There’s little secret that the Wisconsin Badgers have a lot of youth and very little depth at the inside linebacker position. According to a report from our recruiting partners at Badger247, UW is getting some help at the position.
Evan Flood is reporting that former Clemson Tigers inside linebacker Kellen Jones is transferring to the University of Wisconsin and will be immediately eligible to play. Jones graduated this past spring and is seeking more playing time, after appearing in 13 games and making 21 tackles last season.
Jones came out of Houston (TX) St. Pius X as a four-star recruit and signed with the Oklahoma Sooners, however he left the program after one season and 12 games of action. He moved to Clemson, putting up seven tackles and 2.0 tackles for loss in just four games played.
He’ll come in to an inside linebacking group that is replacing both starters and has gotten a whole lot younger in 2015. The projected starters are junior Leon Jacobs and redshirt freshman T.J. Edwards, whom both had great spring camps but have next to no experience overall.
Jacobs has played in all but one game in his first two years in the program, but had just 28 tackles and 2.0 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks last season as a primary backup at inside linebacker. Sophomores D’Cota Dixon and Keelon Brookins were expected to be primary backups with even less experience, so adding Jones to the mix is a nice insurance policy at the very least.
Don’t expect Jones to just be someone to fill in a spot on the roster though, as he was a projected starter for the Tigers in the offseason. He may not end up a starter at UW either, but given the Badgers propensity to find ways to get many different looks on the field, Jones no doubt will play a role at some point this season at the very least.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
