Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - JB Brown is the Kansas Jayhawks Football Linebacker and Defensive X-Factor in 2023

Starting point is 00:00:00 On today's Locked On Jayhawks, J.B. Brown is one of my favorite players that I'm looking out for on this defense. Is he the ultimate X-factor for the KU defense? Maybe the whole team previewing the rest of the linebacker position on today's edition of the show. 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 hear me as well, Monday through Friday from 3 to 6 p.m. on KLWN in Lawrence with Rock Chalk Sports Talk.

Starting point is 00:00:41 You can also find me here with Locked On Jayhawks. Thank you to all the everydayers out there tuning in to all the shows. And thanks for making Locked On Jayhawks your first listen every day. Free and available wherever you get any of your podcasts. Also on YouTube where you can like and subscribe to our YouTube page. And on today's edition of Locked on Jayhawks, we're talking the linebacker position for KU.

Starting point is 00:00:57 And I want to get a lot into J.B. Brown. He's a transfer into the program. Heard a lot of good things so far over the course of spring ball, over the course of fall camp, and what he could possibly provide to this unit and the defense overall. When you look at this linebacker unit, it is a unit that has struggled the past couple of years. So two years ago in year one of the Lance Leipold era, 2021, you look at some of the grades on Pro Football Focus, you look at some of the statistics, you look at some of how this team just performed on that end of the ball, you could argue that in 2021 KU had the bottom linebacker unit of any

Starting point is 00:01:32 power five school, right? It was a struggle. Last year, the unit improved a lot headed into 2022, but still at the end of the day, if you were ranking out the different linebacker units in the big 12 from a season ago, again, you look at like the pro football focus numbers, you look at some of the statistics, whether it's individual team numbers, this probably was still the worst group in the Big 12. They still did make a jump from the year before, but there was a jump to go from maybe, you know, last in the Power Five to last in the Big 12, but a little bit closer in range with some of the other schools that you would maybe put into that discussion. So they did improve a lot. And if that arrow can continue this year, you know, you have four new teams in the Big 12. We'll see how their linebacker units are.

Starting point is 00:02:13 Maybe this can be a more, you know, not the worst or middle of the pack. And we've had so many conversations in past years with KU football where the conversation devolved around, can you just not be the worst? Can you, instead of being the 10th best at whatever, name any asset or facet of the game, excuse me, or any position group of the game, can you just be eighth? Can you be ninth, right? And in this version of the Big 12, 14, can you be 11th? Can you be 12th, right? That becomes the question in a lot of these things. That's kind of how I feel about the linebackers this year. Can you just not be the worst? If we go based on the improvement they had from 2021 to 2022, and if they can apply that again to 2023, I think you're going to get up there enough that you need from this unit.

Starting point is 00:02:55 And specifically when you think about this unit, like, yes, linebackers are going to be involved in both pass coverage and against the run, but that's where I really think about it against the run. We've spent a lot of time talking about how this unit, if they can be better against the run, just that's where I really think about it, against the run. We've spent a lot of time talking about how this unit, if they can be better against the run just as a defense as a whole, that on its own is going to make it a better defense and is going to help you in those pass situations, even without a Lonnie Phelps, Kyron Johnson type of pass rusher.

Starting point is 00:03:18 And so when I look at J.B. Brown, who you brought in via the transfer portal from Bowling Green, he's a junior, so you still have another year out of him after this year. I view somebody who really can change this linebacker group in addition to what they have kind of returning there. Craig Young, I don't know if you want to count him as a linebacker or a hawk position because it is kind of the hawk position, the Cinco, I think they call it in certain formations. It's like a linebacker safety hybrid.

Starting point is 00:03:43 So maybe you'd save him from this discussion. I think he was your top linebacker though. If you want to view him in this group from a year ago, he does bring top tier level college football, athleticism, and talent. I mean, he was at Ohio state. He was playing a decent role with Ohio state before he came over. That's a college football playoff contender, right? He is, he is literally the top of the top in terms of athlete that you have on your defensive side of the ball. He's someone that I feel like was good last year. Can he take the step from being a good player to being a great player this year? Can you put it all together with that athleticism? All of a sudden you become an all-conference player because he has all the physical tools to be able to do it. And with another year in the system, like if he can take that jump from

Starting point is 00:04:20 being good to great, that would certainly raise the level of this unit. Rich Miller comes back for another year. He showed a lot of improvements over the course of his first season in 2021. Improvements last year, too. You add another year with adding to your body and the weight and everything like that. He's a leader in that group. He's a player that, as a senior, he's kind of the heartbeat of that defense. And he's someone that I expect to have a good season here in 2023 and raise his level to raise this group. And then Tyjuan Berryhill, he's kind of the heartbeat of that defense. And he's someone that I expect to have a good season here in 2023 and raise his level to raise this group. And then Tywon Berryhill, who's someone who everything really clicked for him last off season with the preparation to the game, that element that he started to figure out. He's been dealing with some injury stuff over the course of camps. We'll see how that affects things here. I do think if JB Brown ends up working in

Starting point is 00:05:03 the starting lineup right now, you'd probably be looking toward that being the more open spot, partially because of the injury and partially because I think Miller, because he's been kind of that leader and also maybe a little bit more production there than out of Berryhill. But either way, if it's Berryhill or J.B. Brown in the starter and one of them is coming off the bench, they're going to play a lot of snaps for whichever one it is not. Brown, to me, is the guy who can raise the ceiling of the unit. To me, Rich Miller, Tywon Berryhill provide a certain floor. I guess if you add Craig Young in there too, all of those three provide a certain floor that this should at least be, even if you were the bottom unit in the Big 12, which again, like some of the pro football

Starting point is 00:05:44 focus numbers would back up from last year, you at least were Big 12 caliber. You at least were in line with the other schools. That's where that improvement came in. The floor is that you are at least Big 12 caliber at the linebacker position, which is better than some years in the past, right? The ceiling is can Craig Young take off and what will J.B. Brown provide? Because if J.B. Brown does come in, I mean, pro football focus numbers, he had the best grade of any of these linebackers last year in college football. He was doing it against the Mac.

Starting point is 00:06:14 He was at Bowling Green, so it's a little bit easier. But you talk to some of the players, you talk to some of the coaches, he's arguably the hardest hitter on the team. That's only one element of the game, but football still is a physical sport. The physicality matters. You're a receiver, you're going over the middle of the field, you get popped pretty big, you might be thinking about it next time. You're a running back going through the middle and you get popped,

Starting point is 00:06:33 you might be thinking, maybe I should stretch it out next time. Maybe I should do this other play. The physicality still does matter there. Maybe that can force a big fumble. The tackling does matter when you're trying to stop the run. But I think he's a pretty athletic guy too that you're not going to lose a ton in maybe the pass coverage game. So he's someone, especially when I go back to the idea of, can you at least be better against the run? If you're talking about a sure tackler who is a big hitter, I think that he's a guy that I'm certainly circling JB Brown, that I don't know if he's going to start right off the bat. Again, I do think the Taiwan Berryhill

Starting point is 00:07:03 injury makes it a little bit more interesting for him to get those early reps. We saw last year, though, Eric Gileard come in via the transfer portal, and he was even here for spring ball. We saw Lorenzo McCaskill join during the summer and just be around for fall, and he even missed the first day or two of fall camp before he was able to get eligible and be on the team and everything. And those guys never really got that starting role.

Starting point is 00:07:24 Now, both played a big number of snaps as rotational linebackers, so they were playing a key role on the defense. But specifically with McCaskill, he was someone who, talent-wise and based on past production, being like an all-Sunbelt linebacker at a team who was borderline, if not top 25, for two straight years at Louisiana, he was someone who I expected to come in and be a starter. But because he joined so late, it took too long to figure out the playbook. And he was just a rotational linebacker at that point. Could that happen to J.B. Brown? Absolutely. Now, the beauty

Starting point is 00:07:52 of J.B. Brown is you have another year after this one that if that does happen, okay, Rich Miller graduates at the end of the year, then next year he can be the guy. So there is a beauty there, but maybe by him being at spring ball, if that can click the ceiling of what he can provide athletically and from a power level, I mean, you heard Matt Gildersleeve talking about some of the stuff he was doing that he's just a physical freak of nature. Some of the different weightlifting things that he is doing is just like next

Starting point is 00:08:18 level. So I think he's the guy that can raise the ceiling of this unit along with it. Craig Young can take that next level. And that might be what you need at the end of the day. He, to me is the ultimate X factor of this position. He's the X factor on this defense, because if you're getting that level of play and he's comfortable and feels good with the playbook and can let that athleticism and strength play out, that can take this defense up a notch from where it was a year ago. And he is a different piece that it's like, well, we have all these returners. We lost some players.

Starting point is 00:08:45 What's going to be different about the defense this year to last year? Well, he is one of those guys, which why the defense would be different. He can add into that position group. And I'm really high on what he can bring as long as that, you know, getting to know the playbook and feeling comfortable where you need to be on the defense, because the linebacker, you are kind of the quarterback of the defense. As long as he can figure that stuff out, which, yeah, it might take till week eight and then

Starting point is 00:09:07 maybe he's a starter. It might take till next year, but if it can't happen sooner than later, you're going to end up with a really talented, athletic, fast, quick, strong linebacker in the middle there with J.B. Brown to help the current guys that you have coming back and raise that ceiling in addition to the floor you have. I don't want to talk more about this unit. Projected starting lineup, maybe the 2D, who's in contention for some of the depth spots,

Starting point is 00:09:29 future names to keep an eye on. Is this unit going to be good enough overall? All that and more coming up here with Locked on Jayhawks. First, though, this show is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com slash lockedoncollege and get on your way to being your best self. Sometimes in life, we're faced with tough choices and the path forward isn't always clear. You might not know the right answer.

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Starting point is 00:10:31 Visit betterhelp.com slash lockedoncollege today to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp, H-E-L-P, dot com slash lockedoncollege. Continuing on here with Locked on Jayhawks. I don't necessarily expect J.B. Brown to be a starter right off the bat. I go back in line with those past linebackers from last year that it took some time for them to play a bigger role on the defense. Now, it's interesting because I don't think it's apples to apples when you're comparing, because obviously Lorenzo McCaskill,

Starting point is 00:11:03 he joined, like I said, a few days into camp. J.B. Brown was here for spring ball. So it's not apples to apples comparing you're comparing because obviously Lorenzo McCaskill he joined like I said a few days into camp J.B. Brown was here for spring ball so it's not apples to apples comparing those two it's also not really apples to apples comparing J.B. Brown to Eric Gileard who did join his spring ball last year because even though Eric Gileard had a ton of production at UCF I think there were some injury things that he was dealing with all throughout the year last year at Kansas maybe long-term injury stuff that he wasn't going to be the same guy he was at UCF. And I think with J.B. Brown, you're looking at a guy that is starting to hit his kind of peak of whatever he's going to be

Starting point is 00:11:31 at the collegiate level. So it's still not apples to apples when you compare those. But in the case of both those, they did start to play more and more as the season went on outside of like the FCS game where you were just rotating everybody in. So we'll see. Right now, though, I'd project the starting lineup to be Craig Young at the Hawk, Rich Miller, Tywon Berryhill at the two other linebacker spots, and then J.B. Brown to be your first rotational linebacker for either one of

Starting point is 00:11:52 those, Rich Miller or Tywon Berryhill. As far as your backup for the Hawk position, I think you're looking at Jason Gilliam right now, somebody who was injured last year and came back, I think, for the bowl game. I could have sworn. But somebody who they feel like has, you know, really high potential for moving to that position after he came in as like safety and gives you some of those coverage skills and can come in to do what, what Craig Yogan is doing, where you have a more athletic type of linebacker that allows you to kind of be in like a, a base dime nickel type defense where you do kind of have another DB out there, but also they're a bigger DB

Starting point is 00:12:25 that can still help you against the run. So it feels like though, between those three, because Craig Young and that's kind of shorn up, Miller, Berryhill, Brown, those three for two spots. I don't know that anybody else would get involved for the starting lineup portion of things, but if that is, you're basically big four linebackers for three spots, five,

Starting point is 00:12:46 you want to add Jason Gilliam. I feel good enough about this unit. Again, if I know that JB Brown is hitting and is able to get on the field because he is like that, the staff values consistency so much so that if he's being consistent, if he gets to know the playbook well enough in a short time by just joining in the spring,

Starting point is 00:13:04 if he feels comfortable about where he needs to be, I feel good about this linebacker unit overall. If you tell me that it's going to take J.B. Brown a little bit longer, then the question just comes to me, can this be a good enough unit? And I think going back to the defensive tackle preview, if you do have good defensive tackles, which, like I said, I'm high on the defensive tackle group, that actually is going to help you at the linebacker spot you're going to take up more blockers it's going to allow for the linebackers to you know maybe have easier holes or gaps to kind of run through to get to the ball carrier if your defensive tackles are taking up more blockers that's less guys you have to shed

Starting point is 00:13:37 as a linebacker so these things are a little hand in hand that yeah there are times where maybe the linebacker did get washed out of a play but maybe it was the the defensive tackle was supposed to stop this guy and that allowed him to get the linebacker and then it got to the second level or whatever. So there are certain things that maybe hurt you a little bit there. But I think the rest of the depth, you feel a lot better about this group for the depth reasons of it than you have in the past couple of years. I remember in 2020 and 2021, that linebacking core was thin, man. I forget if it was 2019 or 2020, where Gavin Potter is like a true freshman

Starting point is 00:14:10 who was like low 200 pounds, had to be thrown into the fire. You're past that at this point, right? We talked about those four or five guys that you feel like at the top. Cornell Wheeler, we've heard a lot of good things about lately over the last week or two from the KU staff, and things are clicking for him. Former Michigan transfer, he clearly has the athleticism and strength that things are starting to click for him from maybe the mental acumen side of the game. So that's good. Donovan Gaines, who's actually the cousin of Daniel Hysha. I don't know if a lot of people knew that. Tristan Fletcher, former Juco

Starting point is 00:14:41 guy who redshirted last year. Krishan Brown in the program. Also the Alex Reich kid who transferred in. He was from like what, Switzerland, Sweden, went from junior college to Kansas. And maybe he's more of the guy who's like the third string behind Craig Young and Gilliam because he kind of came in as like a safety hybrid. But you have a lot more guys there that you feel comfortable with

Starting point is 00:15:00 as being your possible third string or being your possible fifth, sixth, seventh linebacker than you have in the past, right? So that's good from the depth perspective to weather injuries, but also when you think about the linebacker position, a lot of your linebackers are going to be on special teams, right? They might be your backup linebackers, your second, third string linebackers. They're going to be guys running down punts, running down kicks, setting up blocks on kick return. The fact that they have a lot more depth at this position, I think is going to help them a lot on special teams too, but it'll help them get through the course of the season

Starting point is 00:15:29 as well, because there is a lot more depth to this position than there has been in the past. In addition to possibly ceiling raisers like your Craig Youngs and JB Browns. I don't want to finish up here with maybe future names to keep an eye on in the linebacker group for KU football. And overall, is the linebacker group for KU football. And overall, is this linebacker group good enough for your defense to be better with locked on Jayhawks? So let's start with the question, is this linebacker unit good enough for the defense

Starting point is 00:15:56 overall to be better on the defense? When I go through the different position groups, we're still going to get to the defensive backs later this week. But the DBs, you probably feel better about than you did last year because it's the same guys. Plus you added some really good freshmen, like a Brian Dilworth comes off a red shirt. You bring in transfers like Demarius McGee. You feel really good about the DBs. You feel just as good, if not better than you did a season ago. Defensive tackles. Like I said, I can understand if you feel worse because they did lose

Starting point is 00:16:24 a lot of production. I actually think the ceiling is higher. I feel better about the defensive tackles. Defensive end, you probably feel worse. You don't have Lonnie Phelps the year before you had Kyron Johnson. You don't have that impact guy. At least we don't know it. Maybe somebody does take on that role and the baton gets passed to a Jeremy Robinson or one of these transfers. We'd probably feel worse there. So if you get to the linebacker position and you feel like the linebackers can be better than they were last year, that's three or four positions that would be better. And at that point, your defense probably will be better, right? Now, there could be something to do with, like, it wouldn't shock me if at the end of the year,

Starting point is 00:16:57 the defense gives up a few less points per game, because what if the offense just sustains drives longer and has more of a ball control offense to help the defense this year and they run the ball more and they're controlling time and possession more to keep the defense off the field where you know maybe by efficiency numbers the defense won't be that much better but by points per game they end up being better i don't know we'll wait and see if you feel like the linebacking unit is the same as it was last year that could be in how problematic of um the defense being the same to it being last year, right? And that's where this position unit becomes very, very important being through the middle.

Starting point is 00:17:32 So there are a couple of ways for this unit to get better. Like I said, it's JB Brown making a big role. It's Rich Miller, Tywon Berryhill taking a step up. It's Craig Young taking a step up. It's the depth being better. I think all those things are very likely and very possible that I am expecting this linebacker group to be better than it was last year. But the question becomes how much. I don't know that I'm expecting that all of a sudden

Starting point is 00:17:50 to be a top five unit in the Big 12. Can they get to the middle of the pack in the conference? Can they get to being eighth or ninth or tenth as opposed to being one of the bottom two or three? If they can do that, I think this defense can be good enough that they're giving up 28 to 30 points per game. And that continues to be the range that I'm looking at. If're giving up 28 to 30 points per game. And that continues to be the range that I'm looking at that I'm like, if they give up 28 to 30 points per game, I feel good about them winning seven or eight games this season. So that's how I kind of feel about that.

Starting point is 00:18:13 Now, future names to keep an eye on from this group. Jason Gilliam, I guess, would classify here because he'll be a backup at the Hawk, but he's only a redshirt sophomore. So you're talking about someone who, you know, after this year, if you play well as a backup and you sustain that role all year long behind Craig Young, then you're talking about two more years as a starter even after this season, right? So that becomes something. And when I look at it, like a lot of those guys I mentioned in depth

Starting point is 00:18:36 have multiple years left, like Donovan Gaines, Tristan Fletcher, Alex Reich. Like all these guys are like sophomores or redshirt sophomores to where they're going to have a couple more years after this. So there are a lot of future names from that depth to keep an eye on, but the big one from the future name perspective is Logan Brantley. Logan Brantley came in from the Colorado area. He's, he's a bit of an undersized linebacker, um, in terms of, you know, he's only like what, six feet tall, like low 200 pounds. I forget what the KU football roster had him listed at for this year. I think on his recruiting profile, he was listed at like 205 pounds or something like that. By the

Starting point is 00:19:11 way, he's going to be wearing number 16, which you don't really see very often on a linebacker. I think he's listed as 6'2 on the KU roster, but I don't know. Regardless, 211 pounds. He's someone who they're going to need to add more weight to, try to get him up to 220, 225, 230 eventually when he's playing, which maybe makes it so this year that Brantley isn't going to be on the field a ton, especially when you have some other guys for depth. But he's definitely someone that you give him maybe even a year. Maybe next year he becomes one of your starting linebackers.

Starting point is 00:19:43 Maybe redshirt him this year, rotate him in for four games games maybe he's good enough that he can be part of that two deep or one of those top linebackers who's playing special teams because he's a really talented kid and when you heard the staff talk about him when he first signed that they expect him to be like a future captain of the defense that shows you the personality and the leadership that he brings to the table you don't hear that a lot about incoming freshmen that have not actually been in like a practice for you or played a down a football for you. So the staff seems very high on him. I'm very high on him. I don't know how much you're going to have an impact this year with those

Starting point is 00:20:13 starters back and some of that other depth, but I expect him to be like a really good starting linebacker for KU in a year or two from right now that you certainly want to keep an eye on the name Logan Brantley. And then they've got some linebackers coming in in the class of 2024, which should add to that group as well. That's going to do it for this episode of Locked on Jayhawks. We'll have some more position previews later in the week.

Starting point is 00:20:33 I think Nick Schwert is going to join us later in the week here on Locked on Jayhawks. And we'll get to on Friday, we'll cap things off with our KU football depth chart projection on the offense, defense, and special teams. This has been Locked on Jayhawks. You can find us anywhere you get any of your podcasts. You can find us on our YouTube page where you can like and subscribe to the show. Have a great rest of your day. See you next time.

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Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - JB Brown is the Kansas Jayhawks Football Linebacker and Defensive X-Factor in 2023

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