Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - FLIP: Kansas Jayhawks LAND Jibriel Conde in Portal, Steal Shakes Up Defensive Line Outlook

Starting point is 00:00:00 Off seasons here, and we already have a big flip. KU landing a big-time defensive lineman out of the transfer portal who was previously committed to Wisconsin. Maybe the other end to the Jeff Grimes trade, which I guess keeps coming in positives for KU. We're going to break it all down on today's episode. You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, Your team every day. What is going on, Derek Johnson here? This is Locked on Jayhawks.

Starting point is 00:00:36 Thanks for making your first list every day. Thank you for making the Lockdown Podcast Network, the number one sports podcast network. And on this bonus episode, J'Briel Conde is the newest Kansas Jayhawks, Jayhawk for 2026. They've made their first transfer portal edition for the team next year. And obviously, they need to work fast in the offseason.

Starting point is 00:00:56 Well, they've got an opportunity to do that right here. and they were able to get it done on a flip. So we're going to break that down. His scouting report, what he brings, what the defensive line room or defense tackle room could look like next season and why this is such a big addition for KU. Let's start right there with the news. So he was, it's Real Conday.

Starting point is 00:01:17 He's a former Grand Valley State defensive lineman. That's a division two school. It's been a good division two school. He committed to Wisconsin, actually. and it was i guess he visited wisconsin i think he visited kansas too and uh then ends up picking wisconsin and i think that was on saturday he now has a change of heart on monday i don't know if that's one of those situations you know sometimes sometimes uh this is the classic like you you and your significant other whatever like me and my wife will be like oh what do we want to do

Starting point is 00:01:45 for dinner tonight it's like you know we'll do this or this and then you get between like two decisions or something and you're like you know let's do that let's just do that one you just pick one. And then once you pick one, you kind of decide like, no, I think in my deep down my heart, I did want the other one. And then you change your mind. Maybe that's what happened here with Condi, just, you know, flipping a couple of days later that it just didn't feel right and he ends up coming to Kansas. Either way, it is a big deal. He had a good amount of, I mean, Wisconsin, obviously, TCU in West Virginia, if you're just looking at in conference picks for KU. And I've seen some places like there are some places right now that are running with this because it's

Starting point is 00:02:26 going to be very splashy and headlining, which I understand, that list him as like, oh, they just landed the number one defensive linemen in the portal. And while that is true, I think over it on three, it is good to note that he's listed as a well regarded player. He's an 87 rated three star. That's that's a good number. Like out of comparison last year, Emmanuel Henderson was an 88 for Kansas, Trey Lathen, who ended up having a great year, was in 86. Lyric Rawls, who had a solid season, it was in 87. Those are all like starting level and impact level players for KU. So that's a good place to be. This is a very good addition for KU, but I don't want people to see that headline and be like, wow, KU got the number one defensive linemen. It's not going to end up

Starting point is 00:03:10 that way. There's not as many people in whatever, but I'm not here to reign on the parade. This is a very good addition for KU. This is a starter caliber player. We'll get a into where exactly he fits in in segment three. But KU's also had a lot of success with guys transferring up from those lower levels, right? You think of Leroy Harris last year, who comes over from the FCS level and is one of KU's best defenders in 2025. You think about Dominic Poonie, you know, a couple years ago coming from the D2 level at Central Missouri, and he comes over and he's an immediate day one starter and KU's best

Starting point is 00:03:45 offensive lineman for a couple of seasons and then becomes a day one starter. in the NFL. KEO's had success with some of these guys. And the cool thing about this edition, too, with Kande, is similar to the Poonie one, similar to the Harris one, because they've made some other additions from those levels, is he's a redshirt junior.

Starting point is 00:04:02 So he's two years left of play. And I think that was part of what made Poonie even a better edition was that you got multiple years out of him. And the same way, potentially, as long as you can retain Leroy Harris in the portal this year, is that you could have multiple years out of him, too. And so Condi would kind of add to that defense line in that same way. So let's break down his scouting report, what he brings to the table,

Starting point is 00:04:21 press what it looks like in that defensive tackle, defensive line room in a moment. This is locked on Jayhawks. This episode of the show is brought to you by Fanduel. The NBA's back. There's no better place to get in on the action than with Fandul, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Will the Thunder ever lose another game this year?

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Starting point is 00:05:14 on Lockdown Jayhawks. Thank you that every dayers catching each and every episode. episode and makes you make it to your first or in this case bonus episode second list every day uh so what is the scouting report on conday so um he is listed at now i've seen i think his his college lists him at 65 270 i think on his like social media profile and some of the stuff it lists him at 65290 so i'm not exactly what sure what the weight is obviously you know it'd be better for k you if he was 65290 um but yeah somewhere between those measurements but But I don't exactly know why he wound up at a D2 to begin with because, and not to Degre here. Like, I am very, there's really good ball, whether it's basketball, whether it's football,

Starting point is 00:05:57 at FCS, D2, D3, NAAA levels. There's absolutely very good ball. And we've seen players, you know, jump up in competition and do it well. But when I look at some of this stuff and I go, okay, this dude was all state, it's not like he was like an all state player in Wyoming and it's like, okay, you were under. recruited because you were in Wyoming. He was an all-state player in Michigan, where he had 16 tackles for loss in eight and a half sacks as a senior in the state of Michigan. Yeah, I guess I don't know the, you know, how big was this high school or whatever. But still, you were thinking in the

Starting point is 00:06:32 state of Michigan, those things, he was six foot four. He's now six foot five. His recruiting profile in high school had him listed six foot four. So he got good size. Now he was like 230 pounds on his high school recruiting. So he was more of like a defensive end in high school. But you would think, you would think like I don't know how did this kid wind up at D2 maybe it was situational or something or other but he winds up going to grand valley state where he does add again either 40 pounds or 60 pounds over his time there because again whether he's six five two 70 or six five to 90 um and this how he did it he red churned in 2023 he uh plays a little bit four games played in 2024 and that was for a really good team in 2024 that went 11 and two and made it to the uh like round of

Starting point is 00:07:13 16 in the playoffs and then this past year they go seven and three and he breaks out um he had 30 tackles in the 10 games so about three per game six and a half tfls two and a half sacks two past deflections and a fumble recovery so a good production here and based on some of the the clips the film the highlight whatever you want to call it uh that i saw of him seemed like a kind of gap shooting defensive tackle who's able to get in the gaps and that reminds me of what they kind of had this past year, which was like, I think they had defensive tackles that were able to get a good amount of like tackles for loss and cause chaos and cause disruption in the backfield. And he kind of fits right into that style of play specifically. I think he also

Starting point is 00:07:57 has because again, he was like a defensive end. I think a little bit in high school. I think you see some of those, those quickness and defensive end moves to get by blocks. It'll be interesting to see how he kind of gets used at Kansas, I think specifically, because, um, When you look at, okay, you need some defensive tackles. Like, is there a chance that you could use him as a strong side defensive? Yeah, I guess, but I think I view him, yeah, as a defensive tackle. But where I find it most interesting is when you look at this past year, Kansas played a couple different fronts.

Starting point is 00:08:29 They played a four-man front, which was kind of your traditional two defensive tackles and two defense events. And do they use him in that role? Or is he, right, they like to use that three defensive tackle look, a lot where they had three defensive tackles, and then they basically had two defensive ends. So it's basically a five-man front. And your two outside defensive tackles are kind of like, you know, three, four defensive ends essentially in that defense. And maybe he makes sense to play on one of those outer spots at the defensive tackle defensive end spot,

Starting point is 00:09:00 if that kind of makes sense. And then if you just go to a regular three down front, does he profile to being a defensive end if you're like in a three-three stack or a three-four or something like that? So I think there's a lot you can kind of do with him. I think his game allows you to be pretty flexible with what you want to do. But I think overall, the idea for me is he is a defensive tackle. So let's look at that defensive tackle room for KU in a moment. This is Locked on Jayhawks. Thanks, joining us on LOJ.

Starting point is 00:09:30 Don't forget to check out our Kansas Yukon preview to get you ready for the game. Pretty big one on Tuesday night. Will Darren Peterson play? Will he not? Who knows? Okay. So the newest commitment for KU, Jibril Kande, he is a transfer from Grand Valley State. He comes in as a defensive tackle.

Starting point is 00:09:47 And you look at the defense tackle room for KU in 2026. It is, it's pretty barren. You're losing a lot of guys to graduation, right? You think of DJ Withers and Tommy Dunn, who played a lot of snaps for this team over the last three years. Both of them are graduating. Gage Keys, I don't know. I think theoretically he could come back for another year if maybe he appears. heels and does something. Who knows if that's going to happen. So for now, we'll just assume you

Starting point is 00:10:12 have to move on without him. If you can come back, great. Keenan Caldwell, who really rocketed up at the end of last season and this season really played well for KU. He's gone as well. So that's a lot of players you're losing. Now, the good news for KU is even though they have a lot of depth to replace, I don't have a question about the frontline talent here for the defensive tackle room, right? because Blake Herald's, as long as you retain these guys, obviously, that's always the asterisk right now and trading for portal season. As long as you can retain these guys, Blake Herald is a Redshirt Jr. Blake Harold was really impressive as a Redshirt freshman.

Starting point is 00:10:51 He was even better as a Redshirt sophomore. I expect him to be even better as a Redshirt Jr. I'm thinking like an all-big 12 caliber player as a Redshirt Jr. is what I'm thinking with Blake Harold, right? So I really like what he brings to the table. And then you look at Marcus Calvin, who's also Redshirt Jr., He started to really get into the rotation this year, especially the season went on, snap counts going up and stuff and would make the occasional flash play.

Starting point is 00:11:13 So I like where they're at with that. I think that becomes the interesting. Like to me, Harold is a knockdown starter for this team. The question is who's going to be the other starter at the other defensive tackle spot? I think it's probably, I mean, right now you could also view the other guys on the roster, Josiah Hammond, who would be a redshirt freshman, and then McQarter, who would be coming in as a true freshman. I think you'd be looking at it and saying, okay, it's between Cond, And again, you're going to have to make more portal additions, at least one more, if not two.

Starting point is 00:11:41 But it's between Condi and Calvin for that second starting spot on the defensive line if you're Kansas and or at the defense tackle spot. Now, that said, the starting spot, I don't know how much that actually matters, right? Because we know KU rotates. If they have four good ones, they'll play four good ones primarily. If they have six good ones, they'll play six good ones primarily. they will rotate the amount of guys that they feel are good that are going to allow them to keep other guys fresh, right? And I think that's a good way of kind of doing things for KU. It also allows you to, I think, keep recruiting good players in this position room because multiple of them and a lot of them can get playing time.

Starting point is 00:12:20 But I think that's how I'd look at it. And then maybe if you're looking at, okay, when they are in that front where it's three defensive tackles and two defensive ends on the outside, maybe it's Calvin in the middle and it's Harold. and Conday on the outside of that, right? And then you get those three kind of on the field. But this makes you feel really good about the top three and the rotation for KU. I think the development of Josiah Hammond will be interesting in terms of, can he crack part of that rotation as well? You know, if McQuain Carter can come in and be part of that too, then that's great.

Starting point is 00:12:52 But you don't want that by force. You would want that by he comes in and is that good as a true freshman. Ideally, you're redshirting these guys like you were able to, for instance, with cheese Hammond. But I do think they are going to need at least another body, if not two more in the transfer portal, a defensive tackle. But this is a great first start. Like I said, we felt like the defensive tackle room was the strength of the defense this year. Again, it depends how you fill it out because right now the depth is not as good for 20206,

Starting point is 00:13:23 just because you don't have the bodies yet as it was in 2025. But I think the, like Tommy Dun & DJ Withers, solid players for K. I think Redshirt Jr. Blake Harold is better than both of those guys. I think there's a chance of Redshirt sophomore, Blake Harold is better than both those guys. So I think when you're just looking at the frontline talent, there's a chance that the frontline talent actually ends up being better at the defense tackle room this year for KU. The question is, can you match the depth?

Starting point is 00:13:49 If you can match the depth and you have potentially the best player, so to speak, of the bunch with Harold, then the defense tackle room, which was already a strength last year, can be an even bigger strength this year. and that's when you start actually improving overall as a defense because right now we've seen Kansas kind of finishing that oh we're going to be ranked somewhere between 70 or 60th and 80th best defense kind of depending what metric you're looking at but I like the start of this defense tackle room now with the addition of Konde. All right, that'll do for this bonus episode of Lockdown Jayhawks so you can find our show

Starting point is 00:14:20 anywhere you get your podcast including on our YouTube page. See you next time and don't forget check out our KUCon preview.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - FLIP: Kansas Jayhawks LAND Jibriel Conde in Portal, Steal Shakes Up Defensive Line Outlook

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