The Kansas Jayhawks are forced to employ a revamped offensive line ahead of next season.
Since the disappointing 5-7 end to the 2025 slate, the Jayhawks were forced to hit the NCAA Transfer Portal to find their next crop and have since landed five new linemen, making their roster hold 19 players who can play across the line.
Probably the most commonly held perception is that offensive lines take a lot of time to develop. Seldom do you see three new line transfers combine with two redshirt freshmen to create a top-10 offensive front.
It is when you see a consistent coaching staff that is able to coach up a group of younger players over the course of three to four years that you begin to see the fruits of the seed that was planted long ago.
However, injuries, of course, can stunt any line’s season, so being able to constantly have that 6th and 7th player who can fill in at any point in any position across the front is a key factor in what makes an offensive line successful. Something Kansas offensive line coach Daryl Agpalsa feels he may have this season.
“The backup is the next best lineman in”
“We talked about in the spring, the depth we have, and it's always nice when you have people have the ability to play in multiple positions,” opened Agpalsa earlier this month.
“With Amir [Herring], his ability to have flexibility to play guard and center for us is a big deal in case things knock on wood may happen. The transition's been great, and the more flexibility we can have in the offensive line room, where you can play guard or tackle, guard and center, flip tackle, the better we'll be as a unit. So using fall camp as that springboard to help elevate people at different positions is fantastic.”
Agpalsa then provided interesting insight into what truly makes a backup offensive lineman a backup, pushing away the narrative of positional backups.
“We're always looking to put, not necessarily, the next in [that position in the game]; the backup is the next best lineman in. And I'm pretty transparent with that in our room. If one of the 5 go down, we're trying to find how does number 6 get on the field?”
Last season, Kansas’ offensive front helped create what was rated as the nation’s No. 43 yards per play in the country at 5.7, along with a quarterback sack rate of 6.04%, 76th-best in the country. All of these culminated in 368.8 yards per game, the No. 77 offense in the land.
According to depth chart projection site Ourlads, the Jayhawks are set to employ an offensive line of redshirt junior Calvin Clements at left tackle, redshirt junior Amir Herring at left guard, redshirt junior Kasen Carpenter at center, redshirt junior Connor Stroh at right guard and redshirt junior Nick Morrow at right tackle.
The first chance to see this patched-together offensive line is well under two weeks away against LIU on September 4. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. CT, with streaming available on ESPNU.
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