4-star CB Ishmael Ibraheem announces commitment to Texas

Dallas Kimball cornerback Ishmael Ibraheem has long been a major priority at the position for the Texas Longhorns and on Monday afternoon, those efforts paid dividends as Ibraheem took to Twitter to announce his pledge to the program.

At the same time, his friend and 7-on-7 teammate, Kennedale safety JD Coffey, also committed to the Horns.

An Under Armour All-American, Ibraheem has 34 offers to his name, but sides with the Horns over prominent options such as LSU, Alabama, Oklahoma, Georgia, and Auburn, to name a few. After jumping into the mix with an offer more than a year ago, Texas was arguably the most active in its pursuit of Ibraheem’s services, which can be credited as key for the Longhorns long being considered the team to beat in this recruitment.

Prior to his pledge, Ibraheem’s Crystal Ball entirely favored Texas.

Now committed, Ibraheem becomes the most highly-ranked defensive talent to join Tom Herman’s 2021 class, coming in as the No. 13 cornerback and No. 171 player overall, per the 247Sports Composite.

As a junior, the four star talent totaled 35 tackles and four pass breakups.

Film analysis — Daniel Seahorn)

Ibraheem possesses the physical traits you look for in the modern-day cornerback. At 6’1, 175 pounds Ibraheem has a tall, long, and athletic frame that has plenty of room for filling out as he continues to develop. Physically, he’s like a baby giraffe in the sense that he is trying to grow into his body and still trying figure out how to properly maximize his physical gifts.

Ibraheem shows the ability to turn and run with receivers in coverage and due to his length, he often able to make up ground quickly. At this stage in his development he looks comfortable when asked to match up in man coverage and he does a good job of allowing minimal separation. Ibraheem shows he has the ability to be disruptive in coverage and shows that he is willing to compete when it comes to making plays on the football, but he definitely has room to improve when it comes to his ball skills. My main knock on him aside from being a bit raw is that he needs to do a better job of finishing on opportunities when he has a chance to turn the ball over.

As a tackler, Ibraheem shows the willingness to stick his nose in there and shows on tape that he has the ability to punch above his weight class at times. He shows suddenness and the ability to get downhill in a hurry when he puts his foot in the ground and can arrive at the ball carrier with some bad intentions from time to time. You would like to see that pop from him more consistently and improvement when it comes to wrapping up ball carriers, but you can see that he does not shy away when it comes to being physical. It’s evident that Ibraheem is talented and possesses tools that could eventually make him a top-tier player at the position, but he still has a good bit of growing to do physically and fundamentally to hit his ceiling down the road.

With Ibraheem and Coffey on board with the Horns, the 13-man Texas class jumps to No. 9 nationally and remains ranked atop the Big 12.