Elite 5-Star EDGE Colin Simmons Commits To Texas

Texas logged a commitment from five-star edge rusher Colin Simmons, who was the first of potentially four five-star Longhorns pledges in the 2024 recruiting class.

Elite five-star edge rusher Colin Simmons announced his commitment to the Texas Longhorns, he announced on On3's YouTube channel Thursday.

The impact of Simmons' commitment cannot be understated as he is the first five-star pledge Texas has landed in the class of 2024. He chose the Longhorns over the Tigers and Miami Hurricanes.

Simmons thanked his family and coaches for helping him getting to this point.

"I promise y'all I made that decision yesterday," Simmons said. "It came to the last little moment. The last second. The last minute of the day. I want to take care of my family. That's it. I feel like Texas put me in the best position to take care of them."

Simmons, a Duncanville, TX. native, had national recruiting analysts split down the middle heading into his announcement. On3's Recruiting Prediction Machine had Texas as the favorite while 247Sports' Steve Wiltfong had a crystal ball on LSU in July.

The Duncanville High School product terrorized opposing quarterbacks last season, recording a whopping 22.5 sacks to go along with 79 tackles and 33 tackles for loss.

Simmons received a comparison to former Oklahoma Sooners and Denver Broncos linebacker Nik Bonitto, who was a second-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. He played 15 games in his rookie season last year, recording 14 tackles and 1.5 sacks.

Both Simmons and Bonitto stand 6-3 with the latter weighing 15 pounds heavier over a top-10 247Sports Composite player.

"Athletic edge defender with a speed-based game. Adequate height and above average length with a relatively lighter build, but nuclear playmaking ability," 247Sports' Gabe Brooks wrote in his analysis of Simmons. "Most dangerous from a two-point stance. Flashes initial athleticism that prevents some tackles from even touching him. Displays excellent dip-and-bend flexibility and screams around the arc to get home regularly."

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You can follow Casey Smith on Twitter @casey_smith2419

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