Kansas Football Recruits Promising Tackle Amidst Surrounding Drama

There's a lot more noise this time of year, so we'll forgive you for missing it. Between the World Cup and the entire landscape of college athletics threatening to shift, alongside the traditional NBA playoffs, regular season baseball and the like, I'd actually be surprised if you'd heard much about KU's football recruits. So it warrants a closer look at some news falling between the cracks that Turner Gill is actually doing quite well for himself thus far.

The head football coach of the Kansas Jayhawks is beginning to make his recruiting mark on the program, beating out a host of others interested for a commitment from offensive tackle Travis Bodenstein. The read on Bodenstein's a bit shaky, but he's usually penciled in as 6-foot-5 and ranging from 290-300 pounds. He's been praised as a dominant run blocker and was ranked as by ESPN and Rivals as a three-star prospect, with ESPN ranking him 71st among OTs available.

Obviously, Bodenstein has tremendous size, but much work is needed on his technique and pass blocking. Still, that's what you have to expect from an incoming tackle prospect and the Jayhawks beat out other schools like Arkansas, Tulsa and Memphis. Ultimately, Scouts, Inc. concludes that "Bodenstein is not an immediate starter at the major level of play, rather one in need of time and a red shirt year to polish his skills."

Here a video of Bodenstein with some highlights and stats: