4-star OL Cole Hutson signs with Texas

Four-star Frisco offensive lineman Cole Hutson was one of the first commitments for Texas Longhorns offensive line coach Kyle Flood, hopping on board with the Longhorns back in early July along with Austin Westlake’s Connor Robertson and both were two of the most vocal recruiters amongst the Longhorn commits. Hutson never wavered on his pledge throughout the process and on Wednesday he made it official to play his collegiate career in Austin by signing his National Letter of Intent.

Hutson held offers from Alabama, Arizona State, Oklahoma, Penn State, and Texas A&M, but ultimately chose to stay in-state and play for Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian. Hutson is an Arizona State legacy by way of his father Scott who was a pitcher for the Sun Devils.

Hutson is a guy that could potentially be a “swing” guy in the sense he could play both guard and tackle at the next level, which adds to his value within this class. Here is the evaluation on Hutson back from July after he committed to the Longhorns:

If your motto is “pound that rock” then you would really enjoy watching Cole Hutson’s tape on repeat. It is a sign of trust and respect when your offensive coordinator calls a play that allows you to pave the way as an offensive lineman, and for Hutson that happens A LOT. Hutson does good job of coming off the ball with a low hat and shows good functional strength with his ability to drive block defenders and displace them from the LOS. Hutson shows a knack for playing with good leverage — with him projecting to the interior at the next level, that is imperative. Hutson moves well and shows off good athleticism, as he is often required to be a space blocker as a puller. He consistently shows the ability to track his assignment and arrive under control to execute his blocks. If you have read any of my previous evals on offensive lineman then you know I am a sucker for a guy who knows how to finish his blocks and Hutson has that in spades. He is consistently looking for work and when he locks on with a defender, he is not just looking to block them — he is looking to dominate them. When you have to line up across from a guy like Hutson for 50-60 snaps and they are running the ball as much as they are on tape, then it can quickly become demoralizing. With the emphasis on running the football, that obviously leaves a smaller sample size for watching Hutson in pass protection on tape, so that is something I would keep an eye on development-wise for his senior season. Hutson certainly has the skill set and physical tools to hold up well in pass pro, but I would like to see more of it on tape to have a better comfort level with projecting it for him.

Hutson joins a very stout offensive line class that also consists of Kelvin Banks, Cameron Williams, Connor Robertson, Neto Omeozulu, and could add Malik Agbo on Wednesday afternoon. Hats off to Flood for putting together what will be a foundational piece for this recruiting class.

Hutson is ranked as the No. 356 player nationally and the No. 16 interior offensive lineman, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.