Kansas football: 2020 season looking bleak without Pooka Williams Jr.

Kansas football star Pooka Williams Jr. opted out of the rest of the 2020 season yesterday, making an already difficult year that much worse.

The season has been difficult for everyone given the uncertainty regarding COVID-19, but things can’t get much worse for Kansas football. The Jayhawks are 0-4 this season with their closest game being a 38-23 loss to Coastal Carolina. Kansas has had multiple decommitments in their 2021 class, including four-star receiver Keon Coleman and three-star guard Edgar Amaya. Now, the Jayhawks have lost their best playmaker in years: Pooka Williams Jr.

Williams announced that he is opting out of the rest of this season. It was crushing news, with Williams citing the health of his family as a major factor. Without Williams, running back Velton Gardner will likely take over the RB1 spot for the Jayhawks.

Gardner is a talented back for sure, but Williams has been one of the best playmakers in the conference over the past couple of seasons. He rushed for over 1,000 yards in his first couple of years and was named to the First-Team All-Big 12 team both seasons as a result. With no Williams, this 2020 Kansas football season is looking even bleaker than it already did.

At this point, the Jayhawks only have six games left:

• @ No. 20 Kansas State
• vs. No. 17 Iowa State
• @ Oklahoma
• vs. Texas
• vs. TCU
• @ Texas Tech

None of these games look very winnable for Kansas based on the Jayhawks’ performance thus far. The “easiest” opponent on here is Texas Tech, and even that game is on the road. The best chance for the Jayhawks to grab a win at this point is to just luck into it, maybe catching a team like TCU off guard in Lawrence.

Without a bonafide playmaker like Pooka Williams, even getting a lucky win looks like it’s going to be a real challenge for the Jayhawks. To put it simply, the offense was struggling already and now they’ve lost their best player.