Although the walk-ons for the 2015 class haven't even gone through two-a-days yet, I think people are seeing how important some of these kids will be to getting the program back on track. Not necessarily in terms of being starters (some possibly do), but at minimum the top walk-ons being valuable back ups and special teams guys at minimum. Getting Big 12 caliber players as walk-ons only helps the roster get in better shape quicker.
So with that in mind, I am curious about three things for walk-ons in this current recruiting class - how many will they pursue, when will they start making preferred walk-on offers, and do they target specific positions for walk-ons or just take the best talent they can get?
The staff offered quite a few walk-ons this past class. As the roster gradually gets more scholarship guys, that means less room for walk-ons. It also means with the amount they took recently that there may not be as much room to take as many walk-ons as they did this past year. Because of that, I wonder if the staff has a number in mind already for how many walk-ons they would like in 2016.
This leads me to being curious about when they will start pursuing walk-ons. Have they already? Is this something you wait on until after the season? Noting that walk-ons are essentially free agents until two-a-days and signing day isn't for a while, I am curious if they wait until closer to those time periods or if they start doing this right now and trying to dodge the "non-recruited walk-on" rule.
Lastly, I am wondering if they are targeting some positions for walk-on depth. Just thinking of the 2015 class, JK mentioned he heard a couple of OL and a WR were doing good early on. That's huge for those positions as we need bodies there (as we basically do everywhere). I think it would also be huge if Mason Ramirez can be a valuable safety and Mazin Aql be a value DE by their RS SO years as we will need depth at those spots in those years. Now for 2016, I can't help but wonder if we could possibly get a quality walk-on at DT and safety. Trey Georgie was mentioned in another thread and I would really really love to land local kid Bryce Torneden as examples to fill those spots. I know those guys have some offers to choose from, so may not be likely, but they are a couple of local kids who I think could earn scholarships at KU and also provide depth a positions of need in the future. Of course this will also hold true for the traditional kicker/punter/long snapper looking at it like this, but I am curious if they target specific positions...
If KU could somehow get a couple of walk-ons per year for the next 3 years to be legit Big 12 guys, I can't say how big that would be. At minimum, it would help offset potential attrition, but it could also help increase the numbers. Coach Beaty and staff did one helluva job targeting walk-ons right after getting here, so I am pretty excited to see what they do given a full year to look over potential walk-ons for next year...
So with that in mind, I am curious about three things for walk-ons in this current recruiting class - how many will they pursue, when will they start making preferred walk-on offers, and do they target specific positions for walk-ons or just take the best talent they can get?
The staff offered quite a few walk-ons this past class. As the roster gradually gets more scholarship guys, that means less room for walk-ons. It also means with the amount they took recently that there may not be as much room to take as many walk-ons as they did this past year. Because of that, I wonder if the staff has a number in mind already for how many walk-ons they would like in 2016.
This leads me to being curious about when they will start pursuing walk-ons. Have they already? Is this something you wait on until after the season? Noting that walk-ons are essentially free agents until two-a-days and signing day isn't for a while, I am curious if they wait until closer to those time periods or if they start doing this right now and trying to dodge the "non-recruited walk-on" rule.
Lastly, I am wondering if they are targeting some positions for walk-on depth. Just thinking of the 2015 class, JK mentioned he heard a couple of OL and a WR were doing good early on. That's huge for those positions as we need bodies there (as we basically do everywhere). I think it would also be huge if Mason Ramirez can be a valuable safety and Mazin Aql be a value DE by their RS SO years as we will need depth at those spots in those years. Now for 2016, I can't help but wonder if we could possibly get a quality walk-on at DT and safety. Trey Georgie was mentioned in another thread and I would really really love to land local kid Bryce Torneden as examples to fill those spots. I know those guys have some offers to choose from, so may not be likely, but they are a couple of local kids who I think could earn scholarships at KU and also provide depth a positions of need in the future. Of course this will also hold true for the traditional kicker/punter/long snapper looking at it like this, but I am curious if they target specific positions...
If KU could somehow get a couple of walk-ons per year for the next 3 years to be legit Big 12 guys, I can't say how big that would be. At minimum, it would help offset potential attrition, but it could also help increase the numbers. Coach Beaty and staff did one helluva job targeting walk-ons right after getting here, so I am pretty excited to see what they do given a full year to look over potential walk-ons for next year...
