Kansas football: 5 areas of improvement for the Jayhawks vs. Nevada

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LAWRENCE, KANSAS – SEPTEMBER 1: Devin Neal #4 of the Kansas Jayhawks celebrates his touchdown run with Dominick Puni #67 of the Kansas Jayhawks against the Missouri State Bears at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium on September 1, 2023 in Lawrence, Kansas. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) /

3. Run blocking

Kansas racked up 262 rushing yards on 6.0 yards per attempt in Week 2. So how is run blocking an area of improvement? Well, the O-line’s PFF grades suggest that number could have been even higher with better blocking.

Of KU’s five starting offensive linemen (Dominick Puni, Ar’maj Reed-Adams, Mike Novitsky, Michael Ford Jr., Bryce Cabeldue), only Puni recorded a PFF run blocking grade of over 70. In fact, the second-highest on the team was Novitsky with a 57.3. According to their grading system, that means four of their five O-linemen were poor run blockers.

Pass blocking was not an issue, but the Kansas football is very run-heavy. Imagine what they could have done had they performed better.

When you have electric players such as Devin Neal and Daniel Hishaw Jr. in the backfield, you can get away with a few missed assignments. Against tougher opponents, though, that won’t slide as easily.

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