Kansas football: Todd Reesing was a special talent

The Kansas football program hasn’t had a quarterback quite like Todd Reesing since his time at Kansas.

In fact, the once-upon-a-time star quarterback leads the Kansas football record books in passing yards and touchdown passes, both records that when looking at the record books appear impossible to match.

The closest statistical leaders to Reesing are Frank Seurer, who is 4,784 passing yards and Carter Stanley, who falls 53 touchdown passes behind. That’s pretty incredible when you think of the history of Kansas football.

The Jayhawks came close to a Reesing-like performer from Stanley. He currently ranks 5th in passing yards and 2nd in passing touchdowns. Had Stanley benefitted from the coaching consistency and staff that Reesing had, maybe he gets even closer.

But it wasn’t just the coaching that made Reesing such a great quarterback. He was also insanely talented.

Kansas football played exciting games with Todd Reesing

Not necessarily known for the strongest arm in college football, Reesing made up for it with his vision downfield and ability to make plays outside of the pocket.

One of his most memorable plays was against former rival Missouri in 2008. The Jayhawks were down four points and it was 4th and 7 with 33 seconds left in the game.

Reesing was in shotgun, as he was most of his time at Kansas, but as he snapped the ball Missouri immediately sent the rush. Reesing swerved, scattered, and back-peddled his way out of it, and as he stepped forward into the pocket in front of him, he released a floater pass that wasn’t the prettiest of throws until it found its destination.

Kerry Meier, former Kansas quarterback turned wide receiver, caught the ball striding into the endzone.

That’s what I thought made Reesing so impressive and different than the many Kansas quarterbacks of the past and present; his ability to keep his eyes consistently downfield and keep the play going.

This is a task that is rather rare among quarterbacks, but it’s one of the most coveted.

A quarterback doesn’t necessarily have to have the strongest arm or the best accuracy to be a great quarterback, they just need to have the vision that allows them to see a play unfold and the willingness to contain that vision while the pocket collapses around them.

And that, Reesing was great at.

But the Jayhawks don’t need another Todd Reesing to be successful. That’s simply asking too much. He’s the type of player that only comes around once in a lifetime for a program like Kansas.

The Jayhawks just need a leader. A leader that can rally his team and not make mistakes when the game is on the line.

It’s possible the Jayhawks already have that guy on their current roster. And if they do, they have a staff mostly comprised of guys that know each other well to put that quarterback in the best position for success.