First prediction for Texas to land On3 5-star plus defender
A five-star plus defender is a prospect who holds a five-star rating from all four of the national recruiting networks.
It’s certainly justified for Colin Simmons, the junior Edge from Duncanville, Texas. If you’ve seen Alabama’s Will Anderson play then you have an approximate idea of Simmons’ ability and fit within a defense.
Simmons is currently on his Texas official visit, but this prediction isn’t based on recency bias, though recent news is certainly favorable for Texas. Like so many other predictions made for Texas throughout the years, this one is based on the holistic appeal UT has for student-athletes. The school has proximity in its favor, academics, networking, campus life, and recently, confidence the football program is trending in the right direction.
Fans will want to know how soon he’ll commit. That I do not know for certain. At this point, I wouldn’t rule out a commitment in the coming days or weeks. Though my intel heading into this weekend pointed towards this recruitment playing out into December, I could see Texas earning the commitment earlier.
If he doesn’t commit soon, and this prediction lingers in the air, that’s perfectly fine. Because of the holistic appeal of Texas, timing of his decision doesn’t really matter to me. I’ve thought about putting in this prediction for a while now. To wit, my recent percentage on him was 60%.
Texas does very well in must-win recruitments and this recruitment is the definition of must-win. Texas has to strike big on the defensive line ahead of moving to the SEC. Collins would be the perfect signing at the perfect time.
For more on what he brings to the table, here’s the Recruiting Notebook:
How he fits at Texas:
Everyone knows what to do with Colin Simmons. He’s an elite edge rusher, lightning off the ball and cat quick changing direction with long arms to help him fend off the hapless attempts to knock him off his preferred trajectories.
He’d play Buck for Texas, get on the field early on passing downs, and have the chance to pile up sacks and tackles for loss working off the wide edge in the boundary. You don’t really need a particular scheme or approach with Simmons, although perhaps some would serve him better than others, just position him on an edge and flip the switch to “on.” – Ian Boyd
Coach Says:
Strengths — Long arms. Exceptional balance and quickness of the snap. Great change of direction/agility. Top end straight-line speed very good. Will show good hip roll and sinks the hip naturally. Runs the arc aggressively with a natural swim or rip. Can win with with power or speed, but most highlights are the latter. Really effective converting speed to power. Stuns the blocker and has surprising hand/upper body strength. Active hands. Stays square the line against the run and aggressively boxes the end-man. Consistently keeps outside shoulder free. Closes the last few yards in a flash and wraps up consistently. A monster off the weak side. Is a sack machine for Duncanville breaking the single-season sack record and was Defensive MVP of the title game. See ball, hit ball.
Areas for Improvement / Concerns — Hard to find criticism here. Not sure where his height will end up and whether that means continued EDGE play or off-the-ball (You find a spot for him to play, regardless). Would do best to anchor and split double teams. Opponent film is still flattering, but some struggles when covered outside. Fight the urge to spin versus doubles or getting to wide running the arc.
*****
My pick is in for Colin Simmons to select Texas with a confidence of 60%.
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