Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Devin Neal and Cobee Bryant Have Been Kansas Jayhawks Football's MVPs in 4-0, Ranked Start

Starting point is 00:00:00 On today's Locked on Jayhawks, we're joined by Nick Schwert. We're going to be talking big takeaways for KU football, their 4-0 start with BYU. Who's KU's best player that is not their quarterback with Jalen Daniels? That could be a fun topic. A little KU Texas talk, and we'll finish up with whose stat line is it anyway. You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network,

Starting point is 00:00:27 your team every day. I'm Derek Johnson. You can hear me as well, Monday through Friday from 3 to 6 p.m. on KLWN in Lawrence with Rock Chalk Sports Talk. You can also hear Nick on his new podcast, and you can give us both a follow on Twitter, at DJohnsonRadio, at Nick underscore Schwert, as we're going to be talking a lot of KU football on today's edition of the show. First, though, this episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook,

Starting point is 00:01:00 official sportsbook of Locked On. Make every moment more. Right now, new customers can bet $5 and get $200 in bonus bets guaranteed. Visit fanduel.com slash locked on to get started today. All right, so we're going to be talking a little KU football in today's episode. We'll finish up with whose stat line is it anyway. Let's start with this. KU beats BYU 38-27.

Starting point is 00:01:23 They improved to 4-0 on the season. What to you is your biggest positive takeaway about KU's win and so far with their start and where they're at? I think my biggest takeaway, big picture with KU right now, is that they are proving to fans and to everybody around the country that last year was not a fluke, and they're doing it without Jalen Daniels having to be Superman. Last year, 5-0 start, if you remember the West Virginia game, if you remember the Houston game, KU came out of the gate slow and then had to fight their way back into those games in the

Starting point is 00:02:06 second quarter and throughout the second half. And the majority of that workload fell on JD's shoulders. Like he had to go out and do everything for this team because as good of a rushing team as you go back and you look at the numbers for KU last year, right? They were a very respectable rushing team. Early in the season, the ground game was not working. The offensive line was a little spotty. Devin Neal had his games, but it wasn't consistent like it has been this year. And you kind of felt like that's not a sustainable model for winning across the long term this year has been a different story JD has been good but I wouldn't say that he's the reason why KU is for now he's part of it but the fact that he is no longer the only guy who people are impressed with is a sign that this is becoming a better collective unit

Starting point is 00:02:59 as opposed to oh wow you just have this really dynamic playmaker at quarterback. So to me, it's a variety of things. I think it's, you know, Devin Neal's baked into this. The ground game is baked into this. The defensive improvement is baked into this. But big picture, the most impressive part to me is that they're proving that they're just a good team as opposed to just having a good quarterback. Yeah. And I think the rushing totals that they've had each and every week,

Starting point is 00:03:28 like it's pretty dominant every which way you kind of go through it. We'll see how that goes this week with Texas. That's maybe a different bear, but okay. Who do you think has been KU's MVP so far? Who do you think has been KU's best player? And I'll, I don't know. It's easy. Like you said, with, with Jalen Daniels, you know, he hasn't had to been Superman. Like maybe he was

Starting point is 00:03:49 early kind of last year. So maybe you wouldn't pick him anyway, but just for the sake of this, I want to take a non quarterback player anyway. Um, who do you think KU is best non quarterback is? You don't have to give me the caveat because I don't think I'm giving you Jalen Daniels regardless. Like it's Devin Neal for me. I think Devin Neal has been a top 15 running back in the country. I think he is well on his way to being a first team, all big 12 selection. If, if, if the numbers improve as KU's offense continues to get better and better, which I think it will, we can get into how much they're trying to show or hold back versus some of these opponents, but I do think the numbers are going to get better,

Starting point is 00:04:31 especially as they start to play better teams. They may need to score more to stay in games. Devin Neal's the answer for me, man. I go back to that Nevada game where there were kind of rumblings early that maybe this guy's injured, like he's not 100%. He wasn't getting a ton of carries early in the game. But then the second half, when KU needed to put Nevada away, they give the ball to Devin Neal, and it was just like a completely different

Starting point is 00:04:57 offense. This guy, when he touches the ball, is electric, Derek, and he's doing it without having to take 25, 30 carries a game. I think the most carries he's taken in a game this year is 17, and he's still putting up ridiculous numbers. He's top 20 in the country in rushing yards so far this year, and he's also really dynamic as a pass catcher. This guy is a do-it-all back, and I mean, even if you give me Jalen Daniels, I think Devin Neal has been Kansas' most impressive player through the first month of the year. Would you hold any argument for a guy like Kobe Bryant?

Starting point is 00:05:35 I mean, Kobe Bryant, obviously, he's been kind of a lockdown corner. He was an All-Big 12 first-team player for you last year. He's getting some of the turnovers in there. He's made some huge plays for you. You go back to the BYUu game but it seems like every game he's making kind of one of those big plays maybe except the nevada game which he missed the first half because the targeting um would that be your your next biggest competition or would somebody else come to mind yeah he was the other guy i was kind of thinking about can we just take a moment like in moment in a vacuum to just talk about the hit, the fumble, the scoop and score?

Starting point is 00:06:08 I said this on Monday. I don't think this is hyperbole because sometimes you say things and they're just lavish. That is the greatest hit, I think, in KU football since I have ever been watching KU football. It might be forever. I don't know. I like the term greatest because it is a 10 out of 10. You cannot hit somebody that hard, that cleanly in football. Like there is no way he could have hit him harder and cleaner.

Starting point is 00:06:36 Like shoulder to shoulder, absolutely vaporized that guy. I mean, that was textbook exactly how every defensive coach in America teaches you how to tackle. And it's very difficult to do running at full speed, coming around a corner while you're trying to lower and lay the boom. That was 170 pounds. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. That might even be listed too much. He ran through dude like a cardboard box that was so awesome and if you have the ability to do that as a defensive player right we're talking about best player most impactful player your opportunities are few and far between at cornerback right because if you're a shutdown corner they're just going to stop throwing to you and that hasn't necessarily

Starting point is 00:07:19 been the case but every time there has been a play to make, Kobe Bryant seems to make it. So I have no qualms if anybody wanted to say that he's that guy, because I do think this as well. If we're going to talk about the defense, the defense is better this year. I still wouldn't qualify them as a good defense. They have just kind of raised the bar a little bit from what we saw a season ago. If you're going to get to being a respectable defense, you have to do it at the positions that matter the most. You have to do it at pass rush. You have to do it at cornerback. So the fact that you have one of those guys at a really premier position in football is huge for this team. Yeah. And I mean, Austin Booker, Jeremy Robinson have played well so far at that defensive end position. All right, I want to get into some KU Texas talk.

Starting point is 00:08:09 What's most concerning about this game? What would be a good result for KU, not just in this game, but maybe in the next couple of games before their bye week? First, though, this episode of the show is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. Snap into the action this NFL season

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Starting point is 00:09:03 player props, over unders and more. And again, get in on that KU Texas line with some of the promos and boosts that they're going to have in on it. So visit fanduel.com slash locked on and kick off the NFL season. FanDuel, an official partner of the NFL. All right, so KU obviously plays Texas this Saturday. Top 25 matchup. Texas ranked third in the country.

Starting point is 00:09:23 Let's start here with Texas. Are you fully bought in that Texas is a top five team in the country, or do you still have some hesitations after Alabama didn't look great the next weekend, South Florida, even though they just, I don't know, kind of handled Ole Miss last weekend? Yeah, I think, I don't know, like college football ranking is sort of subjective. Like do you want to, Do they deserve it versus are they

Starting point is 00:09:47 legitimately one of the top five teams? They definitely deserve it. You go and hand Alabama a loss on their home field the way they did, looking very dominant in the trenches. I'm not going to sit here and tell you Texas doesn't deserve to be ranked in the top five as opposed to are they one of the five best teams we'll find out because the one guy I know that like his stock rose the most in Texas's win over Alabama that I kind of came away saying I don't really see it as Quinn Ewers like I I haven't seen him make a ton of high level throws this season to the point where I say, okay, wow, this is a team that is going to be frightening this season. Now they're still better than Kansas. And we saw last year, like even in a down Texas season, like they're going to absolutely crush some teams because of the dudes that they have up front. So yeah, I think it's like not

Starting point is 00:10:42 this, the biggest headline for Texas this year which is okay Quinn Ewers Heisman candidate potential first round pick I'm not really on that train quite yet but Texas has dudes Texas always has those guys but they're actually playing to their ceiling this year so yeah I think I think they're you you'd be very justified in being a little frightened as to how this game might go on Saturday yeah the spread is 17 points um I I was a little surprised when I saw it being that high I thought it was going to come out around like 14 which I guess that's not like that big of a difference but uh I don't know I I saw some places it was up at like 20 at one point and I I kind of am buying in a little bit that, I mean, it's just,

Starting point is 00:11:26 cause I agree with you. I still don't know if I trust Quinn Ewers, but it just, I look around the quarterback and I'm like, Oh, the offensive line kind of dominated in the trenches against Alabama. And they've got a good running back and they have like three stud receivers who would all be number ones on a lot of other schools. They have maybe the top tight end in the big 12 with Jatavion Sanders. And it's just,

Starting point is 00:11:46 it's that, that perfect formula of just having a good enough quarterback with just an unbelievable amount of talent around him. And then you look at the defense and the defensive line dominated the Alabama offensive line. Now I don't, I don't know if, if that's because that's where Alabama has really struggled so far this year

Starting point is 00:12:02 quarterback play in the offensive line, but we do know Alabama has a bunch of five stars on that offensive line. So, yes, I think to me that is the biggest worry about this game. It's that the Texas defensive line is going to control the game. At the same point in time, Kansas offensive line has been really good. Did you know right now on Pro Football Focus, the Kansas offensive line ranks top ten in the country in pass block grade country in past block grade

Starting point is 00:12:25 and in run block grade. I'm going to, yeah. Texas is going to put that PFF grade to the test on Saturday. I'm not saying like, I have no faith in Kansas because generally speaking, like if you give me a good offense versus a good defense, I'm going to take the good offense every time.

Starting point is 00:12:42 But to your point, watching the Alabama game, that was my biggest takeaway was they are crushing the pocket on every single drop back. Like Jalen Milrow was bad for Bama, but he didn't have much of a chance because the pocket was crumbling around him on every single drop back. And that scares me. Like that, that that scares me the idea that Jalen Daniels is going to be running for his life and having to make plays off script for four quarters like if you're going to have a chance like if we want to get into the formula of how Kansas keeps things close like that's one piece of the formula which is JD's going to need time to make plays downfield

Starting point is 00:13:23 because as much as I love his ability to get out of the pocket and make plays on the run you can't do that for four quarters and expect to win so what do you think would be a good result here because on one hand you could say well you're a top 25 program now you should go into each and every week expecting to win on the other hand you know you're playing on the road against top five opponent uh this Kansas program is still building up toward having higher expectations like if you lose by 14 points at the end of the day do you walk away from that and be like okay that was pretty good um I think my expectations for this game are less I mean I want Kansas to look like they belong last year when they played Texas and remember

Starting point is 00:14:06 JD was in that game I don't know how healthy he was he played in that game Kansas didn't look like they belonged John Robinson ran all over Kansas and that that is probably the most deflating way to lose a game or to get blown out of a game is when the opposing running back or the opposing rushing game is ripping off seven, eight, nine yards of carry. Because that's just like all game. We've seen that so many times over the last 14 years of Kansas football is they get into a game, the offensive line is parting the Red Sea, and the running back is just ripping explosive play after explosive play that to me is where I know John's gone now but Texas still has dudes and that to me is like the biggest fear is can you can the defense do enough to give the offense a chance because I

Starting point is 00:15:03 don't think it's like this is going to be a high scoring game. Somebody asked me yesterday, can Kansas win a shootout versus Texas? If you're going to be in the game, you're going to have to. This game is not going to be played in the 20s. Texas is going to score, but Kansas has proven over the last year and a half that they can score with the best of them. It may be a race to 40 points, but that to me is where it starts. Like, can you hold them to, can you hold them to 38 instead of 55 like you gave up last year? Because if, if this offense for Texas performs the way they did versus Kansas last

Starting point is 00:15:35 season, it could be tough sledding. But by the way, but by the way, to answer your question, I just want Kansas to look like they belong in this game. So if that means a one score game in the fourth quarter, if that means you just, you look like you're on the same playing field as this team for four quarters, that's all I really want. I don't want to see a repeat of what we saw last year, which is like, oh, nice 4-0 start. But now you're playing the big boys, and it's very clear there's still a talent discrepancy. If we can just come away from this game saying, all right, you know, yeah,

Starting point is 00:16:11 Texas is on another level, but Kansas looks like they're a legit team in the Big 12, a top four, top five team in the Big 12, I think that would be a positive. Yeah, and as far as these next three games, they have three games before the bye at Texas versus UCF at Oklahoma State. Let's say they go one and two in that range. Would that be disappointing? Well, if you think about it, you're, like you said, 17-point dogs versus Texas versus UCF will probably be close to a pick them depending on how this game

Starting point is 00:16:46 goes. Oklahoma state, I think you'll be favored against, but it won't be a huge spread. So these games are all going to be kind of reminiscent of aside from the Texas game. These games are going to be kind of reminiscent of the BYU game, which is, you know, maybe you're a one touchdown favorite, but in college football, that that's football, that's not a ton. That's to the point where you say, okay, these teams are kind of on the same playing field. But yeah, I think I would be disappointed. I would definitely be disappointed if you came away from this stretch one and two. I'm still in the mode of, okay, you're 4-0.

Starting point is 00:17:20 You're in the same spot you were last year. Why would I aim for just being in the mix with some of these, you know, middle tier big 12 teams at this point, my goal, my dream for Kansas is still to assert that you are one of the better teams in the big 12. And so that means going and beating UCF at home. That means beating Oklahoma state. Like these are teams that have, UCF's better than Oklahoma State, but these are teams that have shown you like,

Starting point is 00:17:49 there's not a ton to get excited about for them this year. KU fans have every reason to be excited. So I expect to go into those games and win them. Yeah, yeah. I think two and one, you're more than content with. If you're three and O, we can start talking college football playoff. How about that? Okay. I think, dude,, you're more than content with. If you're 3-0, we can start talking college football playoff. How about that?

Starting point is 00:18:05 Okay. Dude, if you're 5-0, if you win this game against Texas, those conversations are going to start on Monday. I guarantee it. Yep. All right, let's finish up. Whose stat line is it anyway? This is Locked on Jayhawks.

Starting point is 00:18:20 Finishing things up, whose stat line is it anyway? I've got two for you today, both KU football related ones. This first one is from the BYU game this past week. This player had two catches for 18 yards. Doesn't sound like a great stat line, does it? I know who it is. And you just gave it away.

Starting point is 00:18:41 See, I may have missed it, but when you said, doesn't sound like a great stat line, light bulb went off in my head. The answer is a man who you conveniently left off two touchdowns of his stat line, which would be Luke Grimm.

Starting point is 00:18:54 That's right. This is Luke Grimm. It's just funny because I looked at the box score after the game. I was like, oh man, Luke Grimm killed it today. I was like, wait, he hit 18 yards? But you know, the touchdown is the most important. So I just thought it was kind of funny.

Starting point is 00:19:06 That second one, impressive grab. Like kind of had to full out extend. He was open. JD overthrew him just a little bit. But, yeah, he was fired up too. You see him on the sidelines just going berserk. I love that. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:19:19 And his whole story about how he got here at KU and, you know, one of the position coaches wasn't sure that he wanted to recruit him. And then they ended up taking him in the end. I mean, kind of worked out, kind of worked out. Okay. All right.

Starting point is 00:19:31 Here's a season long stats. This player has been targeted nine times this season on defense. They've allowed 28 yards, according to pro football focus on those nine targets. That's pretty good. And they also have two interceptions. I mean, I know the answer that immediately comes to mind, but I know, I think there's another guy.

Starting point is 00:19:52 I think there's two guys who have two picks, but I'm going to go with the obvious answer in Kobe Bryant. Yep. No need to overthink it. Kobe Bryant is the correct answer. Dude, those numbers are insane. So going back to a conversation we were having at the beginning about his value and everything,

Starting point is 00:20:06 I had somebody ask me this on Twitter. And honestly, it was a very thought-provoking process because I always feel silly if somebody asked me, like, is Kobe Bryant, where's he going to go in the NFL draft? Like, could he go after this year? And it's always weird for me to be like, oh, yeah, this Kansas guy, he'll be a day one or day two pick because it just it doesn't like formulate in my brain. But I'm looking at the numbers. I'm looking at a guy who was first team all big 12 last year. So far this year, he is playing on pace to be that maybe he's even playing on pace to be an All-American.

Starting point is 00:20:37 I mean, if you if you extrapolate out those numbers times three, he gets six picks and he's not getting picked on at all. And I don't I don't know and and yeah he's he's a little thinner in size but um I was looking last year Emmanuel Forbes for Mississippi State he weighed in 166 pounds at the combine he got picked 16th overall by the Washington Commanders is it crazy to say that Kobe Bryant could be a first round NFL draft pick no it's not crazy I think at his position specifically, like you just kind of laid out the blueprint for why it can happen. It's a premium position in the NFL. Like when you, and all you have to do is look at how much these guys get paid

Starting point is 00:21:18 in the NFL. It goes quarterback, edge rusher, left tackle, wide receiver, cornerback. Like it's the fifth most important position on the field. It is the fifth highest paid position on the field. And if you have the potential to just be a shutdown guy, like, hey, I'm going to erase this half of the field. And also when you do throw my way, I a proven playmaker right i'm not just a great cover corner i'm a ball hawk i'm a playmaker marcus peters how much does he weigh man and look at what's he got like 32 interceptions over the course of his career like he's not a big physical

Starting point is 00:21:59 cornerback we think of those guys like patrick petersonalen Ramsey? Yes, of course, that's the blueprint, but that's the difference between being picked 21st and being picked seventh is like, oh yeah, I've got all those things and I'm built like a brick shithouse, right? I'm six, two, I'm jacked. I'm two 15. I'm physical. I can play press man coverage and just jam you at the line. He's not that guy, but he still has the makings of being a really, really good player at his position. So it wouldn't shock me whatsoever because we see it all the time with guys at his position. All right. He's Nick Schwert.

Starting point is 00:22:37 Nick, where can you find some of your work this week? You can check out our podcast could be wrong. Wherever you get your podcast. We also have full episodes up on YouTube. So talking a lot of KU Texas, Lance Leipold, and everything happened with KU football. All right, you can give them a follow at Nick underscore Schwert on Twitter.

Starting point is 00:22:55 I'm at DJohnsonRadio there, and you can find Locked on Jayhawks anywhere you get your show, anywhere you get your podcasts, and on our YouTube page as well. See you next time. We'll have a KU Texas preview later this week.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Devin Neal and Cobee Bryant Have Been Kansas Jayhawks Football's MVPs in 4-0, Ranked Start

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