With a bye week on the horizon, now is the best time to get a quick review of the first three games of Kansas’ season.
Just for a quick recap, the Jayhawks took down Fresno State 31-7 during week zero. In week one, Kansas fended off FCS side Wagner 46-7 before suffering its first defeat of the season in a 42-31 loss to Missouri in the first Border Showdown since 2011.
For the first edition of this short series, we wanted to cover Kansas’ offense and give them one specific grade, along with a breakdown of each category of the offense.
Without further ado.
Kansas Offensive Grade: A-
Quarterback
Let' start with the signal caller Jalon Daniels. Daniels has hardly put a foot wrong thus far this season. The sixth-year Jayhawk has already totaled nine touchdowns and two interceptions, with 679 yards through the air and a further 90 yards on the ground with a rushing touchdown to follow.
Running Back
The running game is something that I think Kansas fans would have liked to have seen an improvement in. At first glance, the 523 yards (pre-net totals) is a really good sign thus far over just three games, but 492 of those came against Fresno State and Wagner. Without being painfully obvious, a majority (if not all) of the schools Kansas will face over the coming weeks will be closer to the Missouri defense, which gave up just 31 yards, than the Wagner and Fresno State defenses.
Wide Reciever
The wideout corps has done a very good job of being able to mesh with a transfer-laden group, as it stands, all four of the leading wideouts for the Jayhawks are transfers (tight end Deshawn Hanika missed all of last season with an injury and is a transfer from Iowa State). We hear how important the synchronization is between quarterbacks and wideouts, and for the most part, things have looked smooth between Daniels and a receiving room that already has three players over the 100-yard mark in Emmanuel Henderdon Jr. (183), Cam Pickett (124), and Levi Wentz (103).
Tight End
With the multiple tight ends that Kansas wants to use, it is hard to always get an accurate grade as each player has to be good at everything so that defenses do not get an early tell on what the offense is planning. This has been another consistent spot for Kansas, with Hanika already reeling in three touchdowns, and the blocking has been there from all of the participating tight ends.
Offensive Line
Now, the offensive line is probably where we may mark the lowest: it is kind of a foggy group to grade because there are a number of different factors that are immeasurable. However, especially in the game against the Tigers, the difference an improved line could have made in the running game could have allowed the Jayhawks to not have been so one-dimensional. Overall, though, there should be no full judgment made as offensive lines take time to sync up and get rid of penalties and misalignments, which are common early on in the season.
An A- grade feels fair as they have not gone a game this season with under three offensive touchdowns, which does deserve credit, yet the exploits of what the Jayhawks must work on were very easily broadcasted against Missouri. But the consensus should be that the offense will not be losing many games this season thanks to its own stumbles.