Texas stays on the trail, adding DE Jordon Thomas

Jordon Thomas has long been expecting to have a college decision in mind at some point during his senior season at Port Arthur (Texas) Memorial, but he has stumbled upon a verdict much earlier than expected.

The three-star defensive end committed to Texas over Texas A&M on Saturday, becoming the eighth commitment in the Longhorns' 2021 recruiting class and the eighth from the Lone Star State.

Thomas narrowed his offer sheet down to Texas and Texas A&M as recently as April 8, but felt the two in-state powers would be competing for his commitment through the fall and close to the Early Signing Period -- if not, February. That changed as a result of the CoVid-19 stay-at-home orders, which led Thomas to make up his mind way earlier than originally anticipated.

"I like the culture of the Longhorns and they take it in with so much pride," Thomas told Rivals last month. "I really look for that in a school. They tell me that I could be one of the greatest to ever play at the University of Texas. Coach (Oscar) Giles really sits well with me and family."

Texas offered Thomas last February during an unofficial visit to The Forty Acres and he was back in Austin in late January. That visit loomed especially large with the decision to trim the field down to two teams earlier in the spring and a decision about a month later.

Thomas missed almost all of his junior season at Memorial High School with a knee injury. He was coming off a breakout sophomore campaign in 2018 after making the transition from a blocking tight end role to the team's marquee pass-rusher.

"I thought about it every day, every night and every second leading up to this moment. It wasn't an overnight decision. A big part of the decision I made was because of all this stuff going on. My pops, he told me that once an opportunity is in your face, anything can happen, so I wanted to make a decision."

"The last time I went up there (to Austin), they said some stuff that shocked me and my grandpa. Since I'm Muslim, I want to take a trip to Mecca. That's one of my No. 1 priorities to go there, to do my pilgrimage, and when they (the Texas coaches) told me about that opportunity, I said, 'Woah, OK, this is big now.' This is one of my destinies in my faith and that's what I'm gonna do."

"I can really picture myself over there. We have a good relationship that words can't even really describe. I have a good relationship with them because they're gonna help me and my family out. They're gonna help me put on for my city, for my state, and when you tell me that you have my full attention."

"In the coaches' eyes, I'm a ruthless, dominant defensive end. I'm excited to do that playing in my state and I don't have to go anywhere else. I'm playing with a chip on my shoulder. They know that when I step on the field. Coach (Oscar) Giles said they have never had a freshman like me, so they know what I'm capable of. Going there as a freshman, they know what I've got."

Thomas opened his football career at Memorial as a tight end, but transitioned over to the defensive side of the ball in 2018 and broke out as a stud defensive end. That season, Thomas recorded 32 tackles, including 7.0 for loss, and another 5.0 sacks.

The 2019 season was expected to be an even bigger opportunity for Thomas with an entire offseason of training under his belt, but a knee injury suffered Week 1 sidelined the three-star defensive end for the entirety of the fall.

The 6-foot-3, 240-pound Thomas has a college-ready frame and spends the majority of his snaps as a traditional 4-3 defensive end with the ability to attack the edge from a wide-9 position as well as lined up over or on the inside shade of a tight end or offensive tackle. Thomas has an excellent get-off and is quick off the ball, a major asset in his skill-set and is a good fit for the personnel in first-year defensive coordinator Chris Ash's four-man front.

At his best, Thomas has adequate strength and quickness to win in 1-on-1 situations on the edge. He has great bend flying off the edge and has the potential to cause havoc. He is going to be even more dangerous as he adds more pass-rush technique to his game. He's a stout run defender able to set the edge and absorb blockers while still able to stop the ball-carrier going to the edge or inside.

Thomas is going to have to add more upper-body strength to battle Big 12 offensive tackles and diversity his pass-rush moves to become a less predictable sack artist. Health does not appear to be a serious concern based off one injury-plagued campaign in 2019, though it'll be interesting to see how Thomas bounces back in an all-important senior season.