Texas’ prospects for the linebacker position in the 2023 season were looking thin.

Senior DeMarvion Overshown is heading to the NFL draft, senior Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey ran out of eligibility and junior Jaylan Ford has yet to officially announce his return to the Longhorns. 

Enter five-star linebacker signee Anthony Hill.

Hill, who is rated as the No. 1 inside linebacker in the 2023 recruiting class, signed his letter of intent to Texas on Dec. 21. Given the hype around him as a prospect and Texas’ need at the position, the Denton Ryan High School product stands to receive significant playing time next season. 

“I felt like we addressed a lot of the needs that we had,” Sarkisian said at his early signing day press conference Dec. 21. “We felt like we needed to really solidify the linebacker position and I thought we did that really well in this class.”

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During his junior season, Hill racked up 131 tackles in a defensive unit that helped win Denton Ryan’s first state championship in nearly two decades. Despite only playing in six games this past fall due to injury, the former-Texas A&M commit impressively averaged over 11 tackles per game and was healthy enough to play in Saturday’s All-American Bowl.

While fellow Texas signees S’Maje Burrell, Liona Lefau and Derion Gullette certainly could compete for linebacker roles on next year’s squad, Hill’s size, speed and tackling ability make him the most likely to be penciled in for a starting spot. Listed at 6 feet, 3 inches tall and 230 pounds, Hill doesn’t really need to put on much weight to transition into the next level.

Already on campus as an early enrollee, Hill will get a springboard into his career by getting snaps in spring ball before fall camp arrives. However, given his high school experience at the linebacker position at Denton Ryan, he could easily pick up defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski’s strategy. 

As college football continues to evolve, the linebacker position requires more speed than it has before. Rather than being used to fill in running gaps, linebackers are often tasked with defending dynamic skill position players.

The Longhorns have had difficulty landing linebacker recruits with the ability to play the position in the Big 12 conference. Texas strategically has converted its players from other positions into linebackers to combat this, such as Overshown moving from the safety spot.

Amid all of the difficulties surrounding the position, the Texas coaching staff will not have to deal with teaching Hill how to play linebacker. With the freshman’s familiarity with the role, there should not be much of a learning curve.

“Sometimes (linebackers) are hard to find,” Sarkisian said Dec. 21. “You’re moving a guy who’s playing edge or the nickel position in high school and you have to train him to play as an off-the-ball linebacker. We’ve got four guys walking in the door that do that for a living.”