Texas football gets immediate starter in 5-Star EDGE Colin Simmons

The commitment date arrived on Aug. 10 for the “must-get” recruit for Texas football in the 2024 class, the elite five-star Duncanville edge rusher Colin Simmons. The No. 1 ranked edge rusher recruit in the nation in the 2024 class in the 247Sports Composite and On3 Industry Ranking kept everyone guessing until the final days before his announcement.

He is also the top-ranked recruit in Texas in the 2024 class in the 247Sports Composite and the On3 Industry Ranking.

Simmons committed to Texas over the LSU Tigers, SMU Mustangs, and Miami Hurricanes on Aug. 10. He also held offers from the Texas A&M Aggies, Alabama Crimson Tide, Georgia Bulldogs, TCU Horned Frogs, Oregon Ducks, and Florida Gators, among many other schools.

Texas, Miami, and LSU were initially the top three schools heading into Simmons’ commitment date. But SMU got involved late in the process and had a hat on the table on decision day.

Texas football gets its top priority in the 2024 class, 5-Star EDGE Colin Simmons

There were some wild momentum swings for the Longhorns in this recruitment in the last few months. LSU was the favorite in the race to land a commitment from Simmons heading into the summer. But Texas swung momentum in its favor in this recruitment during Simmons’ late-June official visit to Austin.

Texas started trending for Simmons coming out of the late-June official visit. But LSU didn’t go away quietly, as the Tigers hosted Simmons and his family on a successful unofficial visit on the weekend of July 28 for the Bayou Splash in Baton Rouge.

A lot of the buzz in this recruitment surrounded LSU coming out of Simmons’ unofficial trip to Baton Rouge a couple of weeks ago. LSU gave Simmons something to think about and more, coming out of his unofficial visit.

It sounds like Texas and LSU battled right until the eve of Simmons’ commitment date. Simmons said at the commitment ceremony at Duncanville High School on the afternoon of Aug. 10 that it took him until the night before his decision to figure out his college of choice.

Texas still needs to recruit through the finish line with Simmons

While Texas got a massive win on the recruiting trail on Aug. 10 by landing the top-ranked recruit in the state of Texas in the 2024 class, also at a position of need at edge rusher, this recruitment is still far from complete. LSU will still keep its foot on the gas with Simmons until the proverbial clock shows zeros on signing day in December.

This shouldn’t be a new idea for Texas fans that follow recruiting. Texas had to fight through the finish line with many top blue-chip recruits in past cycles. This is part of the game with recruiting in the SEC heading into the future.

Steve Sarkisian and Texas get the game-breaker they need in Simmons

This is obviously a huge get for the Longhorns in the 2024 class. Simmons is the impact edge rusher that head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns desperately needed upon moving from the Big 12 to the SEC in 2024.

Need more proof of how much the Longhorns valued getting Simmons in its 2024 class, just look at the involvement from Sark. It’s not often that Sark puts this much attention and energy into the recruitment of a defensive recruit.

Steve Wiltfong of 247Sports reported on Aug. 10 that Sark was the “difference in Texas winning out” for Simmons over LSU.

What the 6-foot-3 and 225-pound Duncanville edge rusher Simmons brings to the table for the Longhorns is an incredibly-gifted pass rusher with insane athleticism. Simmons is one of the best and most athletic pass rushers in the nation in any high school recruiting class right now.

Simmons is the exact type of impact pass rusher the Longhorns need to help this defensive front get home more often in the SEC in 2024 and beyond.

From a physical perspective, Simmons has average height and an above-average wingspan. But that’s where the word “average” dissociates with Simmons regarding his skills and ability at the next level for Texas.

Simmons is lightning fast getting off the edge

Simmons has the quickness off the line of scrimmage necessary to blow past opposing blockers rushing the passer. He couples great burst off the line of scrimmage with good flexibility and natural bend to get to the passer with ease.

And from a technical perspective, Simmons is a polished prospect. He has good hands and upper-body strength, which adds to his arsenal of tools of beat blockers in one-on-one matchups.

Lastly, Simmons takes the proper pad-level approach to get leverage at the point of attack.

Once Simmons gets in the backfield, he has the pursuit and direction change to blow up the play regardless if the quarterback or running back has the ball.

Simmons is a disruptive playmaker and a high-level run defender

While Simmons might not be as elite of a run defender as a pass rusher, he’s still a wrecking ball in the opposing team’s backfields, chasing down the ball carrier. Simmons utilizes many of the same quickness and physical tools that he has to get to opposing quarterbacks to locate the ball carrier and get them to the ground.

His quickness and chase-down speed are about as good as it gets for a run defender coming off the edge.

Simmons will be a tremendous playmaker and game-breaker for the Longhorns at EDGE. He is a difference-maker in terms of his ability to force turnovers, as he’s registered over a half-dozen forced fumbles in the last two seasons at Duncanville.

That playmaking ability will be valuable for the Longhorns in the pass rush and run defense.

There aren’t many areas of improvement for Simmons

Simmons is about as good as it gets for the Longhorns to fill a huge position of need as an impact edge rusher. If there was one area I could pinpoint that he needs to work on before competing in the trenches in the SEC in 2024, it is adding muscle mass to his frame.

Standing at 6-foot-3 and 225-pounds, Simmons has room to fill out his frame. Since Simmons projects to the buck position for the Longhorns, it would be ideal for him to add 20 or 25 pounds in the next 12 or 18 months.

Projection at Texas

I won’t dive too deep into Simmons’ fit at Texas since you could put him at either EDGE position, and he will thrive. Simmons’ best fit is at the buck position so that he can thrive as a natural pass rusher, which is what he does best.

Moreover, Simmons will be an immediate starter at Texas at the EDGE position. He’s the type of impact pass rusher comparable to some big-time SEC studs along the defensive front, Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson Jr., and LSU OLB Harold Perkins.

Anderson and Perkins were in the high single-digits in sacks and well into the double-digits in tackles for loss as true freshmen at Alabama and LSU, respectively.

Since Texas desperately needs this impact pass rusher, Simmons will get ample defensive snaps as a true freshman to put up big numbers next fall.

Simmons’ commitment can open up the floodgates for Texas

Now that Texas has Simmons in the boat in the 2024 class, it feels like the floodgates could open for some of the rest of the priority uncommitted recruits for the Longhorns. Other top Texas targets, especially on the defensive side of the ball, such as five-star Waco (TX) Connally cornerback Kobe Black, five-star Lafayette (LA) Acadiana defensive lineman Dominick McKinley, and high-four-star Marrero (LA) John Ehret cornerback Wardell Mack could find Texas more appealing now that there is more momentum in this class after Simmons’ commitment.

There is also a chance that this type of momentum on the recruiting trail for the Longhorns in the 2024 class could impact top offensive prospects such as five-star St. Louis University (MO) wide receiver Ryan Wingo.

Texas’ 2024 class is back among the top 20 in the nation, according to the 247Sports Team Composite Rankings, after landing Simmons’ commitment. Simmons is the first five-star recruit to commit to the Longhorns 2024 class and the 16th commitment in total.