(Dodge City, KS) –
Marquise Blair, a former Conq football player who played at Dodge City in 2015 and 2016, and proceeded to play two years at the University of Utah, was selected with the 47th overall pick in the second round of the NFL draft by the Seattle Seahawks on Friday night.
Marquise was a standout player back in high school at Wooster High School in Ohio. In 2014, his senior year he was named to the AP All-State first team at the linebacker position. Out of Wooster, he was a 3-star recruit, rated at .8689 by major recruiting service 247sports. Rivals and ESPN also had him as a 3-star recruit. He had FBS offers in the form of Purdue University in the Big Ten, and Syracuse University which played in the ACC. In June before his senior year, he committed to Syracuse. Unfortunately, he was flagged as a non-qualifier by the NCAA in early August. From there it was a dogfight in recruiting him to Dodge City, but he arrived on campus two weeks before the first game.
Former Conquistador Football Head Coach Gary Thomas said that "we knew he was going to be special just from watching his high school film. He just had it. He had an unbelievable motor and was an incredible strike." In his first year at Dodge City, Community College in 2015 Marquise was a significant contributor to the first Conquistador football team to win the Jayhawk conference since 1983. In the same year, the Conqs also tied the 1961 school record with nine wins. Marquise was chosen to the All-KJCCC 2nd team as a Linebacker. In his sophomore season, Marquise continued to impress, this time being named not only to the All-KJCCC first team but also being named to the All-NJCAA first team. In his first year, Blair had eight sacks, three forced fumbles, and two interceptions. In 2016, he had one hundred tackles, twenty-four for loss, three sacks, four fumbles forced, three fumbles recovered, and four interceptions.
Due to his play at Dodge City, 247sports rated him as a 4-star recruit. Not only that, but he was also ranked as the third-best junior college recruit in the nation. He had eleven reported offers, with eight coming from FBS schools. He ultimately decided on Utah, which was a surprise to some, "I thought he would want to go someplace warmer." It did not take him very long to impress at Utah. In an injury-shortened 2017 season, he played in nine games, starting six at the two safety spots. He had 48 tackles, which was third on the team at the time of his injury. In 2018, he played in all fourteen games, starting twelve. On the season he had fifty-nine tackles, two interceptions, six passes defended, one fumble forced, and one fumble recovered. As a result of this, he was named Second Team All-Pac 12. He also received recognition in the classroom, as he received honorable mention All-Academic.
When asked about the character of Marquise, Coach Thomas had this to say, "He's such a motivated individual with truly special God-given ability. He deserves to have all the success in the world, and I'm incredibly proud of all that he has accomplished, and am just happy we had the opportunity to help him achieve his dreams."
