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Texas lands consensus 4-star LB Kobie McKinzie

Joe Cookby:Joe Cook•12/05/21•

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Kobie McKinzie
Kobie McKinzie during his trip to Austin. (courtesy of McKinzie)

When Lincoln Riley left Oklahoma for USC, Lubbock-Cooper LB Kobie McKinzie decided to find a new home. Less than two weeks after opening up his recruitment, McKinzie decided Austin was where he wanted to be.

McKinzie, the No. 180 overall prospect and No. 33 in Texas in the On3 consensus, committed to Steve Sarkisian and the Texas Longhorns.

Texas and Missouri quickly offered the 6-foot-2, 245-pound Lubbock-Cooper product in the wake of his decommitment. He officially visited Austin over the weekend of December 4, and decided the Forty Acres was where he wanted to stay for his college career.

An Under Armour All-American, McKinzie selected the Longhorns over previous offers from Texas Tech, Arkansas, Florida State, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, and USC.

Excerpt from the Recruiting Notebook:

How he fits at Texas: McKinzie is a more traditional, between the tackles inside linebacker unlike Texas has taken since Ayodele Adeoye. At 6-foot-2, 245 he has some positional versatility but currently plays as a downhill middle linebacker. Texas lacked inside-backers like McKinzie this year who can read flow and then have enough power and length to get off blocks and make tackles in A/B gaps and he’d fit as a Will hanging out in the box and smaller spaces in the current scheme. Given his size, he’s also liable to spin down into an outside linebacker/Edge player who can drop like an inside linebacker but spends a lot of time living the more close-quarters combat life of a Jack or Buck on the line of scrimmage. – Ian Boyd

Strengths: Great height. Thickly built and well proportioned — physically ready to rock from day one. Generates a lot of power from his core and arrives with some extra explosiveness on impact. Generates some big hits. Good upper body strength as well. Good acceleration. Appears really well-coached. Gets into his run fit quickly. Great wrong-arm technique. Appears instinctive and intelligent on film. Great awareness for the ball. Shows a good understanding of his role on the defense and what the offense is trying to do. Limits options for players in space quickly. He plays head up. He triggers fast without false steps. Gets downhill in a hurry. Stays square to the line reads the flow, scrapes effectively, and spills (or hits) the runner. Will be able to play inside or outside. Very effective on the blitz with great anticipation (see at 9:14 of junior season highlights). Zone drops appear to show good spatial awareness. Love the hustle plays.

Areas for Improvement/Concern: Engages blockers and ball carriers with high pad level. Don’t see a lot of pass rush moves because he doesn’t need them at the HS level. A bit slow going backward in pass defense (definitely not a Tampa-2 Mike but could be functional). His top end speed is probably average. Agility appears average for the position. Has more than a few highlights where he’s trying to arm tackle in passing rather than breaking down and squaring up. Needs to break that habit.

McKinzie is the 21st member of Texas’ 2022 recruiting class.

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