When you’re talking about prospects, the word ‘upside’ and ‘potential’ are two we use a lot. Production obviously matters but it's never about where you're at now but where you project four to five years from now.
Kanu is only scratching the surface of where we think his game will be at in a few years and when you consider he has only been playing football for a little over a year, it’s even more impressive how dominant he been this spring season.
He’s young for his grade and won’t turn 17 until September. That means he’ll actually play his first couple of college games as a 17 year old, which is incredibly rare.
In five games this spring playing in arguably the toughest league in the country, Kanu totaled 28 tackles, nine for loss and two sacks from his defensive tackle position. His two best games were against Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei and Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco, two teams who have won the last three National Championships (not counting this year) and coaches from both teams gushed about Kanu after the game.
“He’s a monster,” one coach said. “He’s still learning but killed us inside and once he figures it all out, he’s going to really be scary.”
So what makes Kanu stand out from a physical standpoint? For starters, he's a big kid at 6-5, 290 pounds but still looks lean. He's a natural athlete who grew up playing soccer in Germany. He's the exact reason why we like two-sport athletes so much- he's fluid, very coordinated and his functional athleticism really shows up on the football field and a lot of that is because of his soccer background.
He’s naturally strong, shows a great get-off and has a rare combination of size, power and twitch with the kind of motor you love to see in an interior lineman. He's tough to move on the inside of the line, even against a double team, shows some natural pass rush ability and has the toughness needed to survive and excel in the trenches.
