Kansas football: Starting Jayhawks offensive lineman enters transfer portal

Kansas football has generally avoided transfer portal departures since the regular season ended, but the first full-time starter that the Jayhawks are losing is Ar'maj Reed-Adams.

Reed-Adams announced on his X (formerly Twitter) account that he would transfer from KU. He joins Gage Keys, Tanaka Scott, and Will Huggins as scholarship players to leave the Jayhawks. The 6-foot-5 offensive guard missed the season opener but appeared in the team's final 12 games, starting in 11 of them.

A fourth-year player from DeSoto, Texas, Reed-Adams had his ups and downs this season. He won the starting left guard spot in the preseason but did not transform into the player the coaching staff hoped he would be. Reed-Adams led the Jayhawks offensive line in penalties, accounting for nine of 26 flags.

Toward the latter stages of the year, he saw time at right tackle while Bryce Cabeldue dealt with an injury he sustained against Kansas State. Reed-Adams was benched on several occasions and split time with Kobe Baynes at left guard. He finished with 605 snaps and a PFF grade of 63.1, the lowest of any KU starting lineman.

He once weighed nearly 400 pounds but cut down to 325 after the previous campaign, making him much more athletic and valuable on the field. Even if he did not have a perfect season, his transformation over the years is incredible. He should be a highly coveted name in the transfer portal when taking into account his positional versatility and experience at the Power 5 level.

With Reed-Adams likely off to another school, fans can expect an O-line combination of Calvin Clements, Michael Ford Jr., Kobe Baynes, Bryce Cabeldue, Spencer Lovell, and potentially a portal addition in 2024. Future NFL Draft selection Dominick Puni and Buffalo transfer Mike Novitsky ran out of eligibility after the Guaranteed Rate Bowl.