Texas Football: Position-by-position grades for UT's 2024 signing class
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Offensive line
Brandon Baker, OT (5-Star, Santa Ana (CA) Mater Dei)
Texas signed the nation's No. 1 ranked offensive tackle recruit in the 2024 class in the 247Sports Composite and On3 Industry Ranking, Santa Ana (CA) Mater Dei five-star Brandon Baker. Offensive line coach/offensive coordinator Kyle Flood and the Longhorns have a potential immediate starter at right tackle in Baker with redshirt senior Christian Jones exhausting his eligility after this season.
The 6-foot-5 and 300-pound Baker has an excellent blend of size, quickness, and lateral agility. He's got the length, drive, and footspeed to be a quality blocker regardless if he's playing on the outside at tackle or shifting inside to play guard.
Baker is a high-floor prospect with a mature skill set who will make an impact on the offensive line, expectedly at right tackle, during the spring.
Daniel Cruz, IOL (4-Star, North Richland Hills (TX) Richland)
Another high-level blue-chip offensive linemen that Flood and the Longhorns signed in the 2024 class is four-star North Richland Hills (TX) Richland interior offensive lineman Daniel Cruz. The 6-foot-3 and 295-pound IOL from DFW projects as a bulldozer at center for the Longhorns.
He's stout as a consistent force in pass protection and a body mover in run blocking. Depending on what senior starting center Jake Majors decides for the NFL Draft next spring (he does have one year of eligiility remaining after this season), Cruz could compete early for a spot on the two-deep at center next year. He's got the physical tools and maturity in his game to compete for those early reps at center next spring.
Nate Kibble, IOL (3-Star, Humble (TX) Atascocita)
Flood added a smart and physically-gifted interior offensive lineman that fits the "big human" mould he likes to have in the trenches in three-star Humble (TX) Atascocita IOL Nate Kibble. Kibble projects as an athletic guard who could make an impact by his second or third year on campus at Texas.