Kansas Football Finds a Late Addition

by Owen on Mar 9, 2009 1:56 PM CDT in Kansas Jayhawk Football

Early Sunday reports began to surface on Jayhawkslant.com that the Kansas Jayhawks football staff may be on the hunt for one more addition to the 2009 class. Nothing was confirmed until today and the confirmation came in a big way.

Jon Kirby with Jayhawkslant.com is reporting that Kansas has gained a commitment from a junior college linebacker to add to the mix at a position of need for 2009. The player is Jon Watts from Butte College in California.

Watts is a 6'3" 225 pound outside linebacker with good speed which is important for any linebacker in the Big 12. Watts is a 2 time All Nor Cal selection and since he has already completed his junior college coursework he will be able to arrive on campus immediately in June.

Watts who originally hails from the state of Florida was a known prospect from Bill Millers year of covering the state. It seems Miller's hire and connections have paid off for the Jayhawks and hopefully we see the addition of Watts fill a key need for 2009.

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DAAAAAAAAMN.

That’s awesome! I haven’t been over to JS in a few days, so I was unaware of this. Thanks, Denver. What are the expectations for him? Will he see the field this year? Will he be on campus the rest of the spring, or will he be in in the summer?

"I log on to RCT after school, and I see the 228 comments on this thread. I actually immediately panicked, because knowing KC, I figured some other fan from another school (most likely Mizzou) came over and said something stupid. Then, KC freaked out at him, and said something stupid (no offense, KC, but this really wouldn’t be that extraordinary for you to pull off) and then there was mass hysteria. I would have to ban people, and warn people, and it’d be mass chaos." - SlowDance

by Andy Edwards on Mar 9, 2009 2:52 PM CDT reply actions

Watts will be on campus...

the first day that newcomers are allowed on…I want to say June 2nd maybe. As far as expectations I don’t know a whole lot at this point. I do expect that he will be expected to see the field. He’s got excellent speed and probably better than any of our three starters from last season. Combine that with an assortment of question marks this year and he will be in the mix without a doubt.

Interestingly they used him a fair amount as a pass rusher as well in JUCO so he has that ability like a James Holt to come of the edge. All in all though this seems like a little bit of an unorthodox move for the KU staff so they must feel pretty good about him and his ability to contribute right away.

His school will turn out 4 players to the Big 12 this year so that’s certainly an indication as well that the program seems to have some success.

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

by Owen on Mar 9, 2009 2:57 PM CDT up reply actions

niiiiice

I love depth

by I need more Esteban on Mar 9, 2009 2:55 PM CDT reply actions

Here's a highlight vid...

Check out the play at the 1:09 mark where he goes from a rush end to making a tackle 30 yards down field. Shows pretty good speed on that one.

Video…

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

by Owen on Mar 9, 2009 3:03 PM CDT reply actions

he does fly around the field

should be fun to watch

by I need more Esteban on Mar 9, 2009 3:07 PM CDT up reply actions

looks like a suitable James Holt replacement to me.

That's what we do at Kansas, we WIN.

by Ghost of Mark Randall on Mar 9, 2009 4:30 PM CDT up reply actions

Damn -

I was holding that scholly out for Brown…

The Snozberries taste like Snozberries

by labbadabba on Mar 9, 2009 4:12 PM CDT reply actions

Nathan D'Cuhna transferred so there is still hope maybe.

Speaking of Brown talk about a guy that has dropped off the radar…he’s going to end up with K-State being his only option.

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

by Owen on Mar 9, 2009 4:16 PM CDT up reply actions

would be pretty huge for them huh?

by I need more Esteban on Mar 9, 2009 4:24 PM CDT up reply actions

from a perception standpoint it would be big...

but I don’t think he’d single handily fix their woes. They don’t have the talent up front to give him running room, and the staff is losing coaches weekly so I think Manhattan is turning into a pretty formidable rebuilding project and I’m not sure Bill Snyder has enough years left.

Brown definitely increases the sharpness of the upward trend though because he probably helps them begin to attract big name recruits again.

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

by Owen on Mar 9, 2009 4:38 PM CDT up reply actions