Crawford Ready to Sign

Memphis running back Jocques Crawford is ready to put pen to paper and officially commit to KU, and he's got a message for KU's rivals. More from Phog.net's Matt Scott, inside.

This could be the guy. This could be the guy that comes into the Kansas program and immediately serves notice to the rest of the Big XII that Kansas, off a BCS appearance, is now bringing in great players year after year.

Jocques Crawford, 6’0” and now 230 pound running back from Memphis, Tennessee, is ready to get to Lawrence and start the next chapter in his life.

“I’m more excited than I’ve ever been,” Crawford said. “The chance to play D-1 football with a great team and a great program is going to be good for me.”

Crawford likes the fact that Kansas is now playing on a national level and is receiving much more exposure than it has in the past. Those things are great, and so is a chance at the NFL, but those aren’t reasons why Crawford chose Kansas.

“I’ve been playing since I was 5, so of course I have been dreaming about the NFL. A lot of people just dream about the NFL, but KU was better for me for what I want to do in life,” Crawford said. “I want to win National Championships, but I also want to start my own business one day. I want to major in Business Management, and maybe start my own non-profit organization one day.”

Certainly appears that Crawford is ready for the challenge that awaits him at Kansas. It’s a challenge is eagerly awaits, and even wanted to get on campus earlier to accept that challenge.

“I was hoping to get there in the spring, but it looks like I will get there at the end of May or around then,” Crawford said. “I will just have to work harder in the summer to learn the offense.”

Crawford realized that his game is ready for this level, but he also knows that he has things to work on in order to get the playing time he hopes for early in the 2008-09’ season.

“I think I need to work on blocking better on blitzes. That’s something that I will work on getting better at.”

He also brings an aspect of his game that will remind a lot of people of another running back that just finished his career at Kansas, Brandon McAnderson.

“I think one thing I do really well is, well, I’m not afraid of contact. I will challenge DB’s if they try to tackle me. Usually they try to go low and I just run over them,” said Crawford.

Crawford, who will sign tomorrow, felt Kansas was the best fit for him after considering TCU and Texas Tech. Tech, of course, is where his younger brother currently plays. Fortunately for KU, Crawford jumped at the opportunity to not play with his brother.

“I think that will be fun. I’m excited that I get to play against my younger brother starting next year.”

Exciting as that may be, Crawford also had some words for KU’s biggest rivals Missouri and Kansas State.

“I’ll be racking up a couple hundred on them”