3-star SDE Andrew Fitzgerald signs NLI with the Texas Longhorns

Flower Mound Marcus defensive end Andrew Fitzgerald officially joined the burnt orange nation after signing his National Letter of Intent with the Texas Longhorns on Wednesday.

Hook'em pic.twitter.com/7qnydAyzgI

— Andrew Fitzgerald (@andrewfitz90) January 17, 2016

Fitzgerald, a three-star strongside defensive end comes to the 40 Acres as the nation's No. 251 overall recruit, No. 12 SDE, and No. 37 player in Texas, per the 247Sports Composite. The Flower Mound Marcus product racked up 22 total offers, which included Baylor, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, and Oregon.  Although Fitzgerald took official visits to Kansas State October 10, and Oregon November 7, it seems the most impactful was the unofficial to Texas that preceded both on September 26, as Fitzgerald committed to the Longhorns November 12.

At 6'5, 250 pounds, Fitzgerald was simply too much for the average high school matchup, and his strength at the line of scrimmage often proved such claims. Entering Texas, Fitzgerald excels as a bull rusher, and is an imposing tackler, but also displays a solid IQ in waiting for plays to develop and fending off blockers with his hands at the right times. But D-1 football in a Power 5 conference is an entirely different beast, and before Fitzgerald finds reps in Austin, he'll need to improve his burst and explode off the line of scrimmage quicker. To this point, he looks a step too slow, but there's plenty of time for developing such deficiencies.

With a strong performance in California at the Semper Fi All-American bowl, Fitzgerald vaulted up the rankings, earned his fourth star, and ultimately made his into the top-100 prospects nationally by the 247Sports Composite rankings. Here's the evaluation of why:

"[Fitzgerald] checks every box," said 247Sports National Director of Scouting Barton Simmons. "He's got great size, combine athleticism, strength at the point of attack and he's got a big-time motor. He makes his move up after dominating the Semper Fi practices."