Texas football: 2024 signees who will have the biggest impact as freshmen

Colin Simmons, EDGE

The signee who many considered the "must-get" recruit for the Longhorns in the 2024 class is the elite five-star Duncanville edge rusher Colin Simmons. Texas and co-DC/LB coach Pete Kwiatkowski needed to get an impact pass rusher at the EDGE position in the 2024 class. PK and the Longhorns got their guy in the uber-athletic stud EDGE Simmons.

Simmons physically checks all the boxes you'd want from a primary pass rusher coming off the edge. He's got a lightning-quick first step and natural bend coming off the edge in the pass rush. Simmons has elite closing speed when he's getting after the quarterback and/or chasing down the ball carrier in run defense.

Sark called Simmons "an NFL pass rusher", while complimenting how humble he is personally. Whoever you talk to about Simmons doesn't have enough good things to say about him personally, along with his talent, effort, and devotion on the field for his football team.

Simmons is the type of impact EDGE who can be a half-dozen sack guy as a true freshman for Texas. As long as the effort and explosiveness translate for Simmons at the collegiate level immediately, he will be a big part of the defensive front as a true freshamn for Texas in the SEC next fall.

The EDGE position is deep for the Longhorns heading into the SEC in 2024. Texas is expected to return junior Barryn Sorrell, sophomore Ethan Burke, and sophomore Justice Finkley at EDGE next season. And Texas is among the top schools in the running for UTSA Roadrunners redshirt sophomore EDGE Trey Moore, along with Alabama.

But Simmons is just too good to keep off the field next year. He is expected to be on campus during the spring at Texas as an early enrollee.