Texas 4-Star Target DJ Sanders Commits to Texas A&M Aggies

DJ Sanders has chosen the Texas A&M Aggies over the Texas Longhorns and Michigan Wolverines.

Texas Longhorns defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski speaks to media at the Sheraton Hotel on Thursday, Dec. 28, 2023 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Texas Longhorns will face the Washington Huskies in the Sugar Bowl on January 1, 2024. / Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK

Texas' new defensive line coach Kenny Baker was looking to flip the script on the 2025 class with another commitment on the defensive line. Instead, four-star defensive lineman DJ Sanders has decided to join the Longhorns' arch rival.

The Bellville, Texas native committed to the Texas A&M Aggies late Wednesday night over Texas and Michigan. The 6'4, 290-pound defensive tackle is the No. 16 defensive lineman on 247Sports, but his composite rating has him ranked as a top 90 player and No. 10 defensive lineman in 2025.

Sanders could have joined Josiah Sharma on the interior defensive line as the two most recent commitments to Texas. Sharma committed to the Horns on July 25, flipping his commitment from Oregon to Texas and kickstarting a hopeful wave of commitments to come in August.

Heading into July, Texas fans started to grow weary of Texas' defensive line unit of the future. Former coach Bo Davis was poached by LSU, and Kenny Baker looks to be a great coach, coming from the NFL but had question marks as a recruiter. Landing Sanders would have certainly helped Baker erase all of those question marks, as Texas could have joined Clemson as one of two teams with two or more top 10 defensive line recruits in the 247Sports composite rankings for the class of 2025.

Texas Longhorns Head football coach Steve Sarkisian during the first fall football camp practice for the Texas Longhorns at Denius Fields on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. / Ricardo B. Brazziell/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK

Sharma is not the other player in the top 10, however, as the California native is ranked much lower in composites. Lance Jackson, one of the first recruits in Texas' 2025 class, is seen as a top-five defensive lineman in the class. Sanders sits at the No. 10 spot, while Alief Hastings' Smith Orgbo sits at No. 13. Orogbo and Jackson are expected to play the defensive end role, with Sanders and Sharma plugging the middle for the future teams in Austin.

Regardless of missing out on Sanders, Texas is quietly starting to piece together a top 10 class in the nation. The defense has been nearly completely filled out, with eight total recruits on the defensive side of the ball, with hopes to add or flip two to three top 100 recruits. Head coach Steve Sarkisian will earn his money in August on the offensive side of the ball, where the Horns are in the running for four of the final seven uncommitted offensive five stars in the 2025 class.

Though history hasn't always been on the position groups side, the Longhorns are slowly becoming one of the best defensive line developers in the country. Byron Murphy II, who came to Texas as a low four-star, was the first defensive player taken in the 2024 NFL Draft, while nose tackle T'Vondre Sweat was the 2023 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and an All-American. The Longhorns hope that former five star Alfred Collins can follow in their footsteps in 2024, with names like Sharma and 2024 freshman and camp standout Alex January waiting in the wings