The Kansas Jayhawks are revamping their team ahead of Lance Leipold’s sixth year at the helm.
One of the few bright spots from last season was the play of transfer linebacker Tre Lathan. Lathan finished his first season with the Jayhawks, notching 86 total tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and 1 interception.
Despite his own individual brilliance, Kansas’ defense finished the season ranked 95th overall, conceding 409.5 yards per game.
For a brief moment, it looked as if Lathan was going to leave the program, having entered the NCAA Transfer Portal, but he soon withdrew. His decision to remain with the Jayhawks was a massive retention; it also signaled that head coach Lance Leipold had to support their star linebacker.
In come 30 new transfers, including 15 on defense, and all of a sudden, Lathan is playing with four new linebacker additions from the portal.
During Big 12 Media Days earlier this month, the redshirt senior spoke on which new incoming player had impressed him the most thus far.
Lathan seems upbeat over his new defensive partners
“Quincy Davis, he transferred from New Mexico State. He's a hard worker. He has a real endless motor that I think is really going to help us in the long run,” started Lathan.
Davis finished last season with 42 tackles, including one for loss, for an Aggies squad that ended the season 4-8.
“…There's a couple like Jibreel Al-Amin, Bam Crouch and Tre’Von McAlpine, and those guys like that. So a lot of those guys are looking forward to, you know, helping us,” finished the star linebacker.
Al-Amin was a sneaky pickup from the portal as the former Marshall player finished his one and only season with the Thundering Herd with 56 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 3 passes defended and 1 forced fumble.
Crouch compiled 38 games over his four-year stint with Boston College, bringing a veteran presence to a transfer-laden squad. Crouch leaves the Eagles with 107 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss and 3 sacks.
The only player Lathan mentioned who wasn’t a linebacker was the dominant McAlpine, who stands at roughly 6-foot-3, 305 pounds. McAlpine registered 35 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack and 1 fumble recovery for the Tulane Green Wave last season. McAlpine originally played at Texas Tech, but could never carve out a starting role, so he made the switch to the playoff-bound Wave.
Overall, 247Sports ranks Kansas’ transfer portal class as the nation’s 53rd-best. The question really doesn’t lie with the talent. Each of the aforementioned players has put up impressive numbers on paper at one school or another; it will truly depend on how quickly they can gel together to fill in the massive gaps that were present last season.
If Lathan and his new teammates can marshal a defense that allowed at least 30 points six different times last campaign, then there is no doubt that they can win six games, ending their two-year bowl drought.
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