The Kansas Jayhawks’ offensive line had to be reshuffled following the end of Kansas’ 2025 5-7 campaign.
At the end of the year, the Jayhawks moved on from Bryce Foster, Enrique Cruz and Kobe Baynes, and are now set to fill up their offensive line with Calvin Clements at left tackle, Amir Herring at left guard, Kasen Carpenter at center, Connor Stroh at right guard and Nick Morrow at right tackle, according to Ourlads.
While the offensive line may not be fully set in terms of where everyone is going to play, those aforementioned names can probably be nailed down as starters.
Who is behind those five who can make an impact?
When speaking with the media earlier this month, head coach Lance Leipold was asked who on the offensive line had shown the most growth over fall camp of the tackles, and Leipold heaped praise on redshirt sophomore De’Andre Harper.
“DeAndre Harper's a guy that is going to be, as we continue to go through this, it's going to be hard to keep him off the field.”
The redshirt sophomore Harper currently stands at 6-foot-6, 320 pounds.
“You know, when he gets on people, they have trouble getting off of him, and he's versatile and athletic enough to play inside or out. So, he's gonna continue to make his impact in this as well. We're going to have to find ways to get him some snaps.”
Harper was an unranked prospect coming out of Omaha North High School, where he spent his first season of college ball at Northwest Missouri State, a DII school.
In Harper’s only season at Northwest Missouri State, the then-freshman started four games, while playing nine in total.
After the Bearcats’ 6-5 2024 campaign, Harper took to the NCAA Transfer Portal and, within a week, committed to the Jayhawks, after being rated as the nation’s 53rd-best offensive tackle transfer and 642nd-best overall player according to 247Sports.
Harper saw just one game last season in Kansas’ 46-7 win over FCS side Wagner in week one.
Harper is working under an elite coach
Darryl Agpalsa is the Jayhawks’ offensive line coach, where he will be soon be entering his third season with the program. In 2024, Kansas allowed just 0.83 sacks per game, the fewest in the Big 12 and the fourth-fewest nationally. Kansas’ 10 sacks allowed are the fewest by a Jayhawk team since at least 1996. Kansas’ offensive line also allowed just 47 tackles for loss in 2024, ranking 13th nationally and second in the Big 12 Conference. Agpalsa has also helped forge NFL careers for Bryce Cabeldue, Logan Brown and Enrique Cruz Jr.
However, the most important thing for Agpalsa, Harper and the Jayhawks is to get themselves back into a bowl game. Leipold has reached two bowl games in his five full seasons thus far. A fantastic record for a school that was the doormat of power-conference football for so many years prior; however, Leipold has shown what he can do with the program, and fans want to see that bit of consistency next season.
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