The Kansas Jayhawks reeled in one of the nation's best kicker last December when Laith Marjan was penciled in as next years kicker.
Marjan comes from South Alabama where last season, the redshirt senior nailed 16 of his 17 field goals attempted, where his only miss came from a reaching attempt over 50 yards. Marjan converted all six of his kicks from 40-49 yards, along with an extra six from 30-39, all four of his attempts from 20-29 yards and 42 of his 44 attempted PAT's, nominating him as a Lou Groza Award Semifinalist, while also sending him into the Sun-Belt Second Team.
Prior to his time as a Jaguar, Marjan was at East Carolina University, yet that was as a kickoff specialist, where he totaled 44 kickoffs where he marked five touchbacks in his time as a Pirate.
Heading into this season, Marjan was given high praise after being nominated to the 2025 Lou Groza Award Preseason Watch List earlier this offseason, which is one of the many award nominations Kansas players have been awarded this preseason.
How does this affect the Jayhawks?
We don't have to explain how important a consistent kicker is in collegiate football. Look at how many close games Kansas lost last season. We have been told ad nauseam that Kansas saw five different losses by one-score games. At the same time, Kansas fans weren't let down by last year's kicker in Tabor Allen.
Allen tallied a decent 12 of 15 field goals last season, it will also get way to the nitty-gritty to attempt to quantify how drives would have played out if Kansas had Marjan last season. Unlike with other players in this series, it is hard to tell the impact a kicker like Marjan would have had last season, or how his strong leg affects play calling this season.
The first chance to see Marjan's boot is this Saturday as Kansas takes on Fresno State in week zero this Saturday at 5:30 PM CT.