Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Can Zeke Mayo Be Kansas Jayhawks Basketball's Best Player? Plus, More Top KU Football Performers

Episode Date: September 3, 2024

Bill Self recently said Kansas Jayhawks basketball incoming South Dakota State transfer guard Zeke Mayo could be the best player they've added on the team so far. What that means and could mean for hi...m and KU. Plus other comments for Self on Seth Davis' Bleacher Report podcast relating to Rakease Passmore, Flory Bidunga, Hunter Dickinson and more. More top performers for Kansas Jayhawks football and Lance Leipold in week one against Lindenwood according to Pro Football Focus and what it means for KU the rest of the way.For your next listen, check out the Locked On College Football podcast! From NIL deals to never ending conference realignment rumors, Spencer McLaughlin gets you ready for an exciting season on the gridiron! Click HERE to listen now. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your Team. Every Day.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.5-Hour EnergyGo to 5hourenergy.com and use promo code LOCKEDONCFB to receive 20% off your order. This offer is only valid until September 30th on one order and cannot be used with other promotions. The code is not good on subscription orders. Go to 5hourenergy.com today!LinkedInThese days every new potential hire can feel like a high stakes wager for your small business. That’s why LinkedIn Jobs helps find the right people for your team, faster and for free.Post your job for free atLinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONCOLLEGE. Terms and conditions apply.Ultimate GMUltimate College Football HC is a brand-new mobile game that is completely free, has no ads and 100% playable offline. Use the promo code LOCKEDONCFB, all caps, inside the game store to receive a free boost to your program. Begin your coaching legacy today!eBay MotorsFrom brakes to exhaust kits and beyond, eBay Motors has over 122 million parts to keep your ride-or-die alive. With all the parts you need at the prices you want, it’s easy to bring home that big win. Keep your ride-or-die alive at EbayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers.FanDuelNow through September 22nd, ALL FanDuel customers can bet FIVE DOLLARS and get a THREE WEEK free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV. Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

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Starting point is 00:00:00 On today's Locked on Jayhawks, has Zeke Mayo been KU basketball's best player? That, according to Bill Self, plus the top performers, according to Pro Football Focus for KU Football in Week 1. You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. I'm Derek Johnson. You can find me on Twitter at DJohnsonRadio, and you can listen or watch the show anywhere you get your podcast, including on our YouTube page where you can like and subscribe to the
Starting point is 00:00:36 show. Thank you to the everydayers tuning in to each and every show, and thank you for making Locked On Jayhawks your first listen every day. And on today's episode of the show, we're going to be talking a little KU basketball because Bill Self was on a recent podcast with Seth Davis and talked about, had some interesting quotes. One of them was talking about Zeke Mayo and possibly being the team's best player. So we'll get into those on today's episode.
Starting point is 00:00:58 Also a little KU football sprinkled in as we're going to go back and look at the top pro football focus performers and what that can tell us for KU football after week one against Lindenwood. Today's episode of the show is brought to you by Ultimate College Football Head Coach. It is the new mobile game that is completely free, has no ads, and is 100% playable offline. Use the promo code LOCKEDONCFB, all caps, inside the game store to receive a free boost to your program. Begin your coaching legacy today.
Starting point is 00:01:25 So let's start here. Bill Self's comments on the Seth Davis Bleacher Report podcast. Because there's some interesting quotes that Bill Self gave that we're going to get into, whether it's about some of the players on the team, some of the stuff from last year. So let's start here, because I think this one was the most notable, and this is going to be the headliner of our show today, is this is the direct quote that he gave. Probably the one that doesn't get talked about that's been our best player so far is Zeke Mayo from South Dakota State.
Starting point is 00:01:56 End quote. That was a direct quote from Bill Self to Seth Davis kind of talking about some of the offseason additions and what they brought in. Again, probably the one that doesn't get talked about that's been our best player so far is Zeke Mayo from South Dakota State. Now, there are things I talk about all the time, like sometimes things that coaches say to the media might reflect something that they are trying to get out there, that they are trying to hype somebody up, that they are trying to not give bulletin board advice to the opposition, right?
Starting point is 00:02:24 And there are reasons to do that. There are good reasons to do that. Right. There are some times where a coach might, you know, boost up a player in a radio interview or TV interview or something like that. Somebody who's not playing because it's like, Hey, we want them to know that they're making good progress out publicly and their parents to know and stuff so that, you know, they don't transfer at the end of the year. Right. There's like a political game you have to play with it,
Starting point is 00:02:46 which is probably not super fun as a head coach. But anyway, if you go back to like the banquet and after the banquet, Bill self said that like Zach Clements was the most improved player on the team. Now that's entirely possible. It is entirely possible. And that might be the case, right? It's also possible that Bill self said some of those things because maybe there's some truth to it and you're expanding it out to try to avoid somebody transferring out of the program. Again, I'm not saying that is the case. I don't know,
Starting point is 00:03:12 but that stuff does happen across the country, I guess is what I'm saying. And so could this be a comment by Bill Self, not that Zeke Mayo is going to transfer, he's a senior, he's coming in for his last year, right? But to try to make Zeke Mayo be a more confident player, right? Like you're making that big step up from competition in the Summit League, and it's like maybe if you're Zeke Mayo, you're like, yeah, I think I'm doing pretty well. But it's like, I don't know for sure. These guys are really good.
Starting point is 00:03:37 Like it's tough to make that transition. And you're built up to going, hey, I want to instill confidence in the kid, which obviously would be a good thing. Maybe this is one way to do that. I don't know. But I don't know. That was kind of unprompted on his own billing. I don't really think it is that, to be honest.
Starting point is 00:03:50 Now, do keep in mind that A.J. Storr was playing for the Bahamian national team for a lot of the summer. So he was not around KU basketball for a lot of their practices and scrimmages and stuff like that. So he obviously is now and has been, but that does make you know, practices and scrimmages and stuff like that. So he obviously is now and has been, but that does make you wonder, okay, well once AJ store has more time to catch up with like practice and the scheme and everything that maybe he'll end up being that guy from that transfer class. Also, this was him talking about the transfers.
Starting point is 00:04:16 So maybe that's him talking about being the best player among the transfers so far. I do think it's interesting though, because obviously the impact of this, if it were true, I mean, if he is the best player on the team, period, if this is not just about the transfers, if it's interesting, though, because obviously the impact of this, if it were true, I mean, if he is the best player on the team, period, if this is not just about the transfers, if it's everyone, what would that look like? I think it would look like him being your leading scorer. He would be starting next to DeJuan Harris. He would probably push like Ryland Griffin to the bench at that point.
Starting point is 00:04:38 He's probably giving you, I don't know, 14, 15, maybe not leading scorer because you have Hunter, but 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 points per game. He's a dynamic three-point shooter. He's getting shots off the dribble. He's hitting deep shots. It's probably looking a little bit like Devontae Graham as a scorer, but because you have DeJuan Harris not getting the seven assists per game or whatever,
Starting point is 00:04:56 Devontae averaged as a senior. That would obviously be very impactful for Kansas. The fact that he is playing well should make you more confident about what Kansas can be this season, because we know that if you're going to play a lineup that has Hunter Dickinson and KJ Adams and DeJuan Harris on the court next to each other, there's not a lot of three-point volume coming from those three players. And so you need players who can stretch the floor and open up the spacing. Well, if Zeke Mayo is playing well and is making that transition well, then boom, that's a good thing for Kansas that's going to open up the floor for everybody else. Now, if this is just among the transfers, maybe it doesn't go as far to say he's going to average 16, 17 points per game. But at the very least, like I said, you can understand why it would be
Starting point is 00:05:33 that over Storr. And then you could say, but maybe that still means he would be the fifth starter over Ryland Griffin, and he's going to play over Shaquille Moore, right? Because that seemed to be kind of a conversation that, okay, Shaquille Moore is more of the defensive guy. Zeke Mayo is more of the offensive guy. He also tends to lean toward defense, but maybe they get equal around of minutes or about the same amount of minutes. But if this is the case, maybe it is more of Zeke Mayo.
Starting point is 00:05:55 So I've always thought Zeke Mayo was going to be a helpful player for KU. And I loved watching Zeke Mayo in high school, loved watching him at South Dakota state. I've always thought he's going to make a positive impact and was a really good transfer addition for KU basketball. But as they continued to add more and more transfer players, it became more of a question for me of, okay, maybe he's more of your sixth man, right? Maybe he's more of your seventh man, something like that.
Starting point is 00:06:17 But now I'm starting to kind of reignite the conversation where it's like, okay, maybe he is going to be your fifth starter. Maybe it is taking a little bit longer for Ryland Griffin to adjust, even though Griffin was playing at the power level griffin has a completely different system at kansas than what nate oats runs at alabama maybe zeke mayo is just hitting the ground running so i think that's obviously good news for ku but certainly was very interesting and part of that too could be motivation if we're going back to the motivation sentiment of it for guys like aj store to step up their game or shaquille moore
Starting point is 00:06:43 whoever else to step up their game for uh ku, Diggie, Coit, right, whoever. Here's another interesting quote. Rakees is one of the sleepers. He later went on to say, kind of like Ochai Agbaje type kid. And if you do remember, obviously Ochai was playing on redshirt in that first year, but he ended up playing a decent amount of minutes once he pulled the red shirt that first year. So is Rakees Passmore the type of – I don't necessarily mean to go this far in terms of like Johnny Furphy and Kelly Oubre when I say those names to say that he's going to be starting playing 30 minutes a night come conference play.
Starting point is 00:07:16 But like the idea of, okay, Furphy and Oubre were playing way less minutes. By the time we got to conference play, those minutes boosted up. Maybe for Rakees Passmore, the difference there is in the non-con, you're playing five, six, seven, eight minutes per game. And then come conference play, you're playing so well, you're playing 15 minutes per game. And then all of a sudden you're setting yourself up to come year two. We're talking about Rakeys Passmore being a starter and being like the
Starting point is 00:07:36 breakout candidate for the team that could, you know, be this all league player and all this sort of stuff, right? That's entirely possible. But I think that kind of makes sense. You have an athletic wing who's like 6'5". I think that gives you confidence about what he could future be as a shooter because you know the athleticism in there. So that's exciting there. What does that mean for this year, though? I don't know. That could be more of a long-term thing. But I am excited for Keyes Passmore, whether it is this year or next year. Anyway,
Starting point is 00:08:00 here's another interesting quote. Florian badunga is athletic and explosive as anybody he later said one of the best prospects we've had in a while now it kind of makes sense because even if you think about like the first round picks the kansas had recently ochag baji christian brown those are developmental guys right they're guys that stay in the program for a while and to a certain standpoint like flory could be in that same ilk like he might be in college the same amount of time as Christian Brown was because the center position, if you're not shooting, you end up staying in college a little bit longer.
Starting point is 00:08:30 And also I think the idea is going to be, he stays in college at least two years. You're going to be backing up Hunter Dickinson this year. No, maybe he kills it so much in 12 minutes per game as a backup that it's just like, no, this kid needs to be a first round pick.
Starting point is 00:08:41 And that would be a great problem for Kansas staff, obviously. But it is interesting that you hear that type of comments. And I do think it's interesting from both lenses. One, that all the talk we keep hearing about Flory is about how good of a prospect he is. Does that tell you that maybe he is not fully ready right away? And Bill Self is trying to say, but it's going to come. Now, is he saying it's going to come this year, is he saying it's going to come this year?
Starting point is 00:09:05 Is he saying it's going to come in the second year or in the third year? Maybe Zach Clements ends up being the backup this year. Or is he just saying, I don't know when it's going to come, but it will come at some point, right? Those are kind of the questions that remain to be seen with everything with Floyd Badunga. But the fact that he has those types of high praise to put on him could tell you the ceiling.
Starting point is 00:09:23 Now, I do remember a couple years ago, there were very high comments about guys like Quinton Grimes. But, you know, you could say if Quinton Grimes would have stuck around for year two, year three at Kansas, he turned into a first-round draft pick on a Houston Final Four team by year three as kind of a wing player that Kansas would have preferred him to be when he was there in year one. If that's the idea with Floyd Badunga,
Starting point is 00:09:41 that he's going to be here year two, year three, maybe he does kind of turn into that. So exciting news all around with some of those quotes and newcomers for KU basketball. We got more quotes to get to top performers for KU football against Lindenwood. According to pro football focus, we're going to break it all down on this episode of locked on Jayhawks. This episode of the show is brought to you by ultimate college football head coach. It's a brand new mobile game that I think you're going to love as much as I do.
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Starting point is 00:11:18 and thank you again to TuneIn. Don't forget you can make your second listen, Locked on College Football, to get you caught up with what happened in week one and looking ahead to week two this week on Locked On. Okay, more notable comments from Bill Self on the Seth Davis Bleacher Report podcast late last week. He said, last year we put ourself in a situation that if everything went perfect, we could have made a deep run.
Starting point is 00:11:39 Later said, I learned that too much is better than not enough. I think that's what you're seeing this year. I think that's what you're seeing with the late edition of David Coyt, that you would much rather be in a situation where somebody is unhappy that they're the ninth man, that they're the 10th man. Like if you're Bill Self, you'd rather have to have conversations with guys about being, I don't know, happier in those situations or what you can do to earn more playing time than you would the alternative, which is trying to force somebody who is your sixth or seventh man to play better.
Starting point is 00:12:11 Like Bill Self, he said it before, he loves using the bench as a teaching tool. Like that's been a comment he's given out there. And I think that's what you've kind of seen with this year's team. Is it a guarantee that it's all going to come together? It's all going to work? No, because like KU's had other teams
Starting point is 00:12:24 that have been, I don't know, deep on paper when we come into the season. I think of the 2018-2019 team where it's like, you had KJ Lawson as like your ninth or tenth man, and he was putting up like really good numbers the year before at Memphis. But that was just nobody could really find their role. I don't think they'll have their problem on this year's team because you have, you know, three returning starters.
Starting point is 00:12:41 So it makes it easier to kind of slot into roles and stuff like that. But I think that'll be something you see moving forward, especially now that the scholarship numbers are going to be 15 for basketball. I don't know the KU will, obviously they have to take one away that next year anyway, but I don't know if they'll ever use all 15, but it gives them the option to bring in even more guys. And then just basically say at the end of the year,
Starting point is 00:13:01 wherever the chips fall, like if we have a couple of players we brought in and we thought maybe they could be the eighth man, they ended up being the 11th man or 10th man and they transfer at the end of the year wherever the chips fall like if we have a couple players we brought in and we thought maybe they could be the eighth man they ended up being the 11th man or 10th man and they transfer at the end of the year whatever we'll bring in another transfer the next year another freshman the next year right that's kind of uh i think where this is going uh and he also talked about like you couldn't practice as much and that's something they're gonna be able to do like i said this before like diggy coy even if he's your ninth or tenth man and he's not playing 15 minutes every night for Kansas, he's going to be a hell of a practice player for KU, right,
Starting point is 00:13:30 to really help out with your team and going up against some of these smaller guards who can really fill it up for KU and trying to defend against, you know, picking pops and picking rolls and guards who can do that sort of stuff. I think that's going to be super helpful for KU in practice. This one I found very interesting as we consider more and more with the email comments and some of this other stuff about what the rotation will be like for Kansas. And we'll have another update, another show with another update based on more that's happening. Maybe some of these comments about what we think the rotation is looking like here, maybe the next couple of weeks. but he said, quote, Hunter's minutes need to be 28. And so I think
Starting point is 00:14:08 it makes sense. Like a couple of reasons, Hunter Dickinson is going to be a better rebounder, a more energetic defender. If he's playing 28 minutes, as opposed to 32, 35, 36 minutes in a given game, it doesn't sound that big of a deal four minutes in a given game. It doesn't sound that big of a deal, four minutes in a given game, but like that's one extra chunk of the game where it's not just you're out of the game for four minutes, but that basically means a full TV timeout, right? You think TV timeout, four minute chunk TV timeout. So like that could be 10, 15 minutes of real time, seriously. So like that's a real break that you can have. And then you add up over the course of the season the season playing 28 minutes as opposed to 32 minutes per game over the course of if you play 40 games which is obviously the hope that's 160 minutes over the course of the season that's five
Starting point is 00:14:53 extra games that you're not playing so it does make a big difference those four minutes over the course of the season maybe four minutes once you get to march like at that point you play the extra four minutes it's whatever like over the course of the season it does kind of add up a little bit there and if it helps his defense helps the rebounding everything obviously he was already a really good rebounder but if it makes him from already a great rebounder to an even better one on the offensive end or something like that i don't know um that can be helpful but also they have the minutes to give out in theory if florida and zach clements that clements most improved player and florida is this great prospect then you shouldn't have problem filling the back of five.
Starting point is 00:15:26 You can even throw KJ there in a pinch at the back of five minutes, right? So they shouldn't have problems filling that role. Might as well get those guys minutes, and I think it'll help Hunter Dickinson and everybody else too. Last quote I wanted to touch on here. He said, I think we'll go nine. This is Seth Davis talking about, okay, you have such a deep team. How deep are you going to go?
Starting point is 00:15:42 You're going to go nine, 10 guys deep. Bill Zuff said, I think we'll go nine. I don't know that we'll go 10. I never play 10. Good self-awareness there. And we did the conversation talking about, you know, the depth that they play. Typically, it's like closer to eight. But there have been years that we talked about.
Starting point is 00:15:58 If you're an everyday, you caught it with the past shows. But they have gone to nine. And maybe this team is trending that way. And I think that makes it a little bit easier to project the rotation. If you are getting to nine, because we know the guys who are going to play, right? I mean,
Starting point is 00:16:11 the three returning starters with KJ Adams, Hunter Dickinson and DeJuan Harris, like, okay, you're going to be starting again. AJ store, Ryland Griffin, Zeke Mayo,
Starting point is 00:16:19 whatever role between, I guess, Mayo and Griffin, like is starting or coming off the bench. Like they're all going to play. You look at whoever the backup center is, Flory or Zach, right? There's seven guys. So now you're left with two spots with Shaquille Moore,
Starting point is 00:16:31 who I think is going to play because he's a good defender. He's trusted, older player, ball handler. You got D.E. Coit out there. You got Ricky's Passmore. You got, if you want to play, another one of these centers. I feel like I'm forgetting somebody, too. Like, point being, the numbers run out very quickly. So if you're getting to nine, I think that would be a good thing for KU
Starting point is 00:16:47 over the course of the season. But once it gets into game action, we'll see if that holds true because all of a sudden you get into the North Carolina game or the Champions Classic or playing Duke, and it's like six or seven guys, the most trusted guys for Bill Self, and we'll see how that goes over the course of the season. All right, KU football took down Lindenwood on last Thursday, 48-3. Let's look back to that game.
Starting point is 00:17:06 Who are some of the top performers according to Pro Football Focus, and what does that tell us for the rest of the season for KU football? Our episode today is brought to you by 5-Hour Energy. You're tired after lunch, right? You hit that lull. You had a big lunch after having a long morning, and now you're kind of dozing off. Well, you're not alone.
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Starting point is 00:18:11 Just go to 5hourenergy.com today. Finishing things up on this episode of Locked on Jayhawks with KU football's best PFF scores for the KU-Lindenwood game. We'll have throughout the week more conversation about the KU-Lindenwood game. We'll have throughout the week more conversation about the KU-Lindenwood game. Look ahead to KU-Illinois game. We'll get into which players have to step up for KU to beat Illinois.
Starting point is 00:18:34 We'll have our preview. We'll have our postcast after the game on Saturday night for the KU-Illinois game as well. So make sure you're subscribed to the show anywhere you get your podcasts. All right, so KU football's top PFF scores against Lindenwood. Here's the top five offensive players. Luke Luke Graham who had a 91.1 Jalen Daniels
Starting point is 00:18:49 who had a 90.5 which I think is interesting because you look at like QBR it was closer to being even because of the bad interception but PFF is basically saying yeah uh that might have been a miscommunication with the receiver and also like besides that he did everything else great which I think is interesting um Calvin Clements had an 88.8. That was good to see. Only 14 snaps, a little less than the starters, but he played really well. Logan Brown had an 88.6, which is interesting because I don't know if he was hurt or he got benched at one point because he kind of went out and then came back in. But PFF was like, no, he killed it. And then Bryce Cabledew had an 88.2.
Starting point is 00:19:20 So that's going to make you feel good about the two tackles and where they're at that Brown and Cabledew. Obviously, you know, the competition is going to get better. We'll see how that goes. But at least in the first game, looked pretty good. The bottom five on offense, you had three tight ends in there. Jaden Hamm, LJ Arnold, Lincoln Cure, or Layton Cure, sorry. Nolan Gorchika and Jared Casey. And I don't necessarily agree with the Cure and Casey ones on here I think for a long time PFF
Starting point is 00:19:46 has had a difficult um idea of of tracking just how impactful like Jared Casey's blocks have been and I think you look at what Leighton Cure did Leighton Cure was basically a carbon copy of Jared Casey in this game they were both opening up holes they were both like like two of KU's rushing touchdowns were behind Casey and Cure They were setting the key blocks on things to happen. So I think they played better than the PFF grade, right? Some of it you take with a grain of salt. Some of it you, you trust whatever, you kind of have to use your eyes and use this as a tool as opposed to just to be all in all. Also the Arnold one, like him being lower there, one doesn't worry me because he's a great player, but two also probably just because of like a lack of opportunities. Like if you would have got more targets, probably would have had a higher PFF grade.
Starting point is 00:20:28 So those are the ones there. Other notables for the offense. I found this interesting. Kansas had five offensive linemen who were above an 80 on PFF grade in this game. The three mentioned Clements, Brown, Cable, and then you also had Michael Ford and Bryce Foster, and they had three others. So eight total offensive linemen who are graded a 70 or above. Basically 60 to 69.
Starting point is 00:20:48 Somewhere in that range is basically just like an average like, you know, starter. So you're getting like good production from eight linemen. That's awesome. And all five of the starting offensive linemen were 74 better. Great performance. Again, much easier opponents. We'll see how it carries over. But you'd prefer to be talking about that and being like, well, we'll see how it carries over. But you'd prefer to be talking about that and being like,
Starting point is 00:21:05 well, we'll see how it carries over the rest of the games. Then, oh, no, they got smoked by Lindenwood, and that's not good because they're an FCS team, right? What about defense? Top five defense, you had OJ Burrows. He had a 91.2. He had an awesome game. He was targeted five times.
Starting point is 00:21:19 He gave up one catch for negative one yard. And I don't always know that I trust the target numbers on PFF for safeties because I think some of it, like, I don't know how it divvies out when like the safety's in zone. And what if the safety is supposed to be playing cover two and has to cover for somebody cause they mess up a coverage. And so it looks like you're playing cover three and then they get dinged for like, I don't know how they know that stuff.
Starting point is 00:21:42 But that's cool that it happened. And I thought, you know, watching it, he played a great game. Mello Dotson, 90.8. That makes sense. He was killer, had some awesome tackles, had the pick six and everything. JB Brown had an 86.8. Cornell Wheeler had an 85.5. So that makes you feel good about where those two middle linebackers are coming in and thump you.
Starting point is 00:21:59 And then Tristan Fletcher, one of the backup linebackers, had a 79.8. So good about the linebackers there. The bottom five on defense, Logan Brantley. That was just one snap, though. Hard to judge that too much. Jason Gilliam in eight snaps. So again, limited snaps there. That's not a great sign to see, though, with one of your starters.
Starting point is 00:22:15 You had McGee in 11 snaps. They were all below 50. And then you had, that was Ron McGee, by the way. And then you had DJ Warner, who was above a 50, Bajob, who was a 55, both in the bottom five. Again, if you're having bottom five performers still at 50 and 55, that's a good problem to have. But also those guys are young,
Starting point is 00:22:35 so I'm not worried about that at all. Like they're gonna get better as it goes on. The young guys are the case where it's like, for most players, if you're a veteran, it's like, if you didn't do it against Lindenwood, it's gonna be hard for you to do it later in the season. For the young guys, it's like, no players if you're a veteran it's like if you didn't do it against lyndonwood it's going to be hard for you to do it later in the season for the young guys it's like no if you didn't do it against lyndonwood it's just probably yourself you're young you're going to get better as the season goes on so not a big worry there other notables on the defense uh the ku i found this interesting in the passing game ku linebackers
Starting point is 00:22:59 were targeted 11 times which i think is going to happen a lot this season ku has these two stud corners they've got good safeties good you know depth in the corner room as well. Linebackers are going to get targeted. Teams are going to throw to the running backs. They're going to throw to the tight ends. They're going to throw to slot receivers and stuff. And KU linebackers are targeted 11 times. They give up nine catches on the 11th. That's not great. Now, good news though, they only give up 52 yards. So if you're saying you're targeted 11 times and you're giving up 52 yards, less than five yards per catch. I mean, if you're giving up under five yards per, per a throw attempt, I guess I should say you're going to be like the best pass defense in the country. So that
Starting point is 00:23:32 actually would be good, but you gave up a lot of completion. So what I I'm just going to be tracking this moving forward, because what I think is interesting is that when you're playing better teams, when you're playing teams who have better running backs, better slot receivers, better tight ends players who can make you miss, what happens when you give up catches on 9 of 11 attempts? Do those turn into bigger yardage plays because the players with the football are able to make bigger plays than what Lindenwood was able to? Or is this a good sign that the pass defense was actually okay
Starting point is 00:24:00 and they really only gave up stuff on like checkdowns? That'll just be something we're kind of targeting moving forward uh the other one the next best performer on the top five that we didn't get to was blake harold he had a 76.3 redshirt freshman d tackle we heard some good stuff in in camp that he was making moves but i thought it was going to be moves like tommy dunn and dj withers that they were slowly making progress eventually by the time you get to redshirt sophomore you're playing maybe you're starting and then now both players looking to break out this year for KU. But Harold was playing a lot of snaps, had a good PFF grade right away.
Starting point is 00:24:29 He might be higher up on that depth chart than you might have imagined. And also, Harold would have been followed by Dean Miller, who had a 72.4 PFF grade. He had four pressures that led KU. Jeremy Robinson was second with three of them. Overall, KU had 14 pass pressures. They gave up just five. So that's a good place to be a plus nine for that game. But let's see if Dean Miller,
Starting point is 00:24:49 let's see if Blake Harold, let's see if these guys can do it against a much better Illinois offensive line this week. We'll get more into that game and plenty more coming at you this week on lockdown. Jay Hawks, make sure you're subscribed anywhere you get podcasts, including on our YouTube page.
Starting point is 00:25:00 We'll see you next time with LOJ.

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