Justin Madubuike to Texas A&M: Aggies Land 4-Star DE Prospect

Texas A&M just beefed up its defensive line in a big way heading into 2016. Justin Madubuike, a 4-star defensive lineman, committed to the Aggies on Friday. Madubuike announced the decision on Twitter. 

According to 247Sports' composite rankings, Madubuike is the seventh-best strong-side defensive end and 107th-best player overall.

In what is certainly high praise, the Dallas Morning News named him the best defensive lineman in the Dallas-Fort Worth area ahead of the 2015 season. Corbett Smith explained why the McKinney North High School product deserved top billing:

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To me, there's nothing more impressive for a defensive lineman than watching him knife through the interior of the defense to get to the quarterback/ball carrier before they know what’s going on. Madubuike is that guy. He’s strong as a bull and wicked fast off the snap. McKinney North won’t be as explosive offensively – with the graduation of USC-bound RB Ronald Jones. That will put even more pressure on its defense to keep them in games, and Madubuike’s the type of gamechanger who can do that.

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Madubuike has received no shortage of interest in his home state of Texas. You can see a small handful of the schools that have offered him a scholarship below:

Not included above are Texas and Texas A&M, who also made strong pushes for his services.

It's not hard to see why he had no shortage of potential suitors. He possesses good size for a defensive end (6'3", 255 lbs) and the requisite athleticism to blossom into an unstoppable pass-rusher.

The biggest question surrounding Madubuike's ceiling at the next level is whether he can hone his technique and add a few different wrinkles to his pass rush.

At the moment, he's a little bit too reliant on overpowering opposing offensive linemen and simply running through them. That won't be a terrible strategy in college, but it won't be as productive, either.

In order to truly excel, Madubuike will need to improve his hand placement and add a bit of finesse to his range of tools.

Everything else is there. He's quick enough to track down a ball-carrier from behind, and when he gets his arms wrapped around for a tackle, he doesn't let go.

Of course, pass-rushing will be a big part of Madubuike's game. As long as he can iron out the few wrinkles he has, then he could be a force in the trenches for Texas A&M.