Texas Tech football: 3-star DE Clinton Anokwuru commits to Red Raiders

Thursday, the Texas Tech football team picked up a commitment from 3-star DE Clinton Anokwuru.

On the eve of the summer’s biggest recruiting weekend, the Texas Tech football program got some good news. Three-star defensive end Clinton Anokwuru announced his commitment to the Red Raiders on Twitter Thursday night, becoming the fourth member of Tech’s 2020 recruiting class.

According to Rivals.com the Houston product holds offers from Army, Louisiana Tech, Navy, North Texas, SMU, Wyoming and others. He was in attendance at one of last week’s Texas Tech high school football camps posting several photos of his visit and hinting at his interest in the program. And now he has made his decision to become a Red Raider.

https://twitter.com/igboboy_clinton/status/1141885059856850945

Anokwuru’s stats are tough to find but he did play both tight end and defensive line last season for Fort Bend Bush High School, a 6-A program in the ultra-competitive Houston area. And his background as a two-way player makes him an interesting prospect.

Already 6-foot-3, 235-pounds, Anokwuru looks to have the frame needed to play defensive end in the Big 12. What’s more, the athleticism required to play tight end would suggest that the newest Texas Tech commit may have the type of quick-twitch explosiveness needed to get to the QB off the edge.

It will be important for the Red Raider coaching staff to continue to add depth at defensive end because of the failings of the last few Kliff Kingsbury recruiting classes. The 2016 class included three defensive ends that are yet to register a sack between them while the two ends signed in 2017 have resisted just a combined 0.5 career tackles for loss. What’s more, in 2018, Tech signed just one defensive end, John Scott III, who redshirted last fall and may not be at full strength this season after being shot at a pool party in April.

Fortunately, in 2019, the Red Raiders signed a pair of promising defensive ends. 4-star signee Gilbert Ibeneme from Pearland was the highest-rated member of this year’s class and 3-star end Tony Bradford Jr. helped lead his North Shore High School team to the 6-A state title.

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It will be interesting to see how the Red Raider defensive line rotation shakes out this year in the first season of the Matt Wells era. With the graduation of 2018’s two leading pass rushers, Kolin Hill and Tony Jones, Tech will be turning to junior Eli Howard to carry the load. Last year, Howard had 3.5 sacks after picking up 5.5 as a redshirt freshman in 2017.

But outside of Howard, Tech may not deploy another traditional end in defensive coordinator Keith Patterson’s 3-3-5 scheme. Utilizing a hybrid linebacker/defensive end and a hybrid safety/linebacker, Patterson’s defense will bring pressure from all over the field in an attempt to confuse opposing offenses.

That makes a player like redshirt sophomore Nelson Mbanasor valuable because at 280-pounds, he will have the size to play the five-gap (between the guard and tackle) while being athletic enough to slide outside tot he 9-technique and rush off the edge at times. Mbanasour announced last November (when Kingsbury was still head coach) his intention to transfer from the program but changed his mind after talking the coaching change.

Next. Wells ranked lowest Big 12 coach. dark

Nearly 40 pounds lighter than Mbanasor was as a high school recruit, it would not seem like Anokwuru would have the bulk to play that role but he could be an intriguing option at the hybrid rush end/linebacker position. Certainly, this is the type of player that is worth taking a chance on. Not highly rated or carrying tons of big-time offers at this point, Tech has perhaps gotten ahead of the curve on a player that could see his stock rise this fall.

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