Fresh Faces on the Forty: Freshman DL Elijah Ali

· Yahoo Sports

For the penultimate “Fresh Faces on the Forty,” we are talking about the final player the Longhorns added to their recruiting class, Elijah Ali. The DL prospect out of Downey, California was offered by Texas just days before committing while on a visit in Austin. 

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Ali didn’t have an extensive offer list like many other Longhorn commits. Temple, San Diego State, Delaware State and Sacramento State offered the three-star but the Longhorns came in late and got the commitment and signing. 

As you can imagine, Ali is more of a developmental piece for the Longhorns. However, he does bring translatable size(6’4”, 285lbs) and a strong motor to the table. He was the singular addition to the class after the hiring of Will Muschamp but unlike the rest of the class, won’t make it to campus until the summer. 

Ali has strong pass rush abilities and positional versatility that makes him well worth the chance. The Longhorns are very unlikely to see Ali at all in 2026 and possibly 2027, but it’s clear Kenny Baker and Will Muschamp like what they see. It’s a shot but I wouldn’t be shocked if it landed. 

Ali represented the final Longhorn added to the 2026 class but the penultimate “Fresh Faces on the Forty”. Tomorrow, it’s all about the special teamers in the recruiting class. Mikey Bukaukas(P), Jake Collett(K) and Trott O’Neal(LS) all ranked in the top 11 at their position in the country and figure to be the future of Jeff Banks units.

This article originally appeared on Longhorns Wire: Fresh Faces on the Forty: Downey, California DL product, Elijah Ali

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