Kansas football has released its first depth chart of the 2021 season. And most of it seems to be pretty expected.
1st published depth chart of 2021 for #KUfball is here.
— Benton Smith (@BentonASmith) August 30, 2021
As you'd expect there are ORs at QB - Kendrick/Daniels/Bean.
Also at starting RT with Cabeldue and Ford. pic.twitter.com/x5tkp9wuIE
As with any new depth chart, though, there are always a few surprises.
The first surprise is it doesn’t appear to have Devin Neal listed on the two-deep at runningback. Maybe this is because of an injury, or maybe it’s because it’s natural to have the two elder runningbacks ahead of him.
This doesn’t mean Neal won’t play much this year. It’s been clear from day one he’ll get plenty of time on the field, whether it be at runningback or returning kicks on special teams. From what’s been reported, he’ll likely seem time at both.
The second surprise was not seeing Kevin Terry on the two-deep at wide receiver. This could also be an injury situation, or it could mean the Jayhawks have more depth than previously thought at wide receiver. Earlier in fall camp, Terry appeared to impress the staff, but as everyone knows, things can change rather quickly.
I don’t know that I’d call this one a surprise, but it’s clear our cornerbacks and safeties are very young. One of the starters at cornerback is redshirt freshman Ra’Mello Dotson. He’s been a pleasant surprise all of fall camp, so it was expected to see him at least on the two-deep.
This is a good sign for the future of the defensive backfield that the young guys are so high on the depth chart this early. And it’s also encouraging to see new head coach Lance Leipold not afraid to put young guys on the two-deep. He’s going to play the best players, and so far, it shows.
Finally, and probably the most unsurprising position on the depth chart is quarterback. It’s been clear from day one this competition would be moving into game week.
But Leipold did say at his Monday presser naming a starting quarterback is “closer than we were the last time we talked.” He continued, “We’re getting there. Whether or not we’ll announce it publicly before kickoff is still to be determined, but it’s working that direction.”
The fact that he’s even considering naming a starter before kickoff is a good sign. Whether it happens or not remains to be seen.