Texas football pursuing 3-Star Auburn DL commit Dimitry Nicolas

Texas football remains busy on the recruiting trail this fall, looking for senior evaluations sticking out to this coaching staff. The latest one Texas found and offered this fall among the senior evaluations is three-star Opa Locka (FL) Miami Norland HS defensive lineman and Auburn Tigers commit Dimitry Nicolas.

The 6-foot-3 and 295-pound senior defensive lineman out of Florida announced on social media on Sep. 25 that DL coach Bo Davis and the Longhorns offered.

Inside Texas reported on Sep. 25 (paid content) that there is mutual interest between Nicolas and the Longhorns. Davis and the Longhorns will now work to lock in a visit date with Nicolas to get him to Austin for a gameday at DKR.

Texas football offers 3-Star Auburn DL commit Dimitry Nicolas

Nicolas committed to Auburn over the Florida Gators and Miami Hurricanes on Aug. 25, 2023, after taking a late-July unofficial visit to campus to see head coach Hugh Freeze and the Tigers. He also holds offers from the Georgia Bulldogs, Michigan Wolverines, Colorado Buffaloes, Oregon Ducks, and Texas A&M Aggies.

Before the start of his senior season, Nicolas transferred from Miami (FL) Monsignor Place High School to Miami Norland. Miami Norland is a significantly better program, ranking sixth in Florida this year (per MaxPreps), compared to Monsignor Place, which ranks outside the top 100 in the state.

Nicolas was one of the best players on a Monsignor Place team that struggled last season, going 5-5 and 0-4 in district play. He registered 15 tackles for loss, eight sacks, and over a dozen quarterback pressures for Monsignor Place in 2022.

Nicolas’ production has slowed year-over-year at Miami Norland. But that is largely due to him taking on more double teams and teams running away from his gap compared to what he faced last season.

But his film shows that Nicolas is starting to work through double teams more effectively to get interior pressure on the opposing quarterback and blow up plays in the backfield.

Nicolas is a quick and powerful DL that launches like a cannon at the point of attack

It looks like Davis and the Longhorns found another underrated interior defensive line recruit in the 2024 class out of Florida. They did a nice job scouting Florida once to land a blue-chip interior defensive lineman in four-star Orlando (FL) Jones product D’antre Robinson.

Nicolas is a powerful, explosive interior defensive lineman who blows past one-on-one blocks with an insane burst off the line of scrimmage and a decent arsenal of pass-rush moves. He’s also got very violent hands he uses to work past blockers in defending the run and in the interior pass rush.

He plays 2i and three-technique at Miami Norland (from what we can see on film).

Nicolas also displays high effort on film, not giving up in the pass rush until the ball leaves the quarterback’s hand. He can also be found occasionally running down the ball carrier in space.

While he would need some development at the collegiate level, Nicolas is a really intriguing prospect that brings SEC size and power to the trenches.

There is still room to fill out Nicolas’ frame

Since last fall, Nicolas added 15 pounds to his frame to get up to 295. He still has room to add weight to his frame to get closer to 310 or 315 pounds.

Davis would be getting his ideal frame defensive lineman with long arms and a big and powerful frame in Nicolas. Andrew Ivins of 247Sports reports Nicolas boasts a lengthy 6-foot-10 wingspan. And he could still top out around 6-foot-4 or 6-foot-5 for his height in college.

Texas currently holds commitments from three defensive linemen in the 2024 class, including the aforementioned Robinson. The other two are Duncanville four-star Alex January and Lafayette Christian Academy (LA) three-star Melvin Hills.