The Texas A&M Aggies will have some more defensive help coming next fall in the form of Ennis (Texas) defensive end James Lockhart, who pledged to the Aggies on Friday afternoon in a ceremony at his high school.
Top Texas DE James Lockhart commits to the Texas A&M Aggies
The Aggies have a pledge from the state’s top defensive end.
The 6'2, 251-pound strongside defensive end chose the Aggies over his other finalist, the Alabama Crimson Tide. He had narrowed his list to the Aggies and the Tide a little more than two weeks ago.
A recent visit to Tuscaloosa seemed to give the Crimson Tide a surge, as it went well by all accounts, but A&M got the last word with Lockhart when he visited College Station last week and seem to have sealed the deal at that time, if not before, despite entering his recruitment late.
In fact, the Aggies didn’t offer until May 15, a fact that would have eliminated the school from contention with many recruits. But not with Lockhart.
At the time of his commitment, his 247Sports Cyrstal Ball predictions stood at 90% for Texas A&M, with no projections from the industry for Alabama, a clear indication about his eventual destination.
The excellent run-stopping defensive end also held offers from Arizona State, Arkansas, Baylor, Califronia, Colorado, Florida State, Iowa, Kansas State, Miami, Mississippi State, Missouri, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon State, Penn State, Stanford, TCU, Texas, Texas Tech, and Washington State.
A consensus four-star prospect, Lockhart is rated as No. 6 strongside defensive end nationally, the No. 11 player in the state of Texas, and No. 106 player nationally, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.
Projected as a strong side defensive end in college, Lockhart has college-ready size entering the spring of his junior season, with plenty of room for growth left with his frame.
Listed at 6’2 and likely a little bit shorter, Lockhart doesn’t elite height or wingspan, so developing a long-arm pass-rushing move may not be in his near future.
However, he does show some understanding of how to use his hands as a pass rusher to help him turn the corner against offensive tackle, critical because he doesn’t have an elite first step. Since opponents have trouble getting their hands on him to control him in pass protection, Lockhart does a nice job of pressuring quarterbacks in high school and flashes a bullrush that could become his best move to get to the quarterback in college.
Against the run, leaving him unblocked on the back side is a strategy that some teams tried to employ against him in 2013, but it wasn’t enough to keep him from stopping plays behind the line of scrimmage, as the pursuit ability of Lockhart is one of his strengths and perhaps even his best attribute.
His physical strength helps him control and shed blockers when schemes do attempt to account him. Against the run in general it’s clear that Lockhart plays with a great deal of intensity on a consistent basis and he has the base to hold up at the point of attack in college, which will decrease pressure on him to become an outstanding pass rusher because continuing to stop the run at a high level is the baseline projection for the Ennis star.
If Lockhart can continue to hone his speed rush, use his bullrush effectively, and continue his same effort level against the run, he has a chance to become an all-conference player in college. Even if he doesn’t accomplish the two former tasks, his motor and run-stopping skills will make him a valuable and longtime contributor at Texas A&M.
Lockhart is now the 19th pledge of the 2015 class for the Aggies, which ranks No. 2 nationally and No. 2 in the SEC. He's the first defensive end in the current cycle, but will join a talented young group in College Station that includes 2013 signee Daeshon Hall and 2014 signees Myles Garret and Qualen Cunningham. Garrett was ranked as the top player in the nation in 2014 by 247Sports.
