Marcel Southall Joins the Texas Longhorns

The Charlie Strong "Make Texas Big Again" Campaign added another 300-pounder to its ranks as 2016 DT signee Marcel Southall from Duncanville has officially taken care of all his entrance requirements.  He should arrive on campus for the Summer II session and be fully ready to roll for camp in August.

If the Spring Game is any indication, Texas should spend a lot more time in four-down linemen looks in 2016 than they have during Strong's first two seasons.  There should still be plenty of 3-3 looks, though, and it'll be tough to sort out exactly who'll be playing where until at least August, if not September (though we'll certainly take our best shot in Thinking Texas Football 2016 - available for pre-order soon!).  Southall doesn't have the pure immovability of a guy like Gerald Wilbon or the movement skills of a Jordan Elliott or DeAndre Christmas-Giles, but he's got the length and strength to fit at either tackle spot in the 4-3 or also hold down a 4i end role when Texas goes with three down linemen.  The Longhorns need an aggregate 40-50 quality snaps per game from the incoming DL class in order to survive this season, so it's nice to have one more guy on hand who could prove to be an effective puzzle piece.

In other qualification news, those in the know are starting to get more optimistic that Manor LB/WDE Erick Fowler will get his summer school business successfully handled and be eligible to join the team come August.  Don't take that to the bank just yet, but it's encouraging to hear things trending in the right direction there.  Fowler would be an immediate lift for the Longhorns' ability to get four-man pressure and could force his way into the Naashon Hughes/Breckyn Hager conversation at WDE in short order if he makes it to the 40.

On the 2016 Baylor Watch tip, as of Sunday afternoon it sounds like Patrick Hudson is a likely Longhorn while Parrish Cobb is still an OU lean and Kam Martin was told that there was no room at the inn.  While would have been great to take literally #Errrbody, numbers are getting tight and here's hoping that the staff's laissez faire approach to both Cobb and Martin is another sign that they feel good about Fowler making the grade.

More news as it happens.  Unless it happens during the GoT finale tonight, but you probably knew that already.