Daniels was a four-star recruit coming out of Euless Trinity before the 2016 season. He committed to Texas and redshirted one year there, but had offers from a whole host of division one programs. Late last month, the news broke that Daniels was transferring. He has been in contact with SMU coaches in the interim.

At Euless, Daniels played defensive tackle. He’s six-foot-two, and 335 pounds so he has the size to be able to stop the run on the inside. In high school, he looked like a man among boys out there. He was stronger than nearly everyone else on the field. He could get off of double teams using pure strength and packed a punch with his initial blow. He also showed that he could hit very hard, and make tackles in the open field. Long story short, Daniels is not your typical lineman. He’s not just a run stopper or a pass rusher, he’s the rare mix of both.

At SMU Daniels could be very deadly. The Mustangs have already proven that they can develop defensive line talent and Daniels would probably thrive in that system. He could be someone like a Justin Lawler—a player who can wreak havoc in opposing backfields.

Randon Haynes is a haus. At six-foot-four and 345 pounds, he has the size to be a division one football player. That size is rare and he may need to lose a few pounds in order to

be more mobile and more successful at the division one level. Still, Haynes moves quickly in his pass sets, and shows good feet for his size.

Haynes also displays a great punch—indicating good strength. He does a good job of walling off on the backside and blocking through plays. This indicates that he has a good motor—something that’s rare in players of his size.

One thing that could be a concern is that Haynes doesn’t get up to the second level too much. While this could be due to Tyler’s scheme, it could also be due to a lack of quickness outside of his first few steps. At the division one level, he will have to be able to get up to that level and block linebackers who are flowing to the football.

Overall Haynes could be a pretty good player. He may need to lose a bit of weight, but he has the size that’s impressive. As the old adage goes, you can’t teach big. He could provide depth to a line that doesn’t have very much depth.

Crist is a local kid—he’s from just down the road in Plano. At six-foot and 180 pounds, he’s got very good size for a running back. If he could put some more weight on, he could be a great power back.

As it stands right now, Crist is impressive. He runs hard and with reckless abandon. He hits the hole hard and has the burst to get into the secondary. He has the strength to break through arm tackles and keeps his feet moving through initial contact.

One concern is his speed. He doesn’t look too fast in the open field, despite showing a good initial burst. On a few of his plays on his highlight reel, defenders are almost able to chase him down in the open field. Still, his initial burst makes him a viable power back at the next level—provided he can put on some weight.

One other area of concern is his blocking. Crist is physical—don’t get me wrong. He likes to get in the mix and throw his body around, but his technique could be better. Against Guyer, he lowered his head on a few blocks and stopped his feet at first contact. If he could keep driving through blocks, he could be a lot more effective.

Overall Crist could be something that SMU is looking for. He has the potential to be a power back in an offense that desperately needs one. Right now, SMU has only Ke’Mon Freeman in short-yardage situations. While Freeman is pretty good in that area, SMU really has no one to go to if he goes down. Crist could be that guy. He’d probably take a little while to develop and get his weight up, but if he does watch out.