Longhorns Country

Texas Football: Longhorns Offer Four-Star D-Lineman (Watch Highlights)

Texas has thrown its hat in the ring in the race for the services of Virginia defensive end Kelvin Gilliam

Chris Dukes

Texas has thrown its hat in the ring in the race for the services of Virginia defensive end Kelvin Gilliam.

The Highland Springs High School prospect is the No. 5 weak-side defensive end, No. 4 player in the state of Virginia and No. 112 player nationally in the 2021 class according to 247Sports. 

Gilliam also holds offers from Michigan, Oklahoma, Penn State, Virginia and South Carolina among others.  

Watching his film: Gilliam has been drawing a ton of eyeballs in the past few weeks and months due to his eye-popping film. Currently a defensive end, the 6-foot-3, 250-pounder could play either outside or add bulk and move down to a three-technique in a four-down-lineman scheme like Texas runs. 

Texas is looking for guys who can get upfield in a hurry in Chris Ash's defensive system and Gilliam is certainly one of those guys. A lot of times he's making plays from the backside that normal players just aren't capable of making. Not only does he have a quick burst that can give him the advantage in an outside pass rush situation, his first punch his plenty strong enough to push an offensive lineman back on his heels. Gilliam shows a lot of aptitude for the game for such a young age, knowing when to be patient to make plays in the run game. 

Where Texas stands: Michigan, Oklahoma, Penn State, South Carolina and home-state Virginia are all pushing hard for Gilliam's services for obvious reasons. It will be interesting to see if he decides to stay close to home (South Carolina or Virgina) or if he's willing to play his college ball at in a different time zone. The Longhorns are continuing to establish a presence on the East Coast, taking advantage of the connections guys like Ash, Coleman Hutzler and Mark Hagen have.  

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Chris Dukes
CHRIS DUKES

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