Violent LB Marqez Bimage may see the field early in Todd Orlando’s 3-4 defense

Savage. Violent. Physical. Quick.

The superlatives for new Texas Longhorns linebacker signee Marqez Bimage are truly remarkable for a prospect who originally committed to the Houston Cougars and then pledged once again to head coach Tom Herman and defensive coordinator Todd Orlando in early January.

The Brenham product took a big leap during his senior season, at which point he’d already been committed to the Cougars for about a year.

Offers from schools like Cal, Cincinnati, Kansas State, and LSU followed.

Still, Bimage remained firm with Houston until Herman and his staff offered shortly after arriving in Austin.

Like several other prospects in the group, Bimage couldn’t wait until his official visit to give his second pledge, ending his recruitment for a second and final time less than a month after receiving his offer from the Longhorns.

Four days after that, he took his official visit to the Forty Acres.

Rivals now has Bimage ranked No. 44 in the state, 86 spots behind 247Sports in the rankings released leading up to National Signing Day. And while 247Sports arguably has the best evaluators, the argument here is that Rivals is closer to the potential impact Bimage could have than 247Sports.

After all, a coach offered the following to Inside Texas:

This kid plays like a savage in between the white lines and I love that about him. He plays, hard, fast, physical, and violently with a motor that burns red hot. He’s disruptive both against the run and the pass and he’s an absolute handful on the edge with his agility and quickness against tackles. Not only is able to utilize and his quickness to his advantage, he is able to disengage and get off blocks by using his hands. He’s able to run the arc and beat tackles over the top, and he is able to cross their face back underneath them and blow up plays. There are some clips of him soundly beating a five-star offensive tackle in Walker Little and while that most certainly doesn’t paint the entire picture of how that battle played out, it shows you that he most certainly has some tools to work with. I’m not sure where you plug him in as far as your base defense when it comes to the 3-4, but I think you take him and figure it out later.

Read over the bolded section again and check out the highlights.

Once again — that’s upside. Bimage has it, in addition to a number of other traits that could make him effective across the three main linebacker positions that Orlando will use in Big 12 play, plus the additional situational position when the ‘Horns can actually use a seven-man front.

With the addition of No. 1 junior college linebacker Gary Johnson, there’s much less pressure for Bimage to play early, affording Orlando the opportunity to cross train Bimage in multiple roles until he discovers his greatest aptitudes.

On Bimage’s senior film, his verified times of 4.90 in the 40-yard dash, 5.06 in the shuttle, and 31.8-inch vertical jump seem absurd.

To state it flatly, there’s much more on film than in those testing numbers and that’s the defining element of Bimage as a football player right now — put an opponent in front of him, and he is bent for destruction with the quickest of twitches.

Whatever position ends up being ideal for Bimage, his visibly savage attributes and proven ability against the best competition possible greatly increases his potential eventual impact on the program.

Assuming that Herman and Orlando have judged his makeup correctly, Bimage is a player with NFL upside because of the attitude that he displays on the field.

Should be fun to find out what happens.