Kansas football: Pass rush remains biggest concern heading into 2023 season

We’re now just a little more than one week away from the start of the 2023 Kansas football season, and there is a lot to be excited about with this year’s team.

The Jayhawks have the Preseason Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year at quarterback in Jalon Daniels, the league’s only returning 1,000-yard rusher in Devin Neal, and defensive playmakers like Kenny Logan Jr. and Cobee Bryant back among 17 returning starters from last year’s bowl team.

While there’s plenty of reason for optimism, there’s also reason for concern when it comes to KU’s pass rush.

One of the key players not returning from last year’s team is Lonnie Phelps Jr. He led the Jayhawks in sacks last year with 7, in addition to recording 11.5 tackles for loss and 45 solo tackles on the season.

KU also lost super seniors Caleb Sampson and Malcolm Lee from last year’s team who combined for 3.5 sacks, 7.5 tackles for loss, and 33 total tackles.

That’s a lot of production to replace this year, and it’s currently unclear where the replacement will come from.

Jerome Robinson, Hayden Hatcher, and Caleb Taylor are the only defensive line players returning for KU this year who saw meaningful snaps last season. They combined for a total of just 4 sacks among the three of them last year, along with 11.5 tackles for loss – less than what Phelps provided just on his own last year.

KU has a solid linebacker corps returning in Craig Young, Rich Miller, and Taiwan Berryhill, but they combined for only 7.5 sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss a season ago.

A lot of KU’s hopes for pass rushing this year lies in the play of some key transfers – most of whom are unproven.

This offseason, KU added a pair of Minnesota transfers in Gage Keys and Austin Booker. For the Gophers last season, Booker appeared in two games and recorded 2 total tackles. Keys appeared in three games and racked up 5 total tackles.

KU also added defensive end Dylan Brooks – a transfer from Auburn. For the Tigers last year, Brooks appeared in six games and recorded 6 total tackles and one sack.

Coming out of high school, Brooks was a highly touted, four-star recruit who picked Auburn over offers from Alabama, Florida, LSU, and several other SEC programs. Although he didn’t quite live up to his potential at Auburn, he could be a key contributor to this Kansas defense this upcoming season if he finds his way again.

KU does have a pair of more experienced transfers who could make an impact at pass rush this year in defensive end Patrick Joyner Jr. and defensive lineman Devin Phillips.

Joyner joins KU after two seasons with Utah State and two seasons with the Miami Hurricane.

This past season, he contributed 31 total tackles and one sack for the Aggies who made it to the 2022 First Responder Bowl against the Memphis Tigers. The year prior, Joyner had 3.5 sacks and 25 total tackles.

Phillips, a redshirt senior who played five seasons at Colorado State, comes in with 101 total tackles and 7 sacks in his college career – though he played in just three games this past season with the Rams and recorded only 7 total tackles and zero sacks.

Despite the lack of production this past season, he’s got the experience to make an impact at nose guard for the Jayhawks. If he can get pressure up the middle, that’s only going to open up things more for the rest of the front seven.

There are a lot of question marks for this group heading into the upcoming season, but if they can find a way to put pressure on the quarterback, this defense may just become a strength for this team in 2023.