It's hard to imagine many college programs returning as many talented and experienced wide receivers than the Kansas football team is in 2024. The Jayhawks are loaded, with four returning senior pass catchers.
Lawrence Arnold, Quentin Skinner, and Luke Grimm all had productive juniors seasons, taking passes from second and third team quarterbacks most of the year. Toss in a fourth contributor in 2023 in Trevor Wilson, and promising red-shirt freshman Keaton Kubecka, and you have a very deep wide receiver room even before anyone else on the roster has a chance to emerge.
The four seniors were terrific in 2023. They combined for 121 catches, 2,121 yards for an average of 17.5 yards per catch, and 14 touchdowns.
PLAYER | RECEPTIONS | YARDS | TOUCHDOWNS |
|---|---|---|---|
L. ARNOLD | 45 | 792 | 6 |
Q. SKINNER | 31 | 595 | 2 |
L. GRIMM | 34 | 539 | 6 |
T. WILSON | 11 | 195 | 2 |
That production was exciting to witness, and it should be even better if quarterback Jalon Daniels stay healthy for the entire season.
Why is the KU football wide receiver room being underrated nationally?
College Football News doesn't have any of the Kansas receivers in their top 25 for 2024. Neither does 247 Sports. Pro Football Focus doesn't have the Jayhawks in their top 10 for best wide receiver rooms. Why aren't the Kansas football wide receivers getting any respect nationally?
Maybe one reason, at least as far as individual rankings go, is that none of these players standout significantly from each other. It would be hard to pick out just one over the others, especially when considering Arnold, Skinner, and Grimm. Last season, the production was spread out pretty evenly among the three of them.
Another reason could be that Kansas might be seen as a run-first offense, based on having Devin Neal and Daniel Hishaw Jr. on the roster. There two stars combined for 1,906 rushing yards in 2023, and Neal contributed another 217 receiving yards. Neal will have to get his touches and his talent certainly could certainly cause people to underestimate the talent at receiver.
A third reason might be the big unknown that is Daniels health. Is he healthy now, and can he remain healthy throughout a long, physical season? If he goes down again, there isn't a veteran l ike Jason Bean who can step in as was the case last season.
Daniels has to stay healthy. He is one of Kansas' all-time best quarterbacks, and there are a lot of high expectations on this Kansas football team. They all hinge on Daniels ability to stay on the field. This question mark that is Daniels may be holding evaluators back on how they judge the Kansas receivers.
If you want a microcosm example of what these receivers are capable of, just check out the box score last seasons Guaranteed Rate Bowl win over UNLV. Arnold, Skinner, and Grimm combined for 13 catches, 378 yards, a 29.1 yards per catch average, and six touchdowns. That is a pretty amazing performance by this group.
All of these receivers, especially Arnold, Skinner, and Grimm, are fast, athletic, have good hands, and are great at high-pointing the catch. They are all also six feet tall or taller.
It is probably going to be an advantage for the Jayhawks that none of these guys can be double teamed without leaving at least one of the others in single coverage. It's not a bad thing to have a number of productive, athletic weapons at your disposal. Considering how Neal and the running game can hold the safeties for a heartbeat or two, it could free this corps to run free in the secondary.
While the Jayhawks receiver are not getting the attention they deserve nationally, it may work out in their favor. It's a deep, experience, talented group and they are going to cause a lot of headaches around the Big 12 in 2024.