, and leverage that Stroh brings to the table makes him an unquestioned force to be reckoned with, especially blocking for the run.

Protecting the passer against quicker defensive ends and/or edge rushers will be the main question mark for Stroh at the collegiate level. Against Power Five competition, foot speed and lateral agility will be the main areas where Stroh needs to make some strides before assuming starting reps in the trenches.

The good news in this regard is that Stroh is improving his foot speed in the last six or eight months. He’s visibly improving in pass protection against some of the more agile edge rushers, which bodes well for the direction of his game before making the jump to the Power Five.

More good news lies within the fact that the Flood and the Longhorns have recruited more than well enough to give Stroh at least a year or two to develop before assuming big-time live-game reps at one of the offensive tackle spots. Texas signed a historically prominent offensive line class during the 2022 cycle, especially among blue-chip offensive tackles.

That will give Stroh the necessary time to develop and get his fundamental skill set ready to compete at the collegiate level. This is big since the Longhorns will likely be competing in the SEC by the time that Stroh is ready to assume starting reps.

It’s really good to see the Longhorns continuing to win key in-state battles in the trenches on the recruiting trail this summer. Texas is starting to really build out an impressive line of depth along the offensive line from the commits in the last two recruiting classes.

The commitment from Stroh brought the Longhorns up to 10 in the 2023 class in the midst of a huge stretch of days on the trail for head coach Steve Sarkisian, Flood, and this staff. Stroh could be the first of at least three or four potent in-state offensive linemen that could commit to the Longhorns 2023 class by the fall.