Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Kansas Jayhawks Football Adds Iowa State Transfer Tight End and Topeka Native DeShawn Hanika

Starting point is 00:00:00 On this bonus episode of Locked on Jayhawks, Kansas football has a commit, their first one coming into the program from the transfer portal this offseason, Deshaun Hanneke, a tight end from Iowa State. We discuss what it means for him, for the team, for the tight end room in 2024 on this bonus episode 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. Thanks for making Locked On Jayhawks your first listen every day. We are free and available anywhere that you get your podcasts. Thanks for making Locked on Jayhawks your first listen every day. We are free and available anywhere that you get your podcasts. You can also find us on our YouTube page.

Starting point is 00:00:50 Thank you to the everydayers out there tuning in to each and every episode. You can check out our episode on Mello Dotson announcing he's coming back for KU football. You can check out our Missouri recap and plenty more over the past week or so with Locked on Jayhawks. KU football has a new commit.

Starting point is 00:01:05 We're going to be breaking it down on this bonus episode of the show. Deshaun Hanneke, a transfer tight end from Iowa State. We'll start out with info on Hanneke. We'll get to what the tight end room could look like for 2024 and beyond, and what's next in the transfer portal in the offseason for KU football. Let's start right there with Deshaun Hanneke. He's originally from Topeka, so you have a player coming back to his hometown. He visited KU over the weekend. I believe it was an unofficial visit, which obviously easy if you're from Topeka, just

Starting point is 00:01:34 come home, visit your parents or, you know, family or whatever. And then you just drive the, you know, 25 minutes or wherever he's in from Topeka to Kansas. He saw the Mizzou game. And then he posted this today on Twitter. I'm coming home was the caption, hashtag unfinished business, hashtag rock chalk with a picture of him in like the KU graphic. It looks like he had portal offers since entering the portal from Vanderbilt, Colorado, Houston, another big 12 school, Memphis, and then like every Mac school among like another handful plus of schools. So he's very popular in terms of getting offers from the transfer portal,

Starting point is 00:02:13 including a couple of those other power fives, a couple of big 12 schools, Colorado and Houston. He played his high school ball in Topeka. Then he went to Butler Community College, which we know has been a very successful and very good junior college, as are a lot of them in kind of the Kansas area. And then after two years there, he went to Iowa State, where he played nine games in 2020, which was the COVID year.

Starting point is 00:02:36 Most of those came on special teams for him. Then he played 13 games, also mostly on special teams, in the 2021 season. And then he, in 2022, led all Iowa State tight ends with 17 receptions and 244 receiving yards. So those numbers, they can sound a bit modest, but when you view it more in the college football realm where, I don't know, 20 yards a game on an offense that was scoring 20 points per game that was throwing the ball like every play to, what was it, Xavier Hutchinson. And, you know, he ended up fifth on the team in receptions. He ended up fourth on the team in receiving yards.

Starting point is 00:03:23 So that's pretty good for a tight end, especially with an Iowa State team that uses a lot of them, but he led the tight ends in those categories. He also had four touchdowns, so good red zone threat for Kansas inside once you get close to the goal line, but he was actually a former receiver in high school. At the high school level, he was a receiver. Big-bodied guy, like 6'6", 245 pounds, good athlete. the type of guy that if he has a good season at KU this year like athletically he could be an NFL draft prospect and so he's a receiver in high school he was known I think probably more for his receiving abilities at Iowa State than his blocking but I did find it interesting his pro football focus grades kind of liked his blocking uh he had a 68 run block grade which that's solid i mean if you're getting to you know

Starting point is 00:04:07 mid 60s like that that'll do um that was only in 49 snaps as a run blocker in 2022 when he had that 68 run block grade though so they didn't use him a ton there but which maybe tells you that yeah maybe he wasn't a great blocker and so they weren't putting him in those situations but when they did need him to block he did take care of business there. Now, Jared Casey, who I think did a really good job of run blocking this year, had a 68.7 run block grade for KU. I've always felt like that number was too low, and it should be higher for Jared Casey. But that puts him around in line with that, even though he used a little bit less.

Starting point is 00:04:41 So I don't know that he's a great run blocker, but you get him with KU, you get him with Jeff Grimes, who's going to be coaching him at tight end. I think he'll improve at it. And he's somebody who I think is a bigger receiving threat than anything. And I think Iowa State used him a lot, maybe as like a Y where it's kind of like an, you know, slot type of tight end. So I think he can get the job done, I guess the way of putting it, and he's going to add another passing element to the offense. Now he was in the gambling investigation if you remember that came down with iowa state obviously led to hunter deckers jorrell brock uh being like booted off the team and he never played this season like this would have been his last year but he never played this season which

Starting point is 00:05:18 allows him to have the extra year which he can use next year so you might be wondering what's going on there well he was cleared of everything there. He never had charges actually brought against him, so don't worry about anything that went on with the gambling. Like, that wasn't – he had everything clear of him, so there's nothing to worry about there. Just honestly move on from it. But for what it's worth, he's a four-time honor roll pick.

Starting point is 00:05:40 He's a two-time academic All-Big 12 selection, so I think he's a smart kid in everything. So let's continue on. What does this mean for the tight end room in 2024 and beyond for KU football on this episode of Locked on Jayhawks? This bonus

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Starting point is 00:06:40 eBay Guaranteed Fit, only available to U.S. customers. KU's got a good tight end room in 2024. eBay guarantee fit only available to us customers. Okay. He's got a good tight end room in 2024. I thought they had a good tight end room even before they brought on Hanukkah. And this adds just another element. Obviously with Will Huggins leaving the program transferring out, I feel like this is the scholarship replacement for him. The big question now becomes, does anyone else leave?

Starting point is 00:07:02 Right? Like if you're, if you're further down the depth chart I don't know, I guess the one that you'd circle is, and I don't know, like one way or another would be left to Vita Noah. He's a graduate. Would he be interested in leaving? This will be his final season. Does he view, Oh, you have Casey Cardell and Hanukkah, all the seniors. Does that make it tough for me to get on the playing field? I don't know. I don't know. You know, some kids, I still think Noah can get on the field this year because he's a really good blocker, and I think there's an avenue for that, and obviously there's a competition level.

Starting point is 00:07:31 So we'll see if it leads to anything like that. For now, let's just assume that it doesn't. And when you look at the starting position, basically the way I view it, KU has two starting tight ends. They have the starting tight end, which is the like tight end H back fullback role, which is occupied by Jared Casey. And I think he'll continue to occupy that next season. And then you have the like traditional tight end, which is what Mason Fairchild was in this season. And Fairchild graduates at the end of the year, will go off and have a chance to have an NFL career.

Starting point is 00:08:04 I think you just assume that Trevor Cardell, who will be going into his senior season, he's somebody who you heard a lot about during spring ball and during fall practice that he was really breaking out. I don't know who you give the edge to between Cardell and Hanukkah. Maybe Cardell, if Hanukkah is struggling blocking the ball, maybe Cardell has the inside edge and also he knows the offense and stuff. Maybe he's the starter.

Starting point is 00:08:28 But the way I view it, Cardell and Hanukkah are competing for the Fairchild spot. And I think more so than like what we've seen here the last couple years is Fairchild gets a ton of reps. Casey's going to get somewhere between 20 to 40 snaps in a game. And then that third tight end, which is Cardell, is going to get somewhere between like to 40 snaps in a game. And then that third tight end, which is Cardell, is going to get somewhere between like 8 to 12 snaps a game. I think those numbers between Cardell and Hanukkah,

Starting point is 00:08:52 as opposed to being what Fairchild and Cardell were, where it was that maybe big gap between the two, I think it'll be a little bit more even between Cardell and Hanukkah. So both of them will be kind of in that competition for that traditional starting tight end spot. And then Casey kind of remains your tight end H-back, fullback role. Maybe Hanneke is the guy you go to more in the passing situations. Cardell more in the early downs, but you also don't want to be too predictable.

Starting point is 00:09:13 Then you have added depth and probably more in blocking situations with Tavita Noah. Maybe if, you know, Hanneke and Cardell aren't as good of blockers as Fairchild or whatever, like maybe that does lead to more playing time for Tavita Noah, but he gives you kind of more depth on the back end there. And then you have two more depth pieces for this year, which are kind of the future for this tight end room, with your redshirt freshman in Jaden Hamm and true freshman Carson Bruin. And they're kind of waiting in the wings as future studs.

Starting point is 00:09:40 And the beauty of this move with Hanukkah is that it doesn't actually block those two guys. Like if you're Jaden Hamm or Carson Bruin, I don't think this worries you too much where you're like, oh, I got to deal with another tight end in this room. Because the way I view it is typically how the staff wants to develop is you come in, maybe you red shirt in year one, maybe you're playing a little rotational snaps in year two. And then by year three, when your body's right and you've been in the program for a bit, you know, the system, you know, the scheme, you're good to go. And there'll be exceptions that certain players will come in and play right away. Certain players will come in and play year two. Certain players might not play till year four, year five, right? But I think for the

Starting point is 00:10:12 most part, that's the kind of blueprint there of having kid come in redshirting year one, maybe more rotational play, work his way into the two deep maybe by year two and then year three playing. And this doesn't impact that plan at all because Hanukkah just has one year left. I believe Jared Casey's a senior in 2024. Cardell and Noah are in their last year too in 2024, I believe too. So, I mean, that means that coming 2025, Jaden Hamm and Carson Bruin, plus whatever else you were to add next offseason would be the guys. So I think you view it if you're Jaden Hamm, yeah,

Starting point is 00:10:45 maybe it'll be tough to get on the field this year, but come your redshirt sophomore season in 2025 and beyond, you could be the guy moving forward. So I think the KU tight end group looks good for this year and for the years ahead. All right, what other positions could KU go after? What's next in the portal for the Jayhawks? This episode of Locked on Jayhawks is brought to you by PrizePix.

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Starting point is 00:11:45 for a first deposit match up to $100. PrizePix Daily Fantasy Sports. Made easy. What's next for KU in the portal? Well, again, it is kind of they're tight on scholarships. It is a situation where, you know, I don't think they're going to add any more tight ends, but if another tight end leaves, do they add another one, right?

Starting point is 00:12:03 Kind of wait and see how that's affected. It does seem like pretty consistently when you look at the offers of KU, who's they're giving out offers to defensive line, defensive tackle and defensive end. So both spots linebacker and offensive line have been the most consistent in terms of some of the offers for some of those offensive line. It seems like guard has been a popular offer spot for there, which tells you that they're comfortable, at least in my opinion.

Starting point is 00:12:26 Michael Ford playing center, moving in for Mike Nowitzki next year, and then you can either bring in a guard, you can move one of your guards to tackle, because obviously you're losing Dominic Pooney. But maybe you're confident in what Logan Brown and Calvin Clements can bring him in. I think you still feel good about the offensive line. So those are the positions, D-line, linebacker, offensive line. I still think if the right receiver emerged,

Starting point is 00:12:49 I don't think they're going to go shopping for receivers just for the sake of it. And I think as long as you return those three starters with Graham, Arnold, and Skinner, you're going to feel great about that unit overall. But I still do think if the right receiver skill set emerged, somebody who's really good yard after catch, somebody who's really good making people miss with the ball in his hands. Keep in mind, Jeff Grimes runs a lot of jet sweeps, so that could be helpful there.

Starting point is 00:13:12 And that's something that they're kind of missing here. I know Trevor Wilson has a little bit of that, but you'd like to have another one of those guys. That would not surprise me if they kick the tires from there. The rest of the positions just kind of vary and depend on what KU loses in the portal or in the NFL draft. So like, for instance, if Devin Neal goes to the NFL draft, maybe you do start kicking the tires on some running backs to be, you know, the, the second guy with, uh, at that point, Daniel Hyshaw being

Starting point is 00:13:34 the go-to guy and bringing in somebody to be the new Daniel Hyshaw, you know? So, um, it, it just kind of depends from there, but if Devin Neal comes back, then you're comfortable with, with those, right? So it just kind of depends what happens from here on out. But we're going to get to some of the other players that KU has offered later this week on Locked on Jayhawks. Tomorrow's episode will feature a basketball show, biggest positives and negatives for KU basketball through the first 10 games. You can find our show anywhere you get your podcast.

Starting point is 00:13:58 Like and subscribe to us on our YouTube page. We'll see you next time with Locked on Jayhawks.

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Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Kansas Jayhawks Football Adds Iowa State Transfer Tight End and Topeka Native DeShawn Hanika

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