Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Kansas Football's Talent SURGE Closes the Gap on Top of Big 12 Under Lance Leipold

Starting point is 00:00:00 Is this KU football roster compared to other rosters across the country in the Big 12? How is Lance Leopold closing the gap, narrowing the gap for KU football? And a little update on which KU football Jayhawks made it to NFL rosters. You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks, part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. What's going on? Derek Johnson here. This is Locked on Jayhawks. A little bonus episode for you today on LOJ. Thanks for making it your first listen every day. Thank you, the everydayers catching each and every episode of the show. We are free and available anywhere you podcast, including on our YouTube page where you can like and subscribe to the show. So 247 sports came out with a team talent composite. We're going to talk about where KU is on there and what it means for KU compared to the Big 12 and the rest of college football and the state of the program under Lance Life hold all good news there. I'll also get a to some of the Jayhawks in the NFL with NFL roster cut day earlier this week. Okay, let's get started there because that 24-7 sports team talent composite,

Starting point is 00:01:11 which takes into account, you know, transfer portal rankings, high school rankings. I don't know everything that goes into it, but yeah, basically an idea of just how talented is your roster. And Kansas in that came in 48th nationally. They also came in ninth in the Big 12, so about middle of the pack there. which, you know, not that big of a difference from KU to some of the other teams, like you think of the Big 12 being kind of stacked together and these teams being relatively within the same range of each other in terms of talent.

Starting point is 00:01:40 And that kind of, you know, fares itself out in this. Kansas is just four points back. Like they have over, I don't know, it's like 700 points essentially what KU has. They're only like four points back of sixth in the Big 12. So it's really not that much. They're 52 points back of first place in the Big 12, which, again, is really not that much to separate first and ninth in a conference. They're also 61 points back of being top 25 nationally.

Starting point is 00:02:06 So, like, again, not like a huge difference there, but definitely still at least the small amount of a gap there. If you look at KU last year, they were eighth in the Big 12 with a roster rating of 696.9. But instead of being four points back, so even though they're one spot higher in the Big 12, instead of being four points back of sixth than the Big 12, like they are now, they were 36.

Starting point is 00:02:29 And instead of 52 points back of first, they were 70. And instead of 61 points back of the top 25, they were 91. So even though, you know, the Big 12 ranking actually slips one this year from last year's talent roster, you look at the gap between them and the top third, the top, you know, team in the big 12, the top 25 in the country, it's actually closer. The gap is narrowing this year. You might be saying, okay, why would that be the case? Kansas, you know, lost a lot of players and stuff.

Starting point is 00:02:59 I think it's just the nature of, you know, the COVID year cycling itself out of the college game where, yes, you still do have fifth and sixth year seniors, but now they're, they're much fewer. There's much, you know, more rarity in those players than there were last year and over the previous, you know, four or five years because of the COVID year. That has started to cycle itself out. So theoretically, things are, you know, you're not going to have as much talent that's kind of out there in college sports because there's just one less class of. players and teams that's out there. So overall, this KU roster is more talented by a bit by the score, but the important part isn't as much that, because again, it's splitting hairs between the ratings of this year's team in 2024, even though 2025 is a little bit higher there. I think what's more important to me is that it is closer to the top in terms of their talent

Starting point is 00:03:49 level in the league and nationally. And I think it also shows this whole thing like the work that Lance Leipold has done in improving this program, because if you just look at this from a standpoint of, you know, distance from first place in the Big 12, from 2015 through 2022, I guess let's extend to 2023, Kansas was at minimum, 280 points back of the team who was the most talented in the Big 12, right? They were last in this rating goes back to 2015. They were last every year, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 20, 2021, and 2022, they were last in this metric every year. They start to scoot up to 12th in 20203 with Lance Leipold, eighth last year, ninth this year. So you're seeing the improvement. Now, obviously,

Starting point is 00:04:41 part of that is also, though, that Texas and Oklahoma used to be in the Big 12, which obviously is going to skew it a little where, like, those schools are inherently going to get more of those four and five-star kids than the other schools. So what if we just look at it as how far back was Kansas on this this team talent composite compared to the top team not named Texas or Oklahoma so you know a lot of years it ended up being TCU would be third in the big 12 in recruiting rankings where now obviously you know Texas and Oklahoma aren't even in the league from that standpoint there were about 160 back 170 159 153 163 166 165 and then come 2022 there are 133 points back so you're starting to make inroads 2023

Starting point is 00:05:25 or 135 points back. So you're same in that range. 2024, you're 70 points back and now this year you're 52 points back. So you can see the upward trajectory that Lance Leipold has brought the team talent here. And I mean, it just shows that, you know, as much as he has gotten Kansas in a better spot from player development, from coaching, from getting the players in the right situations, they have brought in a lot more talent than they had under previous coaches as well. So what does this all? mean for KU and then we'll get to Jayhawks in the NFL.

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Starting point is 00:06:55 download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code Locked-on College for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply, again, that's promo code Locked on College, L-O-C-E-O-N-C-O-N-C-O-E-G-E-E-E-G-E for $20 off. Swipe, Tap, Ticket, Go. Download Game Time today. Thanks again for joining us on this bonus episode of Locked on Jayhawks here. Don't forget to check out our K-U-Wagner recap. We'll have plenty more action, getting you're ready for the Missouri game as well coming this upcoming week on Lockton Jayhawks. So what does this all mean? Obviously, like I said, they've narrowed the gap a little bit.

Starting point is 00:07:27 The talent is better than it's ever been for Lance Leipold in Kansas. The improvement they've had mirrors the improvement they've had with the stadium and everything. But also at the same point in time, even knowing all that, it still feels like there's a gap there, right? Kansas 48th in the country in talent rating. And you're still sitting there going, okay, well, you know, I'd like this to be at least a fringe top 25 team or something. I don't know. I'll say this. Like, I don't know that the difference between being.

Starting point is 00:07:54 the 40th most talented roster versus the 70th, it's not that wide. And realistically, like, yes, if you want to be a national title contender, you can't be the 48th most talented roster. Like, from that standpoint, you got to be top 10, top 15 in football. But if you're just talking about having a great season, winning the big 12, you shoot, you look at K-State, they have some years where they're a little lower on this rating. Iowa State, some years is a little lower on this rating. BYU was lower on this rating last year.

Starting point is 00:08:24 Like, for instance, last season in the Big 12, BYU, obviously, you know, tied for first in the Big 12. They were 16th of 16 in this rating. Iowa State was 15th of the 16 in the Big 12th. Kansas State was 13th. So now, then again, you could also say, okay, Arizona State was second last year. Nobody was picking them to do well. Maybe that should have been an indication they were more talented than we thought.

Starting point is 00:08:44 But point being, especially in the Big 12 where the talent levels are not that different between first and 16th, between, you know, fourth place and 12th place, for instance. The scheme, the coaching, the development, the how you use the guys that you got, that's going to make up that gap more than you think. And so I don't know what the monetary number is. It's just like, you know, is all that stuff worth 100 points? Is it worth 200 points on this? So sure, maybe, you know, it limits Kansas to they're not going to be a Clemson

Starting point is 00:09:14 or they're not going to be in Alabama, right? But you can have the 48th most talented roster and have the 15th best season in college football. Like we see that happen all the time, right? And so from that standpoint, you know, yeah, like not being a top 20 talented roster. Maybe it matters if KU ever plays Georgia or Alabama or Michigan or Ohio State. And I'm sure it matters too in terms of like consistent high level success. The more talented you are, the higher your floor is going to be. But again, you can overperform it pretty regularly and teams do.

Starting point is 00:09:45 And again, the difference between being the 30th most talented and the 80th most talented, it really is just going to come down to player development at that point in time. So it is kind of all dependent. And, you know, again, like in the SEC, if you're the 13th most talented roster in the SEC, the difference between that and being the second most talented in the SEC, I mean, that's probably a good amount of like four or five star NFL players. The difference between being the 13th most talented in the Big 12 versus the second, it's really not that big of a deal.

Starting point is 00:10:14 So I think Kansas is in a good spot, even though, you know, it does matter some of those other things a little bit more. But it doesn't hurt to have a talented roster when you're doing that. those other things right as well, which I think Kansas and Lance Leipold are. All right, how did the Jayhawks do through NFL roster cut date? We'll get to that next. Today's episode of

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Starting point is 00:11:22 That's promo code football and offers vary by user and location. Go to upside.com for terms and conditions. Thanks for joining us on this bonus episode of Lockdown, Jayhawks. Again, check out a regular show as well. I'm thinking of everydayers who already did. I do want to make mention as well before I get to these Jayhawks with NFL rosters. I haven't had time to mention this, but Warren Corman, who was the last living architect for Allen Fieldhouse. He was the youngest who was on there when they originally made it,

Starting point is 00:11:57 passed away, lived a great life, 99 years old. I mean, I don't know if he was 98 or 99, but born in 1926. So lived a great life, lived a long life and obviously very instrumental. And he was sharpest attack, kind of, it seemed like to the very end doing interviews and stuff. We had Shalon David on with us, if you caught that episode talking about stories from the fog, I don't know, a couple weeks ago, something like that. And he told a story about how, you know, he was talking to him and he said yeah fogg allen would drive down it seemed like every like friday or something to check in like you know okay what's going on and this is what i want to do and yada yada yada so uh go check out that that episode if you missed it because there was a cool little insight and story into that

Starting point is 00:12:36 okay uh how did the jhawks do with making nfl rosters well dorrence armstrong sticks around with washington so cool to see there after they made it to the nfc championship game armstrong has had himself a very nice NFL career at this point in time austin booker dominic puny from the 2024 draft. They're still on the rosters. Booker obviously had that monster preseason game. Pune, unfortunately, hurt right now, but he had a really good rookie season. Bryce Cable Dew and Devin Neal both made it after they were drafted in 2025. And then you have Hakeem Adenegi, who he was waived, I think, initially from the Cowboys, but they brought him back. Sometimes that happens just from like a, you know, I don't know, making things work, roster,

Starting point is 00:13:12 you know, the red tape of NFL roster building, so to speak, but he is on the Cowboys now at this point in time. then you look at some of the other Jayhawks who got waived. Jason Bean got waived. We'll see if he gets picked up by somebody. I felt like he had a good enough preseason the year before that somebody will give a shot to him in practice squad. At the very least, you would think, you know, any of these players who get waived and don't get picked up at some point this season will probably prime candidates to be, you know, important players in like the UFL or something for instance, come the spring. J.B. Brown got cut as well. You had Mellow Dotson, Luke Graham, that one a little surprising.

Starting point is 00:13:46 he had the big part return touchdown that people love the highlight of so again wouldn't be shocking if he gets picked up somewhere jeremy robinson stephen sims he's at a long NFL career so well we'll see what goes on there and then Craig young and then there were also uh logan brown colby bryant and quentin skinner they got all cut but they got signed on practice squads logan brown got signed by the cleveland brown's practice squad coby Bryant got waived by the falcons but then signed by their practice squad and then quentin skinner same thing got waived by the team who's on the jets signed with their practice squad so So we'll see if any of those guys can work their way up to NFL rosters. At the very least, you know, life on the practice squad, it's not as glorious as the NFL, but, you know, it's still good living. You're making six figures.

Starting point is 00:14:25 You're playing football. You get a chance to, you know, make it up to one of the big squads. Other teams can pick you up off of their practice squads that if they have a need, boom, all of a sudden, you know, you perform well enough and are thought highly of enough around the league, then you get an opportunity somewhere else. So hopefully those guys can make it and have long NFL careers. And hopefully the guys who did get waived, get another shot out there. I don't know for this episode of Locked on Jayhawks, you can find our show anywhere you get a podcast, including on our YouTube page where you can like and subscribe to the show.

Starting point is 00:14:52 Again, check out our recap episode from KU. Wagner, and we'll see you next time for another edition of Locked on Jayhawks.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Kansas Football's Talent SURGE Closes the Gap on Top of Big 12 Under Lance Leipold

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