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Hoos Pick Up Two LB Commits

Over the weekend, Mike London and the Hoos picked up two new members of the 2014 recruiting class. Both are local kids and both are being recruited as OLB, despite being high school DEs.

Mike London picked up a couple of nice commitments today.
Mike London picked up a couple of nice commitments today.
Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Early this morning, the Chris Peace made the call for the Hoos, and then later in the day it was Cory Jones. The two are very similar, both in stature and in their ability. Peace is 6'2" 220 pounds and Jones is 6'3" 210 pounds. Obviously, both are a bit on the small side for a college DE, which is why they are being recruited as OLBs.

We saw this year with Max Valles how much damage a quick guy can do rushing off the edge as a 4-3 OLB. Valles is bigger than either Peace or Jones (6'5" 240), but then again he's older (having spent a post-grad season at FUMA). Both Peace and Jones figure to be used in similar roles. Peace racked up 19 sacks as a senior, while Jones one-upped him with 20 sacks.

Peace is from Newport News, out of Denbigh High School. Jones is a DC kid, out of Archbishop Carrol. Peace held few offers, all from FCS schools, from JMU to Norfolk State. Jones is a high profile guy, holding offers from Toledo, Illinois and Wake Forest as well as some FCS offers.

While the two guys are very similar, it seems Jones has the higher ceiling. This is due to the fact that he just started playing football 6 months ago. He had been solely a basketball player prior to this year, but he picked up the game quickly and ended up with the 20 sacks. Clearly he's an athletic guy, but he'll need some seasoning.

Both players are likely redshirt candidates. For one thing, the Hoos are fairly well stocked at OLB. But even more importantly, both players are going to need to learn how to play LB. Working with a coach like Jon Tenuta will help.

These two bring the Hoos 2014 recruiting class to 17 members. By my count, the Hoos have 72 scholarship players remaining from last season. So while there is room left for several more recruits, the coaching staff will have work to do to make the numbers work.