Duncanville’s Colin Simmons became the first No. 1 in-state recruit to commit to the Longhorns since safety B.J. Foster in 2018.  He’s also Texas’ first top 10 recruit to come from the Lone Star state since Jonathan Gray in 2012, per On3. The edge rusher chose the Longhorns over LSU and Miami in an enthralling recruiting battle that felt like a tug of war between the Longhorns and the Tigers. 

Simmons spent the last month toying with fans of LSU and Texas. He posted many videos and pictures from each school, including a 45-second video edit on his Instagram account showing him in all sorts of LSU gear surrounded by LSU celebrities. Just one day before his commitment, Simmons dropped pictures of himself donning the uniform of each of the three schools alongside a tagline, with a Texas #HornsUp post amassing over 4,000 likes on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“I promise you I made that decision yesterday,” Simmons said on the On3 official live stream. “I wanted to take care of my family and I felt like Texas put me in the best position (to do so).”

Simmons’ decision to commit to the Longhorns is arguably the biggest recruiting win since Arch Manning committed last year. He stands as the highest-rated OLB/EDGE brought in by the Longhorns since Jordan Hicks all the way back in 2010. 

Coming into the 2024 recruiting cycle, pass rushers were the biggest need for the Longhorns. The edge position at Texas will be very shallow. Barryn Sorrell, who is likely to enter the draft in 2024, is the only pass rusher that started last season. Outside of Sorrell, the edge rushing corp has just 14 tackles between them. With uncertainty from the other pass rushers, all of which are unproven underclassmen, Simmons gives the high-end talent necessary to rebuild the position.

The key to Simmons’ game is his explosiveness. Standing at 6-foot-3-inches and 225 pounds, Simmons brings a combination of height and speed that has demanded more from high school quarterbacks in the state of Texas. Dave Campbell’s Greg Powers described Simmons as a “game-altering pass rusher who possesses a rare blend of speed, power, and finesse.”

On top of being number one in his state and his position, Simmons won the Texas state championship and played in the championship game in two of his three seasons at Duncanville. 

Simmons now marks the seventh five-star recruit of the Sarkisian era, but just the second one on defense. Last year, Sarkisian flipped linebacker Anthony Hill from Texas A&M, now setting up a dangerous duo in the front seven for the team with high aspirations heading into the SEC in 2024. Hill and Simmons are two of the best athletes to come out of their positions in the last two recruiting cycles. Both he and Simmons have the ability to cover the whole field with their speed, and with three years to put on extra strength at Texas neither should have a problem with the tough offensive lines in the SEC.