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Four-star OL Daniel Cruz commits to Texas

Joe Cookby: Joe Cook06/28/23josephcook89
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Daniel Cruz (Joe Cook/Inside Texas)

Kyle Flood has long sought 2024 North Richland Hills (Texas) Richland offensive lineman Daniel Cruz to man the interior of his offensive lines for years to come. Flood’s efforts recruiting Cruz have paid off, and future Longhorn offensive lines will reap the benefits.

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Cruz announced his commitment to Texas, choosing the Longhorns over Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Ohio State, and others.

Excerpt from the Recruiting Notebook

Daniel Cruz is very quick and explosive off the ball. He plays multiple positions for Richland on either side of the line of scrimmage and could probably be effective in college as either a two-gapping nose tackle or an offensive lineman. Cruz is pretty quick in his kick step and certainly on the move in the run game, his ability to get off the ball would be truly valuable for Kyle Flood at center. He doesn’t lack power for battling with defensive linemen and his athleticism is useful in initiating engagements, which matters when you’re a center trying to execute combo blocks with your teammates at guard. Cruz should be a dominant interior lineman in a zone scheme with the quickness to hit lateral targets and the power to move people off the ball when he gets there. – Ian Boyd

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Coach Says:

Strengths — Good height for interior line. Great hip and knee bend. Good ankle flexion with very good balance in and out of a two or three point stance. Arm length is good for interior line. Excellent hand placement. Locks out quickly with a straight back. On run blocking, is quick and low off the snap and reaches really well. Good straight line speed for size. He will show good feet on pulling and climbs to the next level with ease. Technical blocker who will play through the whistle. Strong against the bull rush. On pass protection, plays with independent hands. Kicks out properly at 45 degree and doesn’t frequently overset. At least a few nice highlights of him covering the inside gap against a change of direction. Even his opponent highlights have flattering film of him.

Areas for Improvement / Concerns — Will need a little more size to play inside in Flood’s scheme. Doesn’t consistently line up the moving target at the second level. Sometimes inconsistent on transferring lower body power. Could be an emergency tackle, but speed rush at next level might be a challenge.

Cruz is ranked as the No. 198 overall prospect, the No. 12 interior offensive lineman, and the No. 38 player in Texas according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services.

Cruz is the eighth member of Texas’ 2024 recruiting class.

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