Kansas football: Jayhawks DT Gage Keys enters transfer portal

Kansas Jayhawks DT Gage Keys has entered his name into the NCAA transfer portal. The Kansas football program has had a quiet start to the offseason with just three players entering the transfer portal since the window opened on Dec. 2 until Keys decided to increase that number to four today.

Keys transferred to Kansas football from Minnesota with budding star Austin Booker after spending two seasons with the Gophers where he played sparingly, accumulating five tackles, two solo tackles, and three assisted tackles. Keys made a much bigger impact in his lone season at Kansas, accumulating 21 tackles, 13 solo tackles, and eight assisted tackles. It's worth noting that Keys graduated from Kansas this fall and will be immediately eligible to choose where to go next.

Keys was not a starter on KU this year but played the 13th most snaps of all the defensive players on KU's roster this season. This is not a small loss and Lance Leipold will most likely need to dip into the portal for defensive line help with both Devin Phillips and Gage Keys now gone.

The Jayhawks had already been connected to Iowa DL transfer Anterio Thompson before Keys entered the transfer portal, so one would think Keys' departure could lead to an even better chance of landing Thompson's services. A visit to Kansas could be on tap next for Thompson, and if that happens, it would be shocking if he didn't end up a Jayhawk.

With so few Kansas football players entering the transfer portal so far, it will be interesting to monitor the scholarship situation to see if there will be enough scholarships open to fulfill the needs in the portal that Coach Leipold wants. Keys most likely won't be the last Kansas football player to enter the transfer portal before the window closes on Jan. 2, 2024, so be on the lookout for more news coming over the next few weeks.