Longhorns land highly-recruited DL transfer
Longhorns make major addition in transfer portal
The Texas Longhorns’ defense has gotten a major boost for the 2025 season. On Tuesday, former Syracuse defensive lineman Maraad Watson committed to the Longhorns. After a stellar freshman season in which Watson earned All-America honors, he will look to build on his success with a new program.
During the 2024 campaign, Watson recorded 31 tackles, including two for a loss. On a Syracuse defense that struggled against the run, Watson was the exception. He earned a grade of 77.4 from PFF across 200 rush defense snaps. That is one of the many reasons the Irvington High School product was hard to keep out of the lineup.
Over the last few weeks, the Longhorns have been busy improving their depth. They now have 10 transfer commitments in 2025. Watson will join a defense that includes Travis Shaw, Cole Brevard, Hero Kanu, and Lavon Johnson. That group should make the Longhorns a hard team to face in a competitive SEC conference.
In Watson, the Longhorns are getting a player who still has some room to grow. He has three years of eligibility remaining, giving the Longhorns plenty of time to help Watson master his position. If he can reach his potential, then the Longhorns’ defense will have another star to rely on.
As the Longhorns pursued Watson, they faced plenty of completion. The former Syracuse star drew interest from Ohio State, Georgia, and Tennessee. However, during his visit to Auston on Tuesday, the Longhorns made Watson an offer he couldn’t deny. He was a three-star prospect coming out of high school. However, his stock was on the rise when he entered the portal.
With the start of the 2025 campaign just a few months away, the Longhorns defensive line is again shaping up to be a strength as Texas looks to end its title drought.
