Texas Football: Breaking down 5 immediate impact 2023 early signees

Anthony Hill Jr., LB

The most monumental late addition to the Longhorns 2023 class leading up to signing day came in the form of the elite five-star Denton Ryan linebacker and former Texas A&M Aggies commit Anthony Hill Jr. Texas was able to land a commitment from Hill during an in-home visit with Sark and the staff on Dec. 15.

And then, Hill locked in with Texas by signing on the dotted line in the middle of the day on Dec. 21.

Moreover, the school of thought with Hill and the Longhorns was always that he could occupy a starting linebacker role right away if he were to land on the Forty Acres. And now that senior linebackers DeMarvion Overshown and Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey are on the way out in 2023, the early reps will clearly be there for Hill.

Hill likely projects as a hybrid will linebacker for this defensive front during his true freshman campaign. Long-term, he’ll project as a mike linebacker once junior Jaylan Ford’s time in Austin is done.

For next season, the thought of Hill’s physicality and sideline-to-sideline ranginess combined with Ford’s raw playmaking ability could continue the trend of the Texas linebackers being the class of the Big 12.

The North Texas native Hill is a physically gifted linebacker that plays with a sort of downhill violence in his game that is rare for a player coming out of high school. He shows his insane level of physicality and downhill running ability when he takes snaps at running back for Denton Ryan.

Hill is able to close on the ball carrier in the blink of an eye and really lay the wood at the point of contact. He’s also quick off the line of scrimmage, allowing him to get after the quarterback in a wide array of different blitz packages.

At 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds, Hill will be a menace right away against Big 12 offenses. He’s got the physical tools and upside in terms of his multiplicity in his game that can allow contributions in many different phases for the defensive front in 2023.