Johnathan Kongbo commits to Wyoming.....

[PotatoCreekPete]

A few thoughts:

This kid is definitely strong. Does a good job getting off his blocks and has great awareness of the play. They're going to have to work a lot on his quickness, though. This dude has a slow first step, which is a killer on the D line. He's a very solid tackler, but lacks explosion. I don't see many people getting away from him when he's got a hold of them, but it's concerning to see almost everyone that he tackled still standing up and driving before he dragged them down.

This kid's got a lot of upside as an every down defensive end, but I don't see him coming in this year and making any noise. Just from the eye test he's going to redshirt.

I understand what you are saying about the "slow first step". I saw the same thing when he was in the upright position on the defensive end, he seemed unprepared or taken back at the snap. But when he was in the 3 point position he had pretty good explosion at the snap. That tells me that it is a mental issue from being so new to the game (only 1 year of HS football), not a physical issue of just not being that quick. He will be taught of how to mentally prepare himself and get ready to charge at the snap. If he does have 4.6 speed as they listed then he has the speed, and I also noticed that he has very long arms which is a big plus for a defensive lineman. Can you imagine what Duval could do with a young man like this? The one thing is that the coaches will have to be patient with him, he is not used to play books and college is so much more complicated than HS, so it will take him some time. I don't expect to see much out of him for about 2 years or so (redshirt year and freshman year). His sophomore season is when I expect to see the lights come on and his last two seasons at Wyoming I expect to see something special out of him. It could be an incredible senior season. The young man grew up in the Vancouver (B.C.) area so language and culture shouldn't be an issue and he runs track so that tells you he has speed.

This kid is about as raw a talent as I have ever seen, but he is also extremely gifted physically. I am impressed with some of the recruits that Coach Bohl has brought in, especially with a few on the defensive front like Daniel Vega, John Jackson and Sidney Malauulu as well as this young man. Daniel Vega it was said, was a player that people in Iowa were surprised didn't get more attention from Iowa or Iowa State as they felt he could have played for them. It also sounded like he was more a late bloomer and they might have had their defensive line scholarships already taken. Sidney Malauulu and John Jackson both appear to have been passed over by bigger schools and have a chip on their shoulder and are tough young men. It will be enjoyable to see their improvement and play over the coming years. I really do feel that we have a really nice level of talent on the defensive front, especially amongst the younger guys. But our front liners this year, i.e.: Mertens, Yarbrough, Puletasi, Olive and Boyland have a really good level of talent and I think that we should have some expectations with this group and seeing some improvement.

 

[PotatoCreekPete]

A few thoughts:

This kid is definitely strong. Does a good job getting off his blocks and has great awareness of the play. They're going to have to work a lot on his quickness, though. This dude has a slow first step, which is a killer on the D line. He's a very solid tackler, but lacks explosion. I don't see many people getting away from him when he's got a hold of them, but it's concerning to see almost everyone that he tackled still standing up and driving before he dragged them down.

This kid's got a lot of upside as an every down defensive end, but I don't see him coming in this year and making any noise. Just from the eye test he's going to redshirt.

I understand what you are saying about the "slow first step". I saw the same thing when he was in the upright position on the defensive end, he seemed unprepared or taken back at the snap. But when he was in the 3 point position he had pretty good explosion at the snap. That tells me that it is a mental issue from being so new to the game (only 1 year of HS football), not a physical issue of just not being that quick. He will be taught of how to mentally prepare himself and get ready to charge at the snap. If he does have 4.6 speed as they listed then he has the speed, and I also noticed that he has very long arms which is a big plus for a defensive lineman. Can you imagine what Duval could do with a young man like this? The one thing is that the coaches will have to be patient with him, he is not used to play books and college is so much more complicated than HS, so it will take him some time. I don't expect to see much out of him for about 2 years or so (redshirt year and freshman year). His sophomore season is when I expect to see the lights come on and his last two seasons at Wyoming I expect to see something special out of him. It could be an incredible senior season. The young man grew up in the Vancouver (B.C.) area so language and culture shouldn't be an issue and he runs track so that tells you he has speed.

This kid is about as raw a talent as I have ever seen, but he is also extremely gifted physically. I am impressed with some of the recruits that Coach Bohl has brought in, especially with a few on the defensive front like Daniel Vega, John Jackson and Sidney Malauulu as well as this young man. Daniel Vega it was said, was a player that people in Iowa were surprised didn't get more attention from Iowa or Iowa State as they felt he could have played for them. It also sounded like he was more a late bloomer and they might have had their defensive line scholarships already taken. Sidney Malauulu and John Jackson both appear to have been passed over by bigger schools and have a chip on their shoulder and are tough young men. It will be enjoyable to see their improvement and play over the coming years. I really do feel that we have a really nice level of talent on the defensive front, especially amongst the younger guys. But our front liners this year, i.e.: Mertens, Yarbrough, Puletasi, Olive and Boyland have a really good level of talent and I think that we should have some expectations with this group and seeing some improvement.

I was curious about why Iowa or Iowa State did not recruit Daniel Vega and so I did some digging and what I found was pretty interesting. NEITHER Iowa or Iowa State even signed a DT this year! Iowa signed two DE's and Iowa State signed three DE's, that was it along the defensive front. So maybe Wyoming was just very fortunate in that it was a year where Iowa and Iowa State were not looking for a DT, so Daniel Vega slipped through the recruiting system and Wyoming was fortunate to end up with him. Both Iowa and Iowa State went very heavily, and I do mean very heavily toward DB's. Both programs it appears saw the need to upgrade their defensive backfield. This just goes to show that what Coach Bohl said about which positions, i.e.: CB's, DT's and QB are the three most important positions on a team is very true. No wonder Coach Bohl went after so many (5) DB's himself. You can never have too many good DB's.....

P.S. - Did you guys see that the Denver Broncos in the first day of free agency went after two DB's (a CB and a Safety) as the first two positions that they wanted to upgrade and the Broncos put out some huge dollars to sign them. With teams becoming more and more pass happy DB's and good DB's will be worth their weight in gold.

 

[Bryoming]

A few thoughts:

This kid is definitely strong. Does a good job getting off his blocks and has great awareness of the play. They're going to have to work a lot on his quickness, though. This dude has a slow first step, which is a killer on the D line. He's a very solid tackler, but lacks explosion. I don't see many people getting away from him when he's got a hold of them, but it's concerning to see almost everyone that he tackled still standing up and driving before he dragged them down.

This kid's got a lot of upside as an every down defensive end, but I don't see him coming in this year and making any noise. Just from the eye test he's going to redshirt.

I understand what you are saying about the "slow first step". I saw the same thing when he was in the upright position on the defensive end, he seemed unprepared or taken back at the snap. But when he was in the 3 point position he had pretty good explosion at the snap. That tells me that it is a mental issue from being so new to the game (only 1 year of HS football), not a physical issue of just not being that quick. He will be taught of how to mentally prepare himself and get ready to charge at the snap. If he does have 4.6 speed as they listed then he has the speed, and I also noticed that he has very long arms which is a big plus for a defensive lineman. Can you imagine what Duval could do with a young man like this? The one thing is that the coaches will have to be patient with him, he is not used to play books and college is so much more complicated than HS, so it will take him some time. I don't expect to see much out of him for about 2 years or so (redshirt year and freshman year). His sophomore season is when I expect to see the lights come on and his last two seasons at Wyoming I expect to see something special out of him. It could be an incredible senior season. The young man grew up in the Vancouver (B.C.) area so language and culture shouldn't be an issue and he runs track so that tells you he has speed.

This kid is about as raw a talent as I have ever seen, but he is also extremely gifted physically. I am impressed with some of the recruits that Coach Bohl has brought in, especially with a few on the defensive front like Daniel Vega, John Jackson and Sidney Malauulu as well as this young man. Daniel Vega it was said, was a player that people in Iowa were surprised didn't get more attention from Iowa or Iowa State as they felt he could have played for them. It also sounded like he was more a late bloomer and they might have had their defensive line scholarships already taken. Sidney Malauulu and John Jackson both appear to have been passed over by bigger schools and have a chip on their shoulder and are tough young men. It will be enjoyable to see their improvement and play over the coming years. I really do feel that we have a really nice level of talent on the defensive front, especially amongst the younger guys. But our front liners this year, i.e.: Mertens, Yarbrough, Puletasi, Olive and Boyland have a really good level of talent and I think that we should have some expectations with this group and seeing some improvement.

I agree that this guy has raw talent written all over him. A redshirt year is almost a certainty, but if the staff can get him up to speed this guy has the physical gifts to be a game changer. We probably won't be talking about him much on here for the next couple years, but like you said he'll be one to keep an eye out for in the future.

 

[johnywyo]

Football IQ and competition is my concern. No doubt he's a monster at FB position, but when you look at whom he played against, the size and level of skill of his rivals brings some huge questions. If a kid is Wyo Tough, it's a great place to start, the work begins when he steps onto the IPF and goes against legit players. I like the move though, unconventional and interesting to say the least.

 

[mwc fan]

I watched his video and besides his obvious size, I dont really see anything that makes me say "wow". Half the time he is unblocked and the other times the other teams seem to run right into him. I know that playing against crappy competition makes it hard to gauge a players talent, but I just see a big guy running into little guys. On the other hand the Wyo staff knows a hell of a lot more about scouting players than I do.

 

[Cowboy Junky]

A new article is out on Kongbo. This kid has wheels to go with his impressive frame. Diamond in the rough? I think so.

http://www.thenownewspaper.com/sports/the-accidental-football-all-star-1.921920#sthash.Hr44d8WS.gbpl" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[laxwyo]

Hopefully he does better than kangalango

 

[Fullback41]

laxwyo.... it doesn't matter what you post, your "content" makes you my favorite.

 

[laxwyo]

laxwyo.... it doesn't matter what you post, your "content" makes you my favorite.

I figured my sig is something all of us could rally behind. Bring wyonation closer together