Longhorns Country

Texas Lands Commitment From Coveted DL Recruit Justice Finkley

Steve Sarkisian landed a major defensive recruit from Nick Saban's backyard on Thursday afternoon.

Matt Galatzan

The recruiting momentum for the Texas Longhorns has been off the charts over the last few weeks, particularly on the defensive side of the ball and along the defensive front. 

On Thursday, that momentum continued to gain steam, when Hewitt-Trussville (Trussville, AL) defensive tackle prospect Justice Finkley picked the Longhorns over Alabama and Colorado.

Finkley, who is ranked as a member of the SI99 rankings, sitting as the No. 85-ranked recruit in the class of 2022, also registers as a top 10 interior defensive line projection. 

Finkley now becomes the 21st commitment of the 2022 class for the Longhorns and the third commitment from the SI99, joining Junipero Serra (Gardena, CA) quarterback Maalik Murphy and Klein Cain (Houston, TX) running back Jaydon Blue.

The commitment of Finkley represents a huge win on the recruiting trail for Sarkisian and his staff, who were able to go into Nick Saban's backyard and take one of the state's most talented prospects.

Hewitt-Trussville head coach Josh Floyd, who has the program undefeated early in the 2021 season, says his senior leader is playing at an all-time high.

READ MORE: Sark's Choice: Hudson Card's Career At Texas Is About To Take Off

"He's always been a disruptive guy along the defensive line, but I think he's playing better than he's ever played and has taken it to another level this year," Floyd told SI All-American. "I think the older he gets, the better he's gotten with technique, being disciplined in his play. We've moved him around some, too.

"The biggest value with him is he is a guy who can play multiple spots on the D-line. I know some people like him on the interior, I think more people like him on the edge as a true defensive end type."

From a physical perspective, Finkley offers plenty against an offensive line. He stands 6'2", 265 pounds with clear physical, athletic gifts, helping him to 37 stops (13 sacks) behind the opposing line of scrimmage to this point in his varsity career.

Before the commitment of Finkley, Texas entered September with the nation's No. 7 recruiting class following a big August on the defensive side of the ball.

Now?

That ranking is about to rise even higher... with Finkley as the foundation.

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Matt Galatzan
MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.

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