Kansas Football Recruiting: Signing Day Storylines

We're now just a couple of short days away from National signing day which is of course the day that players across the country either make good on their previous commitments or make an announcement as to their college decision. For Kansas and Charlie Weis it has been a whirlwind of a recruiting cycle.

With a shortened timeline due to the coaching change, Kansas has already made some waves by capitalizing on the transfer market. However those players aren't going to 'count' when pundits evaluate the recruiting classes. That said, the addition of Dayne Crist, Jake Heaps and Justin McCay could prove huge for the Jayhawks.

But let's get back to what we're watching heading into Wednesday's festivities.

** Turner Baty **

Baty is a junior college quarterback that has the unique opportunity to join a program this summer and still have four years to play through his three years of remaining eligibility. This is due to the fact that Baty isn't at the JuCo level due to academics. He's there because he flew completely under the radar and bounced around a bit during his final two years of high school.

Baty took a visit to Kansas this past weekend and if I had to put money on it, I'd bet that he will end up a Jayhawk. Baty has a past relationship with Tre Parmalee due to their fathers playing together for the Miami Dolphins in the NFL. Baty also has been targeted by Charlie Weis and we've seen the results that has been able to produce.

Baty would give Kansas another immediate option as a back up to compete with Blake Jablonski and Michael Cummings. If all goes well and he isn't needed then he takes a redshirt and he's stepping in to compete with Jake Heaps in 2013 and he'll be considered a redshirt sophomore with three years to play.

If Weis can land Baty, the Jayhawk quarterback position has gone from a concern to a potential strength with solid depth in just two months.

** Jordan Tavai and Chanquil Reed **

Tavai took his final recruiting visit to Texas Tech this weekend and then announced his decision to attend Kansas almost immediately. That's a good thing. Kansas now has a junior college All American defensive tackle coming in to join two other defensive tackles that have already committed. Obviously this is a huge boost in terms of depth at a position where Kansas desperately needed options.

Prior to Tavai's commitment, Kansas did have another juco defensive tackle committed in Chanquil Reed. Reed committed shortly after Tavai entered the picture but he set a visit to Kansas State this past weekend. Between that visit and Tavai's commitment it seems that Reed's offer from Kansas has probably expired.

Not a huge deal, three junior college defensive tackles and one high school defensive tackle is probably plenty for the class and certainly moves things in the right direction.

** Schyler Miles **

Miles was recruited by Weis down at Florida and he's also looking at West Virginia. He is said to have made his decision but will announce on signing day. Miles would join recent commit Courtney Arnick as the two linebackers in this class.

** Junior College Explosion **

Does the junior college explosion continue? Kansas still has several junior college prospects still on the board and all would be immediate factors for playing time.

• Fehoko Fanaika and Carlos Lozano are two rather large offensive lineman currently hanging out there. Both have been on campus for visits and both would compete to immediately round out the offensive line.
• Markus Pierce-Brewster is a rush end that will decide between Kansas, Syracuse and Indiana.
  

If Kansas were to land all three of these along with Turner Baty it would bring the JuCo grand total to 10. If you then factor in any potential 5th year transfers as Charlie Weis has hinted at, Kansas looks to be quite a bit different from a personnel standpoint heading into the 2012 season. Now we'll just have to see if the staff can put the pieces together and provide some positive steps on the field.