The Kansas Jayhawks are going to have to rely on their rushing attack next season.
Until either Cole Ballard, Chase Jenkins or Isaiah Marshall comes out of nowhere to prove the stability required to become a successful Big 12 quarterback, the Jayhawks will have to be built around a rushing attack that has two exciting options.
Now, by no means were the old guard of Leshon Williams and Daniel Hishaw Jr bad. The pair combined for 1,147 yards and 12 touchdowns. The Iowa transfer Williams notched 5.8 yards per carry across his 97 rushes. Hishaw meanwhile, went for 4.7 yards per carry on 124 attempts.
Yet, with the incoming Dylan Edwards and Yasin Willis there is an exciting refresh inbound.
Today, we will try to guess which of these two will finish the season on top of the rushing charts; however, we suspect that no matter whoever takes the top spot, No. 2 will not be far behind.
What’s exciting about both Edwards and WIlis is that their profiles differ drastically.
Under the diminutive 5-foot-9 Edwards, you will get a shifty running back who has elite acceleration, which he showed well in his first season with Kansas State, having rushed for 546 yards and five touchdowns. However injuries shortened his second year with the Wildcats.
Willis stands at 6-foot-1 and broke out with three touchdowns in Syracuse’s opening game, a 45-26 loss to Tennessee, while ending the season with 558 yards, four total touchdowns for 4.3 yards per carry. The now redshirt junior showed multiple times that he is hard to bring down while also showing bits of insane athleticism of someone his height. Willis also showed great vision in the backfield at attacking the right holes rather than just pushing through a clump of defenders.
How good of a backfield can this duo be?
If you had to point out one flaw with these two, it does come down to the fact that with Willis at halfback, you assume it is going to be a lot more of a vertical attack, meaning defenses can key in and stack the box. With Edwards, on the other hand, he can go left to right just as well if not better, meaning there isn’t such a tell with him lined up.
Overall, it feels fair to expect Edwards to probably lead the race for yards. The former Wildcat is a more polished player as of today. Yet in situations where the Jayhawks are looking to set the momentum or are in short-yardage situations, Willis’ strength and vision will go a long way.
If things tick, and the two stay healthy, then there is no reason why they can not combine for more than 1,300 yards, and become one of the nation’s most dynamic running back groups.
This will go a long way for an offense that No. 60 last season with 157.8 rushing yards per game and No. 77 in total yards per game with 368.8.
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