Kansas football: Kendrick, Daniels quarterback conversation and what it means for 2021

Kansas football found it’s 8th loss of the season on Saturday, as TCU stacked up 59 against the Jayhawks in Lawrence.

The Kansas football offense didn’t put up a solid fight against the Horned Frogs, but we got some decent looks from junior quarterback Miles Kendrick and current starter Jalon Daniels that are stirring up some questions about the starting job.

Despite an impressive 48-yard touchdown, the first of his career, Daniels couldn’t get the wheels turning for the Jayhawk offense. This would lead to a quick switch to Miles Kendrick shortly before the end of the first half.

Kendrick’s transition was somewhat beneficial, with a solid 166 passing yards and two touchdowns to strong freshman receiver Luke Grimm. Kendrick’s luck ran out though, as he would throw an interception returned for a Horned Frog touchdown and fumble the ball early in the fourth quarter which would put another TD on the board for TCU.

This opens the conversation of who should be leading the offense. Kansas has had some of the worst quarterback troubles of any program in the Big 12 and will be going into 2021 trying to find the best fit for one of the youngest offenses in the conference.

Both Daniels and Kendrick have been given opportunities to lead this offense, and relatively both have underperformed. We’ve seen the talent Daniels possesses, but with how many injuries we’ve seen along with absences of key weapons it has been difficult to make Daniels effective.

Before the end of the half on Saturday, Coach Miles decided to give Kendrick a hand at the offense and he opened to a very impressive drive. However, Miles has been inconsistent this year and that showed against TCU. He couldn’t take complete control of the offense, and it’s a shame he isn’t finding success out of the pocket.

In my opinion, the better move is to continue starting Jalon Daniels. The more snaps he takes now, the better it will prove down the road. Experienced quarterbacks work in the Big 12, and Kansas has the opportunity to build a talented leader offense. The job is up for grabs, but I think we’ll see Jalon getting more looks going forward based on his age and skill set.

This offense needs a lot of work, combined with a decent recruiting class. The offseason will most definitely feature this quarterback competition, as both quarterbacks want to be the ones to move this program in a better direction.