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Tuesday, December 23, 2008

KU lands fullback Opurum

By J-W Staff Reports

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Toben Opurum, a four-star fullback out of Plano East High in Texas, became the Kansas University football team's 18th known commitment in the Class of 2009 Tuesday, according to the Web site rivals.com.

Opurum, who rushed for 873 yards and eight touchdowns on 107 carries (an 8.2 yards-per-carry average) this season, also received offers from Florida, Texas Tech, Notre Dame and Nebraska. Following a visit last weekend to Lawrence, however, the 6-foot-2, 229-pound Opurum informed KU wide receivers coach David Beaty he had decided Kansas was the right fit and would be foregoing his remaining visits.

"The visit went great," Opurum told the Web site. "The thing that stood out was how well I meshed with all of the players and coaches. I knew after the visit there was no need to take others. I saw what I needed and knew I could make decision off that."

Rated the No. 3 fullback in the nation and the No. 45 player in the state of Texas by rivals, Opurum is the second four-star prospect to commit to Kansas, joining defensive back and fellow Texas native Prinz Kande.

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Comments

supermario15 (anonymous) says...

Welcome to KU

December 23, 2008 at 1:36 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

rockchalkblock (anonymous) says...

Now if we can get Wingo what a year that would be in recruiting... This is however a very nice addition to KU's running game!

December 23, 2008 at 1:42 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

bradywaters (anonymous) says...

I think we'll be seeing him lined up more as a RB then FB though. Can't wait to see him in action.

December 23, 2008 at 1:42 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

HawkDigestCom (anonymous) says...

This is a nice little present to find under the tree -- a four-star running back with all the extras, like size, good hands, speed and probably Ku Fung action grip. Merry Christmas, Jayhawk Nation!

December 23, 2008 at 1:45 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

justanotherfan (anonymous) says...

A fullback? I'm confused. We line up in a one back set more often than not, rarely employing a fullback. He seems like a good player, but I'm not sure what we are going to do with him, unless we plan to do more two back sets next year to beef up the run game.

December 23, 2008 at 1:45 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

pj_hawk4life (anonymous) says...

keep in mind that Bmac was recruited as a fullback/linebacker and he blossomed into an effective single back rusher. What I think we have here is a runner with size that we can return to a more bruising rushing attack with instead of Jake's speed attack. No matter the position, I'll take the #45 recruit in Texas any day, especially if he knew so decidedly that KU was the place to be. Welcome Toben!

December 23, 2008 at 1:51 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jayhawkox (anonymous) says...

I agree, pj, the first two people I thought of when I heard 4-star fullback were B-Mac and Le'Ron McClain from the Ravens. Definitely a welcome addition to the running game, but don't forget how nice it'll be for Todd to have another reliable blocker in the backfield.

December 23, 2008 at 1:58 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jhokfan (anonymous) says...

I don't lend much credibility to the rating system because they are wrong so often but I pay attention to which schools offered scholarships. I can't remember a recruit who received so many offers from high profile programs. Wow!

December 23, 2008 at 2:30 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

d_prowess (anonymous) says...

I know we have a bowl game ahead of us still, but I can't wait for next season! Who know how far this team can go!

December 23, 2008 at 2:30 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Jaminrawk (anonymous) says...

Anytime you beat Florida, Nebraska, etc. for a player, you know there is a good chance the kid is gonna be good. I am really excited because KU needs backs. If this kid can play the type of game BMac did, our running game should improve greatly. He's a big kid.

December 23, 2008 at 2:52 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

longhawk (anonymous) says...

Opurum and Sands will redshirt next year, and take the field for the first time as the 2010 version of "Thunder and Lightning," a la McAnderson/Sharp in 2007.By the way, KU recruited Opurum as a feature back--which is why we got him. Notre Dame and Florida planned to use him as a fullback. He played in a similar offense to KU's in high school at Plano East, and caught a bunch of passess out of the backfield.

December 23, 2008 at 2:53 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

rockchalkblock (anonymous) says...

I really doubt Opurum will redshirt, if Angus goes to the D then your left only with two running backs with experience, smaller running backs for that matter.

December 23, 2008 at 3 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Jaminrawk (anonymous) says...

Opurum looks like a kid that can get a first down on 3rd and short which will be great. We just need Pick, Webb, or one of the other QB recruits to step in and do a good job when Reesing leaves.

December 23, 2008 at 3:02 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

rolo2383 (anonymous) says...

It's good to hear he has good hands. I was wondering about that. I wanted us to land this guy as soon as I started following the recruiting last summer. This is great news. I think this is turning out to be a very solid class. those guys we lost look to have been replaced by just as good, if not better, players.

December 23, 2008 at 3:08 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Kleave (anonymous) says...

Seeing that teams like Florida and TTech were recruiting him, who run more of a spread style offense (IE no fullback, or at least, not a whole lot of fullback) I agree that he's being recruited as a big RB.He'll get his reps in and then they'll figure out how to use him, just like with Jake this year where he sucked at the beginning of the season, then they figured out how to fit him to the offense and the offense to him, then he killed.At 6-2 230 he'll be a big running back, that's not too big. I'd say that's on the small side for a D1 fullback, but great for a big RB.Hopefully he'll be similar to BMac and we can throw him in there next to Jake and co in the back field and wreak havoc...I can't stop talking about it, I'm so psyched!

December 23, 2008 at 4:16 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

hawknhutch (anonymous) says...

Has he signed? Then I'm not excited.

December 23, 2008 at 4:25 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

actorman (anonymous) says...

Hawknhutch, I can understand your skepticism, but how in the world can you not be excited about even the prospect of KU landing the number 3 FB in the country??? When in most of our lifetimes have we ever seen KU even have a CHANCE to beat out teams like Florida, Nebraska, etc., for a four-star recruit? It's remarkable to see how much the KU recruiting has improved, and I for one am psyched--psyched i tell you!

December 23, 2008 at 4:51 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

actorman (anonymous) says...

Can anyone explain to me why my capital letters on "prospect" and "psyched" (both of them) got changed??? It takes some of the passion out of my comment.

December 23, 2008 at 4:59 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Jimmy_Dean (Alan Halvorsen) says...

I don't know man.

December 23, 2008 at 6:09 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

sdoyel (anonymous) says...

Sounds like the next Bmac to me! Welcome aboard!

December 23, 2008 at 6:41 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Jimmy_Dean (Alan Halvorsen) says...

Yeah it sounds like he's got some amazing talents at FB, and four stars based around his position. We'll see how that translates to RB in the spread. I think it'll be positive, but let's not forget full back and tail back are two totally different positions. Will he be a four star running back in the spread. Let's not forget Jacques Crawford was a four star back too.That being said, I think this guy will play next year, along with Jake the snake.

December 23, 2008 at 8:59 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

rasta_meta (anonymous) says...

I have been quite happy with the job the staff has done in recruiting this year. This is the year that you will see the benefit from the Orange Bowl. If we could have won a couple more games, it would have been even better.

December 23, 2008 at 10:39 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

JBurtin (anonymous) says...

I've been following this kid for years and I can't believe that we actually landed him.For starters, he's only listed as a fullback because he is big enough to be one. He was not used like a fullback in high school, so he'll be right at home as the featured back.He is big enough that he is great for giving the quarterback extra protection, and can pound forward for some tough yards. However, his biggest strength is receiving out of the backfield. He's way too big for defensive backs to bring him down, yet too fast for a linebacker to cover him, so if you can get the ball to him in the second level he drags defenders for five or six extra yards before help comes to get him to the ground.He's part fullback because he can block, part halfback because he can run, part tight end because he makes a matchup nightmare, and part wide receiver because he has great hands. In other words, he's the type of guy that completely busts open your offensive playbook to drive other teams nuts. Not only will he have an incredible career here in our spread, but his presence on the field will make everyone else around him better.I can't tell you how happy I am to have this kid on our team. I know some of you will be skeptical that I've talked him up this much, but I want you to understand that it's not that I think this guy is a god or anything. My excitement stems from the fact that he is the absolute ideal fit for our system. The only thing I can say for skeptics is that a little healthy skepticism is always a good idea, however I fully believe that you are in for a surprising treat.

December 24, 2008 at 1:20 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

JBurtin (anonymous) says...

"I really doubt Opurum will redshirt, if Angus goes to the D then your left only with two running backs with experience, smaller running backs for that matter."Don't forget about Stephen Foster. There is evidence that makes me believe that he must have been injured this year. For starters, He already redshirted in '07 and was the scout team player of the week more than once, yet with all the trouble we had finding a big back to run the ball, the coaches never went to Foster this year. Further, Drew Dudley was looking like a great linebacker in his true freshman year, yet he was switched to fullback (a position that we don't technically use) for the '08 season. This leads me to believe that Foster was injured and unable to scout the teams that use fullbacks, so the coaches convinced Dudley to sneak in a redshirt in his sophomore year so that he could fill that role for us temporarily and lengthen his career by another year.Remember that Foster was no slouch of a recruit himself and could easily make some noise as a featured back. That would free us up to redshirt Opurum if he needs some time to learn the system.

December 24, 2008 at 1:32 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

red_devil (anonymous) says...

It's difficult for me to believe that a guy ranked this highly and recruited by the schools he was recruited by will be redshirted at KU. If he's that good, he should be playing. He's used to similar offense as KU's so he shouldn't have to take an entire year to learn it.

December 24, 2008 at 7:58 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

troutsee (anonymous) says...

JBurtin, you are right on the money as usual. Couldn't agree more with your analysis.

December 24, 2008 at 12:26 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

actorman (anonymous) says...

Wow, JBurtin, now you have me even MORE fired up (and let's see if my capital letters for "more" get changed)!For those who have said he's just a fullback, I would question that even if we hadn't gotten JBurtin's scouting report. I mean the guy averaged EIGHT yards a carry! I doubt you see too many fullbacks with that kind of average.

December 24, 2008 at 1:16 p.m. ( | suggest removal )