Top 2026 DL Recruit Puts Texas Longhorns In Top 8

A highly-touted defensive line prospect is impressed with the Longhorns.

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian heads back to the practice field at DKR working on football drills during spring football on Tuesday, March 21, 2023. Sark | Ricardo B. Brazziell/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK

If you are a Texas Longhorns fan, then you are no stranger to being in the running for nearly every top prospect of that cycle. This time is almost the same, but for a top international prospect, that is not an Australian punter.

Valdin Sone, one of the top defensive linemen in the 2026 recruiting cycle, told Hayes Fawcett of On3 Sports that he has narrowed his list to eight finalists.

Texas defensive lineman Alfred Collins celebrates a sack. Texas took on Oklahoma in the 2021 Red River Showdown at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas on Oct. 9, 2021. | Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

His top eight consisted of Oklahoma, Texas, USC, Nebraska, Georgia, Auburn, South Carolina and Florida.

Sone is originally from Malmö, Sweden, but has been playing for Blue Ridge High School in Virginia. Despite only playing American football for just a few years, the six-foot-three lineman has turned plenty of heads with his playing time, including notably at a joint practice where Charles Power, the On3 Director of Scouting has this to say about him:

“Sone had several flash moments on Wednesday. Sone was the only defensive lineman we saw notch a win against Oklahoma offensive tackle signee Ryan Fodje in 1-on-1’s during the morning. Sone put Fodje on the ground with a vicious swim move. We later saw the Sweden native make some plays on the interior in the joint practice.”.

Valdin participated in the Navy All-American Bowl at the beginning of the year, where he showed off his mobility and ability to fire off the line of scrimmage.

According to On3, the number 13 DL recruit is the second top 20 prospect of that position to place the Longhorns among the finalists for them in the last month, joining Dylan Berymon, who put them in his top five.

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