Lance Leipold and the Kansas Jayhawks are beginning to get a peek behind the curtains on next season’s team. Kansas is off the back of back-to-back 5-7 seasons, and while Leipold has earned the ability to have a down season or two, Kansas fans expect a return to bowl eligibility, the standard he once set.
What is new with the Jayhawks?
Well, a lot. Kansas graduated a mass of last season’s stars, with many more entering the NCAA Transfer Portal, meaning next Fall will be a season where a lot of new-look faces will be on the offense, namely a quarterback room which currently is taken up by Cole Ballard (redshirt junior), Isaiah Marshall (redshirt sophomore) and Chase Jenkins (redshirt junior).
KU is also revamping its offensive line, the wideout room and running back corps. Balancing all those changes out is the reacquisition of associate head coach Andy Kotelnicki.
Kotelnicki was a cog in Kansas’ most productive seasons since the Mark Mangino era, before being attracted by Penn State’s offensive coordinator spot.
Losing a star quarterback like Jalon Daniels, wideout Emmanuel Henderson Jr. and linemen Kobe Baynes, Bryce Foster and Enrique Cruz Jr. is a big hit. With Kotelnicki back in control of the offensive playcalling duties, Kansas’ offense looks a lot more balanced than last season’s No. 77 offense showed (368.8 yards per game).
On the defensive end, Kansas is in the midst of bringing in 16 new players from the portal, from a defense that gave up more than 500 yards three times last season in games against Missouri, Cincinnati and Texas Tech.
While there were bright spots in last season, like returning linebacker Tre Lathan, the biggest returning piece to the Jayhawks is defensive coordinator D.K. McDonald, who will be donning the headset for the second straight season.
The highest-ranked incoming transfer on the defensive front is former Arkansas defensive lineman Kevin Oatis, who is rated as an 86 overall transfer via 247Sports.
Kansas’ schedule makes things that much more difficult
The Jayhawks’ schedule is anything but a walk in the park. To start, KU will play nine straight games to end the season after a bye week following their trip overseas for the Union Jack Classic.
Kansas is also set to take on the likes of Missouri, Utah, BYU and Oklahoma State. All of which are teams tipped to be in and around the top 25 this season. Combine that with tricky matchups against Baylor, Texas Christian University and Kansas State and the path to a third bowl-qualifying season under Lance Leipold looks more and more difficult.
Final verdict
The Jayhawks' ceiling likely lies around eight wins. If Kansas can win three of their first four games (LIU, Missouri, Arizona State and Middle Tennessee), then wrap up games against Baylor, TCU, University of Central Florida and West Virginia University, then that pushes the marker to seven.
Meanwhile, the worst case for this team probably means another 5-7 season. Kansas has struggled to close out tight games throughout the last few seasons under Leipold. Barren fourth quarters stunted last season,Make sure to bookmark Through the Phog and follow us on X and Facebook with the username @Throughthephog
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