JUCO players provide instant impact

NICK PUETZ IS ONE OF SIX JC COMMITS

With so many holes to fill on both sides of the ball Coach Christensen and his staff were looking at help on both sides of the ball. The offensive and defensive lines were hurt the hardest by graduation and the wide receivers were unable to stretch the field which severely impacted the offense.

By bringing in six Junior College players the Pokes are able to find players that fit their system and have had a couple of years to develop physically and mentally on the football field. They were certainly help keep the momentum going for the program that could have been decimated with the loss of three starters on the defensive line.

A dozen freshman started for Wyoming last season but you can't count 18 and 19 years old to be impact players in their first year. By bringing in JC players a number of freshman can redshirt this year and spend that time in the weight room and learning the system.

As the 2009 and 2010 classes develop I expect the Cowboys to recruit fewer and fewer players from the JUCO ranks. Hopefully the Pokes won't need to every look for a JUCO QB ever again as Dax Crum was a bust under Glenn and Robert Benjamin has already left Laramie after losing his starting job to Austyn Carta-Samuels.

2010 Player Commitments - Wyoming - Junior College/Transfers
NAME	POS	HT	WT	HOMETOWN	SCHOOL
DeJay Lester	WR	6-1	195	Layton, UT	Snow College
Mazi Ogbonna	WR	6-1	190	Westbury, NY	Snow College
Nick Puetz	OT	6-4	307	Salina, KS	Coffeyville CC
Austin Daniels	CB	5-10	180	Pasadena, CA	Mt. San Antonio College
Kurt Taufaasau	DT	6-2	290	American Samoa, SP	New Mexico Military Int.

Bernard Sumter DT 6-2 310 Roswell, NM New Mexico Military Int.

Cowboys get 25th commitment to 2010 Class

Austin Daniels a 5'10 170lb DB from Mt. SAC (CA) committed to the Wyoming Cowboys for the 2010 season thus becoming the 25th and final recruit. Barring any surprises the Pokes are finished with recruiting two days before the February 3rd signing date.

It's interesting that the Pokes went with a JUCO DB to complete the class. The Pokes already had three DB commits prior to Daniels and the Cowboys are returning all their starters in the secondary next year. I would have loved for the Pokes to grab one more High School Wide Receiver or TE to complete the class.

Daniels finished the year with 55 tackles and 2 interceptions. Though small in stature Daniels is quick with a 4.45 time for the 40. Arizona, Arizona State, Auburn, Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas State and Oregon all had interest in Daniels but it appears that none had officially offered him.

Coach Christensen and his staff have a system they use for recruiting that is different than most schools. So if they like Daniels then I'm glad he is on board. They know the team and where they need to add depth so they must really like Daniels. It is pretty hard to find much on him besides stats. There are no pictures or highlight videos posted on the web of Daniels so he is definitely an under the radar recruit.

Once the full class is finalized and introduced on Wednesday expect a full analysis from Cowboy Altitude. Congrats to the Cowboys staff for having such a successful year recruiting. I doubt they rest much as recruiting for 2011 has already begun.