| Height | 6'3" | Rivals | *** 5.5 |
| Weight | 248 | 24/7 | 84 *** |
| Position | Defensive Line | Scout | *** #96 DE |
| Hometown | Indianapolis | ESPN | 77 *** |
The rundown of the Bearcats incoming class continues today with Jonathan Burt the early enrollee from Warren Central.
Warren Central has become a pipeline of sorts for the Bearcats. 6 Warriors have been/are Bearcats over the last four years. Adrien Robinson started the trend, Nick Temple picked it back up last year. What follows now can only be described as a wave of Naptown talent heading East on I-74. The biggest crop of the bunch is this years group of 5 signees, including four from Warren Central* including four early enrollee's. Burt is one of three Warriors to enroll early.
*The fifth player is Kevin Brown from Lawrence Central
Burt was part of one of the best defensive lines you will likely see at the high school level. Sheldon Day was a consensus four star player and one of the 15 or so best defensive tackles in the country. Burt and the other starting DE Josh Posley are both at UC. As a result those guys so thoroughly controlled games that they didn't put up the kind of dominating stats that you like to see from high school kids. Still the increased level of competition they had every day in practices coupled with the fact that Burt and Posley both enrolled early considerably shrinks the gap that most freshman defensive linemen face in getting prepared for the college game. Burt is less heralded than either Posley or Day, both of whom received a higher share of post season honors and recruiting buzz, but he has the ability to develop into an impact player along the defensive line for the Bearcats.
Break Down
Burt has a ton of physical tools to work with. He isn't a prototypical end because he isn't 6'5" with a 6'10" wingspan. That isn't to say that he is without gifts. He has a good first step and is capible of blowing plays up in the backfield because of it. His other strength is, well, his strength. Generally there are two kinds of strength, weight room strength and functional. I can't speak to the weight room, but his functional strength shows well on film where he routinely blows up double teams and manhandles blockers.
Like most young defensive linemen what he really needs to work on and develop is his technique. He has no real moves as a pass rusher besides a bull rush and there is a tendency for him to get over leveraged against the run and to open up some gaps because of it. Ultimately his best position might wind up being at defensive tackle down the road. Either way the staff will have a year to work on it because Burt is a good candidate for a Red Shirt.
Film Study
Follow Down The Drive on Facebook/Twitter and check out the DTD Store