4-star CB Jalen Kimber impressed with how he would fit at Texas

Notching some of the top in-state secondary prospects has been a priority for Tom Herman since he’s taken over the Texas Longhorns football program. The latest target for the Horns is lockdown Mansfield Timberview cornerback Jalen Kimber.

Kimber has seen his recruitment and overall stock take off in a major way since this past December, which is around the same time the Longhorns decided to extend an offer to the cover corner. We’re now in March and Kimber has reeled in half of his opportunities throughout the first three months of this year. He is now sitting at a total of 28 offers from Power 5 programs such as Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, TCU, and Texas A&M. A number of schools have been calling for Kimber’s services after he posted the top combine rating and put on one of the best performances at the Opening in Dallas.

With legitimate 4.43 speed in the 40-yard dash, Kimber is considered to be among the fastest player in the D-FW area. Displaying that kind of burst is something that Kimber has worked on tremendously over time.

“Well, I have a great trainer,” Kimber told BON when asked what goes into having the speed he possesses. “We just do a lot of explosive lifts and explosive movements. A lot of fast, quick-twitch movements, and things like that. I’ve just been training for the 40 and working and everything.”

Kimber’s confidence is very high at the moment due to his recent rise in the rankings, as he’s now up more than 200 spots from his previous placement at No. 471 nationally. Most kids would tell you that they don’t pay attention to those things, but Kimber has been eager to boost his ratings since seeing the defensive backs that were ranked ahead of him. He keeps a list of those players displayed in his room and makes sure to take a look at it every day.

“It just makes me want to keep grinding,” Kimber said. “The new rankings came out and that’s what I’ve really been grinding for because I’ve seen the last rankings and everybody was ranked above me. I just use that to motivate me.”

The newly-minted four-star prospect recently made it out to Austin on March 2 for a crucial visit with the Longhorns and was blown away during his time on the Forty Acres.

“Just the overall tour was amazing, they showed me everything,” Kimber said. “Like how I fit into their system, the college life, the dorm rooms, the education. After the visit, they jumped up a lot.”

Cornerbacks coach Jason Washington was able to have some one-on-one time with Kimber during his latest visit. Washington made a ton of valid points to Kimber in the film room and even pitched the idea of him possibly having an opportunity to be an early contributor if he decided to go with the Horns.

“I was with Coach Washington and he showed me how I fit into their system. He pulled up some of their players and their film and some of my plays and my film, and it was the exact same thing,” Kimber said. “So I pretty much fit in their system. And he showed me their depth chart, and how I could come in and play pretty early if I was to go there.”

The Longhorns were one of the programs that Kimber selected to be one of his desired schools when he dropped his top 10 schools in late January. A lot of that has to do with the entire Texas coaching staff and Kimber witnessing how Herman looks after his players.

“Just the coaches really, they invest in their kids, and Coach Herman,” said Kimber. “I didn’t know that he majored in sports science, and he really takes care of his kids. They’re about to redo everything and he makes sure that his players’ bodies are right because they don’t want any injuries and things like that. So just the coaches, they stand out to me a lot.”

Kimber is coming fresh off a visit to Oklahoma and plans on taking a look at Alabama, Arkansas, and Notre Dame in the near future.

As of now, the Longhorns hold no commitments on the defensive side of the ball from this current cycle. The Longhorns have offered 11 total cornerbacks from this class thus far, including Kimber.

At 6’0, 170 pounds, Kimber is ranked as the nation’s No. 238 prospect, the No. 17 cornerback in the country, and as the No. 33 player in the state, per the 247Sports Composite rankings.