Texas Football: Assessing 4 most important 2023 early enrollees

Sydir Mitchell, DL

The only non-five-star early enrollee on this list for the Longhorns among the early enrollees is the highly touted and towering 6-foot-5 and 345-pound four-star Oradell Bergen Catholic (NJ) defensive lineman Sydir Mitchell. There isn’t a bigger and more formidable presence up front that the Longhorns signed early in the 2023 class than Mitchell.

Mitchell is already a plenty capable run-stopper and total disruptor up front. His insane size and surprising quickness off the line of scrimmage allow him to effectively plug up gaps up the middle in run defense.

When you talk about the ability to move bodies and take up space from a player that can anchor the defensive line, Mitchell is it.

The area where Mitchell needs to progress the most during camp has to do with his technique as a pass rusher. Mitchell doesn’t have many polished moves yet as a pass rusher, and he’s still a little shaky on the pad-level fundamentals required to succeed at DT or NT at the Power Five level.

Getting Mitchell is campus for spring ball is huge since defensive line coach Bo Davis and PK can work on his technique as a pass rusher and find the right spot for him to contribute right away.

Texas can get Mitchell to come in and compete for rotational reps right away along the defensive line given some of the departures in 2023. Mitchell can help replace some of what Texas is losing in the likes of seniors Moro Ojomo and Keondre Coburn.

And if Mitchell makes some of the necessary strides as a pass rusher in spring and fall camp, then he could be a regular in the defensive line rotation next season.