A little background on AJ Klein...

[Razeyfingers]

Lots of depth at LB. I feel veeeeery comfortable with the front 7 spots not just THE front 7.

 

this dude is gonna be a fuggin animal on ST's. . bet

[carolina-chuck]

Iowa State fan here to give you guys a little bit of background info on AJ Klein.

I know a lot of you on here were questioning the pick up of AJ and I completely get it. I agree that the Panthers probably had other holes that needed to be filled, but I honestly think the Panthers thought AJ was the best available... and he very well may have been.

He was the rock of our LB'ing core for 3 years. As a sophmore he had 111 tackles, 116 as a junior, and 117 as a senior. Those are some pretty impressive numbers with the competition of the B12. He also had 5 INT's in his career, 4 of which he took to the house. He's got above average speed and he is very smart. I don't know that I ever saw him completely blow a coverage or take a bad route to the ball. Our special teams was weak for a couple years of his career so he filled in as a freshman and sophomore. Most of his sophomore year he played full time defense AND special teams. He was also co-defensive player of the B12.

He came out of Wisconsin and played with a chip on his shoulder at ISU because Wisconsin didn't offer him a scholarship. He went on to be one of the best LBers in the B12 and one of the best ever at ISU. Now people are questioning why he was taken and that just gives him something else as motivation.

Just so you guys know you got a hell of a teammate, a leader, and a workhorse. You may be questioning the pick now, but you'll get it come football season. This guy will give you everything he has, every play, whether it be on defense or special teams. You also now have about 45,000 Cyclone fans that will be cheering for the Panthers every Sunday.

I loved the pick.

I remember watching the Iowa State vs Oklahoma State game last year against Weeden and Blackmon. That was a big overtime upset game that took OSU out at a shot at the BCS Championship game. Klein was a guy that kept popping up in my eyes.

Im very glad we landed Klein and was so mad that we couldn't get Leonard Johnson who went undrafted to the Bucs and had 3ints in his rookie year. I was reasonably high of Johnson.

[carolina-chuck]

Is he Dan Connor?

Solid depth, but not quite fast enough to be a quality starter.

I will be stoked if that's the case, and if he can start, I will be happier than most have seen me on here.

Anyone is better than Connor, but very sad to see the talented kid bust. Seen Klein being compared to Scott Shanle. Not bad.

I think Klein will be much better than "fan's favorite" Jason Phillips and Jordan Senn.

[MHS831]

I loved the pick.

 

With Beason moving to the outside and having such a huge salary, I see him gone after next year (or he takes a pay cut)

 

As far as Kenjon.....DWill should ge gone now with Stewart and Tolbert on the roster.  Barner easily provides the change of pace back that compliments them both.  Barner does not "replace" DWill.....but he is a piece that helps compensate for him when he is gone.

Yes.

nice to be able to see the logic in a decision. Gmen drafted for 2013 in rounds 1 and 2, 4-6 was for the future. Of course, one could step up and start, but there is no pressure to HAVE to start like there was with Silatolu and Norman.