Earlier this week, I wrote about Liberty-Eylau defensive end Lagaryonn Carson’s insane stat line from his junior campaign. If you think those numbers were impressive, you need to buckle up for these numbers that were put by Plano East star linebacker Anthony Hines.
Last year Hines accumulated 205 total tackles, 24 of them behind the line of scrimmage for a loss, racked up 8 sacks, and also chipped in with 8 PBUs, 3 forced fumbles, and 1 fumble recovery. That’s called having a nose for the football, guys. Last night, Hines’s Plano East Panthers took a loss to Duncanville, but that didn’t stop Hines from being all over the field, scoring a forced fumble and an assortment of tackles in his first game of the year.
At almost 6’3 and just under 225 pounds, Hines is the type of inside linebacker that you want in the middle of your defense when you draw it up on paper. Not only is he able to patrol the box from tackle to tackle, but he can flat out patrol the entire field from sideline to sideline.
When Hines gets to the ball carrier, he consistently arrives with a bad attitude and as his stat line indicates, he is a sure tackler who is constantly around the football. When I spoke with Hines at The Opening and asked him who he compared his game to, his response was Carolina Panthers All-Pro linebacker Luke Kuechly.
Kuechly is the best linebacker in all of football, doesn’t have any holes in is game, he’s a great run defender, he can hold his own in coverage deep down the middle of the field, and most importantly he is an absolute football junkie who is dialed in mentally at all times. He is the heart and soul of that defense in Carolina and that is exactly what Hines is trying to be for his defense in 2016 and beyond. While Hines certainly has a long way to go before he is on Kuechly’s level, he has been working hard over the offseason to become a more complete linebacker.
Hines’ effort this offseason culminated with an invite to The Opening, which goes along with his lofty recruiting rankings across all of the networks. Hines is no stranger to accolades, as he has been a known commodity in the recruiting world for some time now. He was racking up offers as a freshman and even gave an early pledge to Mississippi State before later backing out after a bit of controversy that involved Fresno State signee Chason Virgil.
As things sit currently, Hines has 90 FBS offers to his name, and no you didn’t read that incorrectly. I’ve seen some very impressive offer sheet in my days of following and covering high school football recruiting, but to see one recruit with almost 100 offers on his resume heading into his senior seasons is one of the most incredible things I’ve ever seen.
Those offers signal that coaches at practically every school in America agree that Hines is absolute stud in the making and they are beating down his door and blowing up his phone to try to earn his signature. Schools like Oklahoma, Texas, and Texas A&M have been mentioned as schools who have been recruiting Hines the hardest and are pushing for his signature, but with the college football season getting ready to kickoff , Hines’ recruitment still has plenty of time left on the clock, as he plans to take all of his official visits.
After having a junior season to remember, I am eagerly watching Hines’ final high school season to see what he does to encore the monster of a junior year he had in 2015. Something tells me that Hines will not disappoint on the field in 2016.
