Kansas football: Tommy Dunn Jr. mentioned as potential breakout candidate
Kansas football is thin at defensive tackle, so redshirt sophomore Tommy Dunn Jr. is in a perfect position to have a breakout campaign in 2023.
After losing Caleb Sampson and Sam Burt — the 2022 team’s top two defensive tackles — new players will have to step up for the Kansas Jayhawks this season. One of them could be Tommy Dunn Jr.
Dunn is heading into year two with the program, recording nine total tackles and half a sack as a freshman. The tight end turned defensive lineman was a 3-star recruit out of high school with a 247 Sports prospect grade of 83.
On Always College Football with Greg McElroy, the podcast cited Dunn as the top breakout candidate on the Jayhawks. He believes he will be able to bolster KU’s defense, which ranked dead last in the Big 12 last year.
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“And now he’s kind of growing and maturing, and Lance Leipold and company do a great job of developing players, getting them in the rotation and then allowing their role to increase as they earn it. That’s what we can expect from Tommy Dunn this year,” McElroy said. “Knowing the vacancy that’s there in the middle of that defense, he needs to play big and does have a chance, I think, to breakout against some of that Big 12 competition.”
McElroy’s sentiment is also shared by Lance Leipold. The Kansas football head coach had high praise for the Texas native during spring practices.
“Tommy continues to evolve,” Leipold said. “Physically, you can see a difference. Coach Panagos came up to me [during spring practice], talking about Tommy’s ability to articulate what’s happening and what he does in meetings. [Dunn] called him one night to ask him a question.”
Colorado State transfer Devin Phillips will man one of the defensive tackle spots, and Gage Keys is said to be the other player at the top of the depth chart. However, D-line coach Jim Panagos could opt to give the homegrown Dunn more snaps early in the season.
Next. Predicting KU’s offensive line starters for Week 1. dark
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