Good news: The Texas Longhorns have officially announced the signing of yet another outstanding player.
LB is rated four stars. Texas is Elijah Barnes’ chosen state.
The Longhorns sign a quick linebacker with a build worthy of the SEC.
Texas Longhorns recruiter Elijah Barnes of the Dallas Skyline got an unexpected commitment on Friday, demonstrating how the team is still benefiting from last weekend’s Longhorn City Limits recruiting event in Austin.
Barnes told Inside Texas that “Texas is heading to the SEC and the train is rolling.” Texas is going to win a national championship, so they should include me on their squad.
Johnny Nansen, the new co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for Texas, has Barnes as a primary target at linebacker. Barnes accepted the Longhorns’ invitation in the spring and attended summer camp at Forty Acres. In addition to his official visit to Texas in June, the 6’1.5, 220-pound player is set to visit SMU and Alabama in the near future. In the upcoming weeks, he will also make official trips to Nebraska and Ohio State.
In addition to USC, Texas A&M, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oregon, and Tennessee, Barnes declined over thirty offers.
After an amazing sophomore campaign in which he racked up 131 tackles and 15 tackles for loss, Barnes made waves in the recruiting field in his junior year. He also has three sacks, six forced fumbles, four interceptions, and twelve tackles for loss.
Barnes, a 220-pound star who runs the anchor leg of Skyline’s 4×100-meter relay team, demonstrated his speed off the field in spring by winning the 100-meter event in 10.96 seconds.
Barnes is considered a four-star talent by most. According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, he is rated No. 13 at linebacker and No. 98 overall. With six commitments, the 2025 Longhorns recruiting class is presently rated No. 14 in the country.
Daniel Seahorn’s analysis:
Barnes is 6 feet 1.5 inches tall, but according to recruiting sources, he weighs between 215 and 225 pounds. For a sprinter of his size, Barnes’ track achievements are remarkable as a two-sport athlete. In her junior year, Barnes ran a 100-meter sprint in 10.96 seconds and captained Dallas Skyline’s 4X1 relay team.
Barnes is a football player at Skyline who can play both running back and inside linebacker. When you watch, you can see Barnes’s athletic profile on both sides of the football. Barnes plays both off the ball and in space with great ease. He can diagnose patients accurately and read plays well, but when he reads a run, things go south fast. Barnes shows off his skills to find his way around and pick through the rubbish to find the ball. demonstrates the capacity and preparedness to face and overcome obstacles when traveling downward. When Barnes closes on ball carriers and sprints from sideline to sideline, his athleticism truly shows on film. When he decides to move and puts his foot down on the ground, he can close the space on the ball so quickly it’s almost frightening. On camera, ball carriers occasionally misjudge his closing speed; each time, he exacts revenge. Barnes is a powerful and skillful wrapper who brings the ball carrier down every time. It makes sense to think he will complete the play once he gets to the ball carrier. Though his athleticism and space comfort lead one to assume he may be adequate in that sense, I’d like to see him versus the pass more on tape to assess his comfort level when drops and needing go retreat. All things considered, Barnes seems like an athletic and twitchy sideline to sideline defender who can elevate the floor and ceiling of the position group for this class.
