Early Signing Period: K-State Defensive Commits Breakdown Part One

It’s been ten days since the first Early Signing Period for college football began, and with the early signing all finished up, we’re going to take a look at the newest athletes signed up for the Kansas State Wildcats. I’ll be examining the defensive side of the ball broken down into two parts, while JT VanGilder will have a story a bit later on the offense.

Ekow Boye-Dow - DB

Boye-Dow, a 6-foot-1, 170-pound, defensive back originally committed to the Wildcats back in October, picking Kansas State over Kansas. His committment represents another in-state win for the Wildcats, as Boye-Dow hails from Lawrence high. All three recruiting services have him listed as a three-star. ESPN.com has him as the fifth best player in the state, while rivals.com has him as the fourth, and 247sports.com ranks him highest at 3.

His Hudl.com video show a player with superb speed in the passing game, and the return game. On the defensive side it shows an instinctive player with a knack for following the QB’s eye’s and breaking up, or intercepting the pass. Overall, this is a solid addition to the defensive back unit.

Cartez Crook-Jones - DE

Another win for Kansas State over Kansas, Crook-Jones was once a Kansas commit who flipped just prior to the early signing period. We broke down his flip to Kansas State earlier this month.

Wayne Jones III - DB

Jones, a 6-foot, 190 pound defensive back, committed to Kansas State out of Owasso High School, Oklahoma. He is a consensus 3 star recruit by the major recruiting services. His offers include: Illinois, Louisville, Michigan State, Purdue, Oklahoma State, and others. It’s a big win for Kansas State to secure a recruiting victory over Oklahoma State

His Huld.com video shows him playing safety mos often, and shows him with good cover and ball skills. He also has the ability to deliver the big hit to receivers who come across the middle. Jones does a fair job in run support, but given his likely position at safety will need to improve in that area when facing Big 12 offenses.

Derick Newton - DE

Newton, a 6-foot-2, 268 pound defensive end, is a product of the Georgia pipeline courtesy of Andre Coleman. While unranked by the major recruiting services, the Coffee High School (Douglas, GA) product had offers from Virginia, Georgia Southern, and Georgia State.

In his Huld.com video, Newton shows good effort in shedding blockers and penetrating to the point of attack on run plays. He shows good pursuit when rushing the QB, and decent closing speed. He’s slightly shorter than your average defensive end, but given K-State’s success with undersized players Newton should be a good fit on the d-line.

That’s it for part one of the defensive commits, look for part two tomorrow.