RCT Signing Day Extravaganza: Linebackers

by Owen on Feb 4, 2009 12:15 PM CST in Kansas Jayhawk Football

Up Next: 1:30pm CST a defensive back preview. This is by far the largest group and I've got video on a handful and audio from Tyler Patmon.

An important position in this class with the departure of three seniors was that of the linebacker spots. Mike Rivera, Joe Mortensen and James Holt continued Kansas' recent tradition of linebacking excellence and with their departure some big shoes need to be filled. Now it's hard to say if any of the incoming guys will step in immediately, but they certainly are a good looking crew for down the road.

Julian Jones, Huldon Tharp and Jacoby Thomas make up this class. Each one brings a different style and unique abilities to the unit and certainly with some solid coaching and work in the training room they look to have a bright future.

jump into the post for more breakdown, video and interviews...

Huldon Tharp

The first commitment for the linebacker position came from a home grown talent in Mulvane Kansas product Huldan Tharp. Tharp may end up being a steal in this class due to the fact that as he was seeing interest really pick up last summer he was struck by a pretty serious injury. Tharp would sit his entire senior season but while others waivered Kansas never did and Tharp committed in late August.

Standing 6' and 210 pounds Tharp is considered an outside prospect with good speed to go along with his frame. Reports are that he is recovering extrememly well from his ACL injury and from what is said about Tharp he will be working as hard as anyone come time for football.

Here's a nice interview from Tharp at the Nike combine in Dallas very early on in the process talking about early recruiting. 1900 yard rusher as a LB!!!!

Here's another video of Tharp, this one is his junior highlight film from Mulvane High. Tharp is #34 and while a good chunk of this is him on offense, there is a good amount of defense too and you can get an idea of his speed and what type of athlete he is.

Tharp was recruited by defensive coordinator Clint Bowen for the Jayhawks.

Also an

Julian Jones

With Jones people use words like "steal", "beast" and the phrase division one ready has been brought up. Jones flew under the radar down in Oklahoma for much of the recruiting process before committing to Kansas. As a senior in high school he stands 6'2" and already weighs in close to 255 pounds.

There is very little out there about Jones and I have never personally had a dialog with him. That said I can only go off what I hear and that is don't sleep on this one. He has the possibility of immediate playing time and he could be a monster by the time he works his way through the program.

Jones' recruitment was handled by Je'ney Jackson of Kansas.

Jacoby Thomas

Jacoby Thomas is a player that committed to Kansas around the same time as a flood of others. A defensive end in high school Thomas explained to us in an interview around the time of his commitment that he would be moving to outside linebacker in college.

At 6'3" 225 pounds Thomas is a prospect with good size and quickness off the edge. In the past we've seen Kansas use linebackers in rush end situations and that may be where Jacoby fits into this defense.

Again Jacoby has been a tough one to find any video or interviews from but I will tell you this after his film was submitted to rivals he did jump from an unranked prospect to a high 3 star recruit.

Thomas' recruitment was handled by Je'Ney Jackson of Kansas

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Good stuff

probably no immediate impact but could be some good guys down the line.

Here’s the question. Who are the 3 starting linebackers in 2009?

by I need more Esteban on Feb 4, 2009 12:23 PM CST reply actions

My picks for starting LB's

Quigley (being hopeful that this switch works)
Springer (assuming full recovery which I do anticipate this guy is a workout warrior)
Arist Wright (no substitution for experience)

of the guys coming in, my guess would be Jones has the best chance to see the field early based on his size.

Some people are like Slinkies...not really good for anything but they make you smile when pushed down the stairs.

by Owen on Feb 4, 2009 1:02 PM CST up reply actions