CARING IS CREEPY 2015: HAVE A SEAT, JUSTIN JINNING

The vaunted Iowa weekend recruiting barbecue or whatever we're going to call it—barbecruit?—has netted a second verbal commitment with Monday's announcement from LB Justin Jinning of The Colony, TX (a suburb in the Dallas-Fort Worth area). Jinning made the announcement on Twitter:

OFFICIAL HAWKEYE BABY #Committed

— αγάπη (@J_Dvon1223) June 23, 2014

That's commit #12 for Iowa, right on the back of WR Adrian Falconer who also committed Monday. Per Hudl, Jinning is 6'2", 194 pounds and runs a (probably legit) 4.78 40. God, you'd hope that's legit, but he doesn't look slower on film, at least. You should care more about the height than the weight at this point; Jinning won't see the field for Iowa at 194 pounds, of course, but he'd never see the field at 5'9", and the weight he (and Chris Doyle) will do something about.

You're probably wanting highlights and he's got them on Hudl, so observe:

Watching those highlights, the two obvious comps are Christian Kirksey and Denicos Allen: two guys who would have been too small to play LB 10-15 years ago, but do it well today by wreaking havoc in the backfield and excelling in space.

That similarity wasn't lost on Iowa during the recruitment, either. From The Gazette:

Jinning told HR.com that Iowa sees him as an outside linebacker with Kirksey’s potential. He had a chance to watch game video with inside linebackers coach Jim Reid last weekend.

“When I talked to coach Reid, we watched a little bit of film and he showed me how my game really matches up well with their style of defense,” Jinning said. “He showed me how I would be a great fit."

What we don't see as much of from Jinning as yet, though, is that pass coverage ability, which is what separated Kirksey from the pack and got him into the third round of the NFL Draft. Of course, Jinning is 16 in these highlights, so, yeah. Far from a finished product, and if there's one thing Iowa's good at, it's finishing products.

Speaking of which, Jinning's Rivals page doesn't inspire a ton of confidence if that's the sort of thing you count on, as he's a 2-star recruit with only one other offer: powerhouse New Mexico State. Meanwhile, 247Sports.com gave him three stars on aggregate but basically by default, as the NMSU offer isn't even listed, nor is much of anything else.

It's worth remembering, though, that there's functionally little difference between 2- and 3-star prospects at Iowa when it comes to predicting future success to begin with—and being that we're talking about a smallish guy with speed, he's even the type of 2-star recruit that typically goes far at Iowa. So don't get too bummed about Jinning's light offer sheet; he's a guy Iowa targeted early and got. If he works hard and stays out of trouble, he'll do fine.

Last, we'd be remiss if we didn't mention this stunning highlight, maybe Jinning's best highlight. NSFW language.

Pardon us, that's Grig Jinnings, not Justin Jinning. Our apologies.