If you had to dumb down Kansas’ defensive problems last season to two aspects (rushing or passing), there is no question the rush defense was worse.
Now, by no means was Kansas’ passing defense elite. After all, the Jayhawks’ 225.4 yards allowed did finish the season ranked 68th in the nation, but there was enough talent in that secondary to know that with some fine-tuning, they could quiet many of the Big 12’s passing attacks.Â
Depth chart help is provided here by ourlads.
Kansas is welcoming a lot of fresh faces
Six of the Jayhawks’ 30 incoming transfers are set to play in the secondary, signaling that recruiting efforts in this part of the field must have been a priority of the offseason.Â
Starting with the left cornerback, Kansas is set to start Jalen Todd Jr. with Roman Pearsons and Elijah Cannon following behind.Â
Todd already has two years' worth of experience and 11 starts in his 22 appearances. Todd racked up 44 tackles last season, including 2 tackles-for-loss, 2 sacks, 4 pass breakups and 1 forced fumble.Â
Pearson hails from Ball State after one season. Pearson is bringing 27 tackles, 1 interception, and 5 pass breakups. Cannon appeared in 11 games across two seasons with Mississippi State.
Moving on to Right Cornerback leaves Austin Alexander starting and Jahlil Hurley slotting into second.Â
Alexander made 11 starts last season, where he compiled 46 total tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 2 pass breakups and 1 fumble recovery. Hurley played in 12 games last Fall, totaling 6 tackles, 2 pass breakups and assisted on 1 tackle for loss.Â
Nickelback sees Syeed Gibbs and Mason Ellis. After starting 6 games in his final season at Georgia Tech, it would have been natural to expect Gibbs to produce roughly the same number at KU, but instead he took a smaller role in his first year, starting just two games. Gibbs recorded 23 tackles, 2 tackles for loss and 3 pass breakups. Ellis played in 8 games last season, with three starts, two of which came against Wagner and Fresno State, with the other against West Virginia. Ellis notched 18 tackles and one tackle for loss.Â
Free Safety sees Taylor Davis start with Jaden Harris and Christian Pritchett falling in behind.Â
Davis had his fingerprints everywhere across Kansas’ secondary last season, making the jump from four starts in the 2024 campaign to 11 in 2025. Davis will be a stalwart this season. His 2025 campaign resulted in 41 tackles, 1 interception and 1 pass breakup.
Harris plied his trade for three seasons at Miami before moving to the SEC to play for Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs. At Georgia, Harris was used as more of a reserve piece; in his time with the Hurricanes, Harris tallied 47 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 3 passes defended and 1 interception.Â
Pritchett brings in 8 tackles from Georgia Tech; the former high school quarterback has seen limited time at safety with just 5 games last season.Â
Lastly sits the Strong Safety room, with Corey Gordon and Khijohnn Cummings-Coleman. Gordon played at both Baylor and Louisville, breaking out in his sole season with the Cardinals, playing in all 13 games, making 12 starts, finishing with 53 tackles and 3 tackles for loss.Â
Coleman played in five games for Iowa State last season, making starts in the first two games; however, injury kept him out for the final seven.Â
Overall Grade: B+
In terms of passing yards allowed per game, they may get slightly better, but expect this team to be a lot stronger in the margins of the game: expect fewer missed tackles, better angles of pursuit, things of that sort.
More Kansas Football News
Add us as a preferred source on Google