Surprise commitments to Texas have become a trend lately. Four star Manor (TX) defensive lineman Princely Umanmielen is the latest blue chip prospect to jump on the wave of momentum that is heading in the direction of Austin, Texas, as he announced his commitment to the Longhorns yesterday.
Umanmielen has gone back in forth when it comes to favorites and each of Oklahoma, Texas, and Texas A&M had held the lead at one point or another. After recently favoring the Aggies, Umanmielen opted to stay closer to home and play for the hometown Longhorns.
Summary
Princely Umanmielen is a four star defensive end/ defensive tackle prospect out of Manor high school in Manor, Texas. Umanmielen will be entering his third year as a starter this fall for Manor and will be looking to build off a solid 2018 season. At 6’4, 249 pounds Umanmielen possesses solid size for the position with a very good frame to add more mass as he continues to develop. Umanmielen is currently listed as a defensive and takes some snaps at the position, but his body type seems to indicate that a move to the interior is in his future. As a pass rusher, Umanmielen shows the ability to win with power and his length that can be an issue for opposing offensive linemen. When Umanmielen is gets off the rock and is able to win with his hands he is able generate enough power to throw offensive linemen off balance and get them on their heels. My concern is that Umanmielen has a tendency to play at times and doesn’t consistently flash good play strength that will allow him to push the pocket. Umanmielen needs to continue to improve his hand usage and continue to develop as a rusher, as he is currently lacks diversity in his rushes. As a run defender, Umanmielen flashes the ability to be a disruptive presence (21 TFL in 2018). Umanmielen shows the ability to stalemate blocks at the LOS and proves tough to displace. Umanmielen flashes the ability to beat offensive linemen across there face with good quickness off the snap and shows the quickness to shoot and penetrate gaps to force negative plays in the backfield. Umanmielen does stand to improve with disengaging from blocks with more urgency and needs to improve with how he attacks and sheds double teams so that he doesn’t find himself getting displaced from the LOS too frequently.
Final Verdict
Landing Umanmielen is another head to head victory for the Texas staff over regional rivals Oklahoma and Texas A&M and it brings the Longhorns one step closer to running the table on the blue chip defensive linemen in the state this cycle. The Texas staff suffered a setback last cycle when five star defensive tackle Demarvin Leal opted to take his talents to College Station, but with Umanmielen in the boat along with Vernon Broughton, they have a chance to hit the trifecta this cycle by now going all in on Texas legacy Alfred Collins.
Texas defensive line coach Oscar Giles has taken his licks on the message boards over the past couple of cycles, but he deserves a tremendous amount of credit for the defensive line haul he has assembled and for winning some tough battles with regional rivals. If the Longhorns are able to add Collins to the class, this will be as strong of a haul along the defensive front that the Longhorns have had in some time.
