Quick Hits

POSITION: Outside Linebacker

HEIGHT: 6-foot-2

WEIGHT: 210 pounds

HOMETOWN: Batavia, Ill.

HIGH SCHOOL: Batavia

247 COMPOSITE SCORE: .8702

NATIONAL RANKING: 651

POSITION RANKING: 41

STATE RANKING: 12

OTHER OFFERS: West Virginia, Missouri, Iowa State

MORE: 247 Sports I Hudl I Twitter

Background

Jansey committed this past June, making him the 13th member of Pat Fitzgerald’s 2019 recruiting class at the time. Jansey is one of three players from Illinois in the 2019 class, which ranks 11th in the Big Ten, per 247sports.com. West Virginia, Missouri, and Iowa State also offered the three-star.

Jansey followed up a monster junior season — in which he recorded 99 tackles, 27.5 tackles for a loss, and 16 sacks — with another strong senior year. He had the fifth most tackles on his high school team with 79, but led the team in tackles for a loss (23), sacks (10) and quarterback hurries (26).

At 210 pounds, Jansey is a big and physical linebacker. He does a good job of playing downhill and takes solid angles to tackle ball carriers. Per his Hudl profile, Jansey runs a 4.6 40-yard dash, which is great for a linebacker. He often uses his speed to bull rush offensive linemen when blitzing; he was fast enough to simply run through offensive lines untouched in high school. He played safety early on in high school, so his versatility is intriguing.

Outlook

The departure of redshirt senior linebacker Nate Hall could allow Jansey to see the field some in his freshmen year. His speed and physicality will only add to an already strong linebacking group for the Wildcats. Even though Hall is graduating, defensive stalwarts Blake Gallagher and Paddy Fisher are returning for their junior campaigns. They are two of the Big Ten’s best, so there won’t be a ton of room for Jansey to come in and make an impact right away. Still, Jansey has the opportunity to learn from these two in practice, which can only help.