The Kansas Jayhawks have to move on from the Jalon Daniels era, and now it is time for a new quarterback to take the mantle. The biggest question around Lawrence over the past couple of months (barring whether or not Bill Self was going to stay in charge or if Tyran Stokes would choose KU) was who was going to take that spot.
We have done countless evaluations of each quarterback and the honest truth is that it really comes down to fans’ personal preference right now. Which is almost the most concerning part of it all.
Through Big 12 Media Days and several other QB depth chart projections, the Jayhawks are likely to choose either redshirt junior Cole Ballard or redshirt sophomore Isaiah Marshall, leaving Rice transfer and redshirt junior Chase Jenkins as third string, but these are battles that can flip on a dime, so it feels wrong to say anything is out of the realm of possibility right now.
Lance Leipold speaks on what will drive the quarterback battle
Now there are several different things that go into what makes a quarterback great; many traits are subjective but when asked what it would take for either Ballard or Marshall to start under center in week one against LIU, Leipold bluntly answered, “Who's gonna give us the best chance to win on Saturday? Right and with that, though, who's going to be most consistent during camp?
“Isaiah's probably a little faster. Both are capable runners, and again, who's gonna give us the best chance to be effective in the pass game as well?
Last season, both played bit-part minutes; however, Marshall was brought in during several moments towards certain sets where he would be asked to grab a few quick yards on the ground to help flip momentum Kansas’ way, but by no means was he a constant enough threat either through the air or on the ground.
On the year, Marshall finished with 15 rushes for 160 yards. Marshall also threw for 28 yards across three passes on the season.
Ballard, meanwhile, put up 108 passing yards for one touchdown and one interception, completing just 10 of his 22 attempts in the air. Ballard added 92 yards on the ground across 15 rushes.
An interesting layer that Leipold seemed insistent on during media days this past week was the fact that Daniels never got to play a full spring, meaning that Ballard and Marshall were able to chomp reps through the years.
Last season, en route to a 5-7 season that resulted in Kansas missing out on a bowl game for the second season in a row, the Jayhawks ranked as the nation’s 77th-best offense for 368.8 offensive yards per game, which included 211 yards through the air, good for 88th in the country.
Kansas’ scoring numbers boded slightly better as their 26.5 points per game went No. 68 across FBS sides, but overall it was a disappointing season on most fronts last Fall.
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