Texas football gets enormous 4-Star DL D’antre Robinson

The hot run for Texas football on the recruiting trail in the 2024 class continued on July 20, landing a commitment from the touted four-star Orlando (FL) Jones defensive lineman D’antre Robinson. Texas landed Robinson’s commitment over offers from the Florida Gators, LSU Tigers, Alabama Crimson Tide, Ohio State Buckeyes, Georgia Bulldogs, Florida State Seminoles, and Miami Hurricanes.

He announced his commitment to Texas, namely over Florida as the chief competition in this recruitment for the Longhorns, via an Instagram live stream on the afternoon of July 20.

Robinson is the 15th recruit to commit to the Longhorns in the 2024 class and the third along the defensive line. Defensive line coach Bo Davis and the Longhorns are on a hot streak recruiting in the trenches this summer, landing all three DL commits in the last three weeks.

The other two defensive linemen that are committed to the Longhorns in the 2024 class are three-star Lafayette Christian Academy (LA) product Melvin Hills and four-star Duncanville product Alex January.

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Texas football adds SEC-sized 4-Star DL D’antre Robinson over Florida

Davis and the Longhorns are expected to have one more scholarship spot reserved for a defensive line target in the 2024 class after adding Robinson on July 20. Texas is also targeting four-star IMG Academy defensive lineman TJ Lindsey and the elite five-star Lafayette (LA) Acadiana defensive lineman Dominick McKinley.

Granted, McKinley is probably a number’s buster for the Longhorns along the defensive line in the 2024 class. He’s an important enough prospect that Texas would take him and Lindsey in the 2024 class if both want in.

Adding Robinson’s commitment does get the Longhorns over the hump to fill out more than half of the defensive line spots in the 2024 class, which is huge to have the depth and size in the trenches necessary to have a solid interior D-Line upon the move to the SEC next year.

Relationships and the potential to make an early impact won this recruitment

Davis and the Longhorns sold Robinson on coming to Texas when they made him their top priority among zero and/or one-technique defensive linemen in the 2024 class this summer. Texas knocked it out of the park during his mid-June official visit to Austin (from June 16-18).

Robinson told Inside Texas after that official visit that he felt like he was Texas’ No. 1 guy at DL in the 2024 class.

"“The main thing they were saying is that I’m a priority and their No. 1 guy. They think I have a great opportunity to come in and play as a freshman and everything.”"

It also sounds like the connection that head coach Steve Sarkisian and Davis made with Robinson is special for the blue-chip defensive lineman out of Florida.

Texas gets SEC-caliber “big human” out of the Southeastern US in Robinson

What Texas is getting out of the gigantic 6-foot-4 and 315-pound Orlando, FL, native Robinson is the ideal “big human” that Sark, Davis, and the Longhorns want along the interior defensive line upon the transition to the SEC in 2024. Texas now has two high-quality interior defensive linemen with a lot of length, strength, and power committed to the 2024 class in January and Robinson.

January is a little bigger from a pure measurable perspective than Robinson, at 6-foot-5 and 325 pounds. But Robinson has slightly more room in his frame to add size and muscle mass in the strength and conditioning program at Texas.

Robinson specifically has a strong-lower base, long arms, and big hands. He’s a high-level athlete who brings above-average foot speed, strength, and length to Texas. Robinson is also pretty fast for an interior defensive lineman. He’s got good straight-line speed and change of direction for his size.

Robinson is a good athlete with top-tier potential as an interior pass rusher

The combination of foot speed, length, and lower-body power that Robinson brings to the table makes him extremely tough to block along the interior defensive line. He’s a disruptive presence up front, capable of hunting down ball carriers in the backfield or collapsing the middle of the pocket as an interior pass rusher.

The raw tools and read-and-react ability that Robinson displays make him a really productive and disruptive playmaker along the interior defensive line.

The aforementioned quick hands and feet, good bend, and strong lower base have helped him to develop a lethal array of pass-rush moves. He’s got a good swim and spin move to get past opposing interior linemen.

Robinson’s versatility as an interior pass rusher makes him a valuable piece up front for the Longhorns. He’s got the size and speed to play at the zero, one, or three-technique along the defensive line.

Robinson will effectively plug his gaps and take on double teams in run defense

Texas needs the big and quick interior run defenders along the front seven in the SEC that can plug their gaps. Robinson has the burst off the line of scrimmage, lower-body power, and gap integrity necessary to be a force for Texas’ interior run defense.

Robinson often gets low enough in his stance and plays with the proper pad-level technique to approach with a ton of strength at the point of attack in run defense. But he could still use some work to more consistently take the right approach with the proper leverage along the defensive line. We’ll touch more on that later, though.

Robinson is quick to diagnose plays. In combination with his quick burst off the line of scrimmage, length, and change of direction, Robinson is an effective read-and-react defender up front against the run.

Last but not least, Robinson plays with an extremely high motor. He’s always seen finishing plays with a lot of effort, even when the ball carrier is further downfield.

Areas of improvement

Earlier in this evaluation, I mentioned that Robinson usually gets low in his stance approaches with the proper-pad level. But he’s not always consistent with his pad-level approach. If Robinson can refine his technique in the next year or two to get the right stance and approach on an every-down basis, he’ll be a lethal disruptor along the interior defensive line.

Consistency is the name of the game for Robinson to become a high-level interior force along the defensive line at Texas. If he can work on his consistency in terms of his technique, agility, and balance, Davis and the Longhorns will unlock the full potential Robinson brings to the table as an All-SEC-caliber interior defensive lineman.

Robinson can also add more muscle mass to his frame to become an even more menacing force along the interior defensive line for Texas in the SEC.

Projection and fit at Texas

Robinson will be expected to push for starting reps at Texas by his second or third year on campus. If he can add a bit more muscle mass to fill out his frame and more consistently take the right approach and pad level at the point of attack, Robinson will be ready to make an impact in live-game action along the defensive front.

The depth and size that Texas is building along the defensive line upon the move from the Big 12 to the SEC in 2024 is impressive. Texas is putting itself in a spot where a prospect as good as Robinson will have to fight for early live-game reps along the interior defensive line in his first couple of years on campus.