Jalen Todd has had an all-gas, no-breaks start to his Kansas career. Being ranked as an 89-overall 3-star according to 247Sports and holding offers from the likes of 18 power-conference schools like Wisconsin, Tennessee, Purdue, Pittsburgh, Nebraska, Michigan State, Michigan, Louisville, Iowa, Indiana, Florida and Auburn will place heavy expectations on any prospect, nonetheless one who was asked to play as a true freshman in the 2024 campaign.
However, Todd’s development from his first appearance against Lindenwood has been a sight to marvel at. His freshman campaign comprised 9 tackles and 2 passes defended. One year later, Todd exploded onto the scene at both cornerback and HAWK, making 10 starts, totaling 44 tackles, 2 sacks, and 4 passes defended, for a defense that finished 68th-best in passing yards allowed per game at 225.4.
Todd hasn’t rested on his laurels
Over the offseason, the Jayhawks have revamped their entire defense, enlisting 15 transfers, including six in the secondary, in what 247Sports labels as the nation’s 53rd-best transfer class; however, setting the bar so far during fall camp has been Todd. Last week, Matt Gildersleeve, Kansas football’s director of sports performance, was asked who had been a standout in terms of speed and strength, and Gildersleeve’s nomination of Todd is a promising sign.
“I keep on thinking he's gonna, like, cap, when you look at his progress pictures and where he came in, where he is now, like, you keep on thinking that, but he just keeps on getting faster and bigger and stronger, which is just, like, it's, like, an anomaly,” opened Gildersleeve.
“So he's the fastest; he's 22.71 miles an hour. So he's getting close to, like, E-man [Emmanuel Henderson Jr.] speed, you know, which is just, I kind of, I didn't know he had those mechanics in there.”
The Jayhawks must see more from next season’s passing defense
A 225.4 passing yards allowed mark in 2025 is by no means a terrible feat, but it is still far away from being considered anything better than average. Todd will now have to be responsible for shouldering much of next season’s passing defense weight, as Jaden Harris, Khijohnn Cummings-Coleman, Elijah Cannon, Roman Pearson, Corey Gordon Jr. and Christian Pritchett will all be transfers gunning for minutes next season.
To make matters even more interesting, Kansas’ 2026 schedule includes a nine-game straight dynamic, combined with a trip to Wembley Stadium to take on Arizona State in the Union Jack Classic.
Kansas will also be facing some of the game’s highest-touted quarterbacks, including Devon Dampier (Utah), Avery Johnson (Kansas State), Jaden Craig (TCU), Alonza Barnett III (UCF), Bear Bachmeier (BYU), and Drew Mestemaker (Oklahoma State). Just a few names Todd will have to go up against next season.
However, Todd’s biggest goal has to be getting the Jayhawks back to a bowl game. Being a true junior, Todd missed out on Kansas’ 2023 Guaranteed Rate Bowl victory over UNLV and has instead stared at back-to-back 5-7 seasons where the margins have been beyond paper-thin.
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