Blue-chip CBs Holton Hill and Kris Boyd both commit to the Texas Longhorns

In an appearance on TWC News Austin, Houston (Texas) Lamar cornerback Holton Hill announced his commitment to the Texas Longhorns, along with close friend Kris Boyd, a cornerback from Gilmer (Texas).

He also sent out the following tweet:

Moments later, head coach Charlie Strong sent out his signature tweet:

The decision helped Texas regain some of the recruiting momentum lost on Thursday evening when five-star Allen quarterback Kyler Murray re-affirmed his pledge to the Texas A&M, one of the other perceived finalists for Hill, along with LSU.

The 6’2, 184-pounder set his commitment date earlier in the week with Boyd, but it wasn’t until Boyd tweeted his intentions to commit live at 1:30 p.m. CT that anyone knew when it would happen. The sports director at TWC News Austin subsequently sent out a tweet about a recruiting announcement at the same time that was later deleted.

However, the Aggies and the Longhorns looked like the most serious contenders for the 6’2, 184-pounder, because his Boyd picked between those schools.

The futures of the two prospects looked intertwined because they announced the timing of their respective decisions together and took each of their last two visits together, to Texas and then Texas A&M, respectively. Like Boyd, Hill at one point considered tripping to Baylor instead of Texas A&M before settling on College Station.

In fact, the Aggies were somewhat of a surprise contender for Hill’s services late in the game -- he didn’t list A&M among his top five schools when he released his list in late November.

How were the Aggies able to climb back in the race? The hire of defensive coordinator John Chavis away from LSU certainly helped, as did an increased emphasis on recruiting Hill hard again. As with his friend Boyd, Hill wasn’t prioritized through parts of the recruiting process in favor of Missouri City (Texas) Marshall cornerback Kendell Sheffield, who ended up committing to Alabama at the 2015 Under Armour All-America game.

Heading into decision day for Hill, the Longhorns seemed like the favorite. Texas safety commit Jamile Johnson said at the Semper Fi All-American Bowl that Hill told him that the Horns were Hill’s No. 1 choice at the time. Former high school teammate John Bonney is also playing his college football in Austin, and Hill said last summer that the two have a good relationship that dates back years.

As a result of those factors, the Longhorns were the major leader in his 247Sports Crystal Ball:

What will Texas be getting in Hill? Considered a consensus four-star prospect, Hill is the No. 69 player nationally, the No. 8 cornerback, and the No. 9 player in Texas. He also held offers from the likes of Alabama, Arkansas, Baylor, California, Colorado, Florida State, Houston, Maryland, Michigan State, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, SMU, TCU, and Wake Forest, among others.

At the Houston NFTC in early April of 2014, Hill gave evidence of his physical skills, measuring in at a true 6’2, running a respectable 4.24 shuttle and ripping off a 35.8-inch vertical leap. He previously ran a 4.56 40 at another Nike event, excellent but certainly not elite speed for his position.

Likely a boundary corner at the next level, Hill won’t give up much height even to the tallest wide receivers, and benefits from being able to jam opponents at the line of scrimmage to disrupt their release -- asking him to defend smaller, quicker receivers from the slot in man-to-man coverage just doesn’t play to his strengths.

He has some ability to play in zone coverage and to drive off his back foot and show the short-area quickness suggested by his shuttle time, with his instincts for recognizing routes also a strength. But as is common for bigger cornerbacks, he’s not at his best when asked to flip his hips and transition in off coverage, and doesn’t also show ideal recovery speed -- he can get in some trouble if he completely misses his jam at the line of scrimmage.

There are also some ball skills for Hill, who can finish easy interceptions and elevate to compete for jump balls because of his excellent vertical leap. Combined with his height and length, he shouldn’t have issues in the red zone on fade routes.

Run support shouldn’t be an issue either because of his size -- he won’t be physically overwhelmed by X receivers trying to block him, and has the strength to be a solid tackler.

In all, Hill doesn’t have the pure speed of many smaller cornerbacks in a blazing 40 time or the ability to run the 100 meters in the mid-10 second range. He does have excellent height, length and leaping ability that would ease the transition to safety in a worst-case scenario in college if he can’t stick at cornerback.

As a result, he’s completely deserving of his top-100 ranking and position among the country’s 10 best cornerbacks.

With the commitments of Boyd and Hill, Texas now has three cornerbacks pledged in the 2015 class, including Miami (Fla.) Booker T Washington’s Davante Davis, who re-affirmed his commitment to the Longhorns on Thursday evening.

The Friday pledges pushed Texas past Texas A&M and two other schools into the No. 9 spot nationally in the 247Sports Composite team rankings. The Horns remain No. 1 in the Big 12.