Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Kansas Jayhawks Football Offensive Depth Chart Prediction: Which Linemen will Protect Jalon Daniels?

Starting point is 00:00:00 On today's Locked On Jayhawks, we're going over the KU football depth chart. We're going to predict what the offensive depth chart is going to be, which will come out next week ahead of the KU game against Missouri State. 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. Thanks for making Locked on Jayhawks your first listen every day. 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 find here with Locked on Jayhawks anywhere you get any of your podcasts. You can also find it on our YouTube page where you can like and subscribe to the show. We're going to be predicting the KU football depth chart offensively and defensively. Tomorrow's episode will feature the defensive side of the ball. Today, we're going to spend some time on the offensive side of the ball, predicting what the depth chart, the two deep. Some of these I'll go a little bit deeper than two deep, and we'll get into usage of some of these different positions and how we think this stuff is going to kind of go down for KU this year.

Starting point is 00:01:13 Let's start with the quarterback position first. At quarterback, you're looking at a very clear kind of one and two here, right? Jalen Daniels being picked to be the starting quarterback oh big whoop right like what a surprise you know um now I will mention because there is some of this injury stuff I guess it wouldn't be crazy for week one like what if Jason mean is the starter because Jalen Daniels can't go I don't think I'm quite there yet but we had another media availability today with Lance Leipold and he kind of again pushed it off to the future with Jalen Daniels about hey we can

Starting point is 00:01:45 discuss it next week so you know it's been let's discuss it next week for for two three four weeks now that is maybe making me worry a little bit more about what the availability of Jalen Daniels is going to be but that said when he is healthy he is obviously QB1 Jason Bean is obviously QB2 you feel very good about both these guys what they're going to bring to the table. Whoever is out there, and specifically with Jalen, you have the Big 12 Offensive Conference Player of the Year. QB3, though, I included this on here, went beyond the two deep because it's been kind of an interesting discussion over the course of camp.

Starting point is 00:02:19 You go back to spring, Ethan Vasco was, you know, he was the third string from the year before and seemed like maybe he was going to be the future starting quarterback for this team. Staff was very high on him. I guess it would have been a, you know, future competition between him and like Isaiah Marshall down the road. But Ethan Vasco transfers away in the spring and that left an opening for the third string quarterback job. Ben Easter, somebody who has been in the program for a few years now was a Brent Dearman recruit. You also have Mikey Pauly, who you brought in from Nebraska as like a preferred walk-on, but has all sorts of great size and, you know, really produced at a high level in the state of Kansas for Blue Valley Northwest.

Starting point is 00:02:57 But it's actually been Cole Ballard who has really emerged here in that QB3 battle. Somebody that I hadn't really mentioned as part of that past QB, you know, preview when we did our quarterback preview here with locked on Jayhawks. He's someone we've heard a ton about from the staff, whether it's been Jim Zabrowski, Andy Kodelnicki, Lance Leipold,

Starting point is 00:03:15 and that he has just kind of gotten it so far. He's got a very cerebral game about him. He makes big plays. He's a good leader in the locker room. And, you know, he, he's a true freshman. He's a walk-on player locker room. And, you know, he's a true freshman.

Starting point is 00:03:25 He's a walk-on player coming in. Now, maybe at this point you're showing that you're going to earn that scholarship in the future. But somebody who clearly was underrated, and it sounds like to me like he is just doing everything the staff is asking of him to do. And, you know, maybe he doesn't have the same arm talent. I don't know. We haven't seen him in person as like a Jalen Daniels, for instance,

Starting point is 00:03:44 or the deep ball that Jason Bean can throw. but he's got the mental side of it. He does everything, the little things that the staff wants to. And the way that Lance Lightpool talked about him today, very, very impressive. He's obviously the son of the Chiefs, former one of their front office guys, who's now with the Indianapolis Colts. And you can see that football lineage kind of leaning over and turning that in. So he feels like the very clear number three quarterback candidate. And the importance of that beyond just this year, because if Jalen is injured, then that means you're the number two quarterback.

Starting point is 00:04:17 And we saw Jason Bean go out for the end of the Texas Tech game last year. If KU's running the quarterbacks, you're one play away from being in. So it's not that far off that Cole Ballard could get into a game, which becomes important there. But beyond that, when you look at Cole Ballard, winning this QB3 competition, let's say Jalen Daniels goes pro at the end of the season. Jason Bean's obviously gone at the end of the year. Whoever the winner of the QB3 battle is for this year for KU hypothetically becomes the top competition for Isaiah Marshall, who's coming in next year in the class of 2024, for being the starter in 2024.

Starting point is 00:04:52 Or if Jalen Daniels ends up sticking around for another year, then at that point it becomes who's going to be the backup between Ballard and Isaiah Marshall. So it is not just important for this year, but future years, and it seems like Ballard has certainly emerged past that. How about the running back position? Again, kind of clear here with one being Devin Neal. You could argue that it'd be Devin Neal or Daniel Hyshaw.

Starting point is 00:05:14 I wanted to do these depth chart predictions without doing any ors, and that's not realistic because we know with the depth chart when it is released, this is just a college football thing. We know it'll happen for Kansas. There's going to be a lot of or this guy on the depth chart, right? I wanted to kind of go a little more linear there. Last year, you could argue that when Daniel Hyshaw was healthy, it wasn't or Devin Neal or Daniel Hyshaw. They were getting very similar carry numbers game to game. Whoever had the hot hand was kind of going for that run of drives or a recent successive place.

Starting point is 00:05:41 Coming off the injury though, I think it's safer to have him in at number two. So I put him behind Devin Neal. But if he gets back to a point where he was last season, then yes, this very much could be they're getting similar amount of carries. And that's something we saw really last year, regardless of who the number two was. KU was going to ride the number one and number two pretty split. Once it got later in the year, like Devin, basically like Oklahoma state games, the Texas tech games kind of just took over the lion's share of the carries. But the way that it happened last year was like, okay, when, when both Devin Neal and Daniel Hysha are healthy, both are going to get 10 to 12 carries a game, maybe up to 15. The other one's going to get the same range. And then your third back might get like five carries

Starting point is 00:06:21 and your fourth guy might get like a carry or two just in like a spot role or a specific formation or play that is maybe best suited for him to run. So I've Dylan McDuffie as the third running back. And that's an interesting converse or I guess competition because, you know, Savion Morrison is clearly a talented running back. Johnny Thompson, young freshman, Tori Laughlin, who's going to fit in a bit of everywhere. I view it as being that, yeah, Devin and Daniel Hyshaw will, you know, take on collectively 20 to 25 carries a game. Dylan McDuffie might have a handful of carries a game,

Starting point is 00:06:54 and it wouldn't surprise me if obviously in the FCS game, throw all these numbers out the window. That's always different. It wouldn't surprise me early in the season if Dylan McDuffie's numbers, maybe it is closer to Daniel Hyshaw's in terms of carries because of trying to work him back from the injury and not overdo it there. I think when it's all said and done, though, you're looking at him being kind of that handful of carries per game role.

Starting point is 00:07:13 And if he has to fill in for somebody injured and do more than he can, and then that like Xavier Morrison, we have him in for this specific play that's going to get his speed to the outside or Torrey Laughlin. We have him in for this specific play because we trust him and he's going to do this well on this trick play that you know is really an intricate design and we need guys out there that we can trust and he does this that so that's how I view the running backs and that's also how I view the running back usage on the team offensively for this year would it be a shock if in week one, Dylan McDuffie was listed as the two as high shot likely,

Starting point is 00:07:48 you know, tries to come back. No, that probably wouldn't. But I think what it's all said and done, as long as high shot is fully healthy, Devin, Neil,

Starting point is 00:07:55 Daniel high, shall be the top two backs. Dylan McDuffie, the guy who can fill in for either of them. And then the rest of the guys, more situational players at the running back position. All right. We still got to get to the receivers.

Starting point is 00:08:05 We still got to get to the tight ends and we still got to get to the offensive line. And then we'll do our defensive depth chart preview on tomorrow's episode with Locked On Jayhawks. First though, this episode of the show is brought to you by eBay Motors. For a championship team, it is all about making sure every player is a perfect fit. It's the same when it comes to your vehicle. Every part needs to fit just right. So the next time you need parts and accessories, head to eBay Motors. With eBay Guaranteed Fit, you can be sure every part you need fits right the first time around. Just add your ride to my garage and look for the

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Starting point is 00:09:13 Let's move on to the receivers and tight ends here for depth chart projections here on Locked on Jayhawks. Again, we'll have the defensive side on tomorrow's edition of the show. We're also going to have plenty more KU football content next week, including our top 10 questions about KU football headed into the season. We'll go through our win total prediction, KU Missouri State preview, all that as we are getting very close to game week and game day for KU football here. So the receiver position.

Starting point is 00:09:42 This is one I probably could have gone three deep if we really wanted, but I've got it on the two deep here where they have an X, Z, and a Y. The X is kind of your traditional, like, what you think of with a big target number one wide receiver. The Z might be more of your kind of like deep threat guy on the outside, and then your Y in what Kansas uses is typical to like a slot receiver type guy. So this is, again, the offense is a lot easier to do the depth chart on because a lot of it is just, hey, copy and paste from what they had last year, right?

Starting point is 00:10:13 You have so many players back, so many returning starters that a lot of those guys just fit back into it. So Lawrence Arnold was the starting X last year. He comes in. He should be the starting X once again. Can he take another step forward from being a really good receiver to, you receiver to being a possible NFL draft pick at the end of this year? We'll see. Quentin Skinner, your starting Z last year, really blew the top off the defense a few times. Had some unbelievable catches. You go back to the TCU game and what he was able to produce. Again, he's got a big body. He's got good speed. Can he take the next level? Can he go from being

Starting point is 00:10:43 a deep threat to being an all-around receiver and be a possible guy who gets on NFL radars at the end of the season? Your why starting slot receiver was Luke Grimm a year ago. Again, he's back. You just plug him and play him there. You know, so far, you go back to even when Jalen Daniels back in 2020 as a true freshman or back at the end of the 2021 season, the guy that he has consistently trusted,

Starting point is 00:11:07 and last year Luke Grimm led the team in receptions, he was second in receiving yards, has been Luke Grimm. There's a great connection there between Jalen and Luke Grimm. So as much as the potential with the athleticism and the 6'3", 6'4", frames of Lawrence Arnold and Quentin Skinner have kind of gravitated me toward the idea that one of those two could be your guy who breaks out to being 900, 1,000 yards this season. Maybe it is Luke Grimm because he has established the best repertoire, the best trust with Jalen Daniels ever since Jalen arrived on campus at KU. But either way, you feel great about all three of those receivers

Starting point is 00:11:39 and where you're at. I even feel good about the second string with the receivers. You go to the number two on the X position, Tanaka Scott. You could argue that about the second string with the receivers. You go to the number two on the X position, Tanaka Scott. You could argue that Tanaka Scott will be the backup at the X and or the Z. I just put him at the X here. We heard a lot of great things about Tanaka Scott last fall, and then obviously the off the field stuff happened with him and Trevor Wilson, and that slowed things down. He had to be suspended for the first game, and then you're kind of running a race that's a little bit tougher to catch up to at that point after missing the first week and maybe losing a little bit of trust

Starting point is 00:12:10 that you have to gain back from your coaching staff but he's a very talented player and if he was close to breaking out last year like for all we know he would have been the starting receiver over Quentin Skinner a season ago if that stuff didn't happen I don't know that for sure it's very possible so would it be possible for Tanaka Scott to break out this year? Absolutely. And, you know, he would absolutely take that to have another receiver that you can feel good about and trust. Trevor Wilson as the second Z receiver behind Quentin Skinner.

Starting point is 00:12:34 Same idea with Trevor Wilson, just very different body types. Skinner, 6'4", you know, runs great in straight line speed, great acceleration with his long legs to blow the top off the defense. Trevor Wilson's a smaller receiver, but he's still super fast. He's super quick, more of yard and hand receiver, but he can blow the top off the defense too. So with either one, you rotate in, you do have that at least deep ball threat, which is always important to have on the field to either take advantage of it

Starting point is 00:13:01 because big plays are great the longer you're on the field. A lot of times it increases the chance that you're going to mess something up or get a penalty or get a sack or have a turnover. So if you can have those big plays, that allows you to avoid those things. But also it can change how a defense defends you, that it's going to open up some of those smaller things like the running game and the short passing routes that you need to be successful as well. And then at the other slot, the Y2, basically, Doug Emelian.

Starting point is 00:13:27 Heard good things about his route running, continued in quickness, short bursts. He had a touchdown in the Liberty Bowl. So you feel really good about all six of those receivers. I mean, you look at even the backup receivers. Tanaka Scott, Trevor Wilson, Doug Emelian. If those were your three starting receivers, I don't think you'd feel horrible. Like, I don't think you'd feel bad at all. Like, I don't know.

Starting point is 00:13:46 Is that receiver group better than a receiver group that you had maybe in like, I don't know, 2020 or something? Or no, I guess that's a bad one because Andrew Parchment was still on the roster. But you know what I mean? It's not like the end of the world with that group of guys. And then you have some others that are still coming up, right? Whether it's your Keaton Quebecas of the world or some of your freshmen that are coming in. You feel good about this receiver group. And yeah, that, that one I feel good about with that's how the depth chart could look there. What about tight end? A tight end,

Starting point is 00:14:13 Mason Fairchild back after being a starting tight end. So we project him to be the number one at the tight end as well. The number two is Jared Casey. I also put a slashy here on the depth chart, little graphic that has him as an H-back. I think he's basically your starting H-back to a certain standpoint. He's sort of like a starting fullback, H-back, backup tight end. So that kind of gives him positional versatility and allows you to play him in multiple ways, different positions, and do different things in how you utilize him. And then the third string is Trevor Cardell, who has been really talked up and has had a really good fall camp to this point in time. Unfortunately for him, you have those two returning guys with Fairchild and Casey who aren't just returning, but are stellar returning players that it makes it difficult to jump over them. Now, Cardell, there were certain games he played

Starting point is 00:14:59 single digit snaps. There were other games where he played like, you know, maybe 10 to 15 snaps. I do think that with Cardell playing as well as he had, he's a really good athlete and he's improved a lot on both the blocking and the receiving end of things. It wouldn't shock me if the number goes up. Maybe it's around 20 snaps a game and Fairchild, you lose a few there and you lose a few for Jared Casey. They're going to get Trevor Cardell on the field. He's kind of earned it in fall camp and he's a good enough to play her to do so. And you never say no to more depth, but I guess this one wouldn't surprise you if Trevor Cardell did eventually at some point in the season, maybe move into that top two. And again, Jared Casey, more of this like H-back specific type of tight end that you use, but those are very clearly the

Starting point is 00:15:39 top three tight ends and you have good tight end depth. We've talked about before, Tavita Noah can be kind of a blocking tight end. You've got Jaden Hamm coming in in the future. Will Huggins at like six foot seven, he could come into certain formations. Maybe he's a goal line guy that you throw fades to or throw up balls in the back of the end zone if it's a kind of do or die down and you have nowhere else to go with it, right?

Starting point is 00:15:58 You have other options here, but this has kind of emerged from everything else to be the top three in the tight end group. All right, we're going to finish things off here with the projected starting lineup and two deep for the offensive line. I actually approached that one a little bit different too, so we'll get into that coming up on the other side. First, though, this episode of Locked on Jayhawks is sponsored by BetterHelp.

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Starting point is 00:17:41 So on this one, I didn't do the full two deep. Like I think Calvin Clements and Dre Doran will probably pop up on the two deep. And the two deep is both an opportunity to get more names out there and to make guys feel like they're close and give them confidence in how they're playing as it is. But like with the offensive line, we hear this all the time, that it's really about eight guys. So that's what I went for with the depth chart here. I went for the eight guys that, you know, like Calvin Clemens

Starting point is 00:18:09 could be listed as the backup left tackle, but if your left tackle gets hurt, they might just end up going, Hey, even though Logan Brown's listed as the backup right tackle, we're going to put Logan Brown at left tackle. Like he's one of the three backups. There'll be three backups behind the five that Logan Brown will come in. If it's right tackle or left tackle. Kobe Baines will come in if it's right guard or right tackle. Spencer Lavelle will come in if it's either of the guard spots. I don't know what exactly the swaps of positions are for those guys, but basically you cover it with a couple of guys. If Mike Nowitzki, for instance, were to get hurt, Dre Doran might be the backup center, but I think what they would end up doing is just scooting Michael Ford

Starting point is 00:18:48 over from guard to center with Mike Nowitzki, and then they'd bring in like Kobe Baines at the guard spot for Michael Ford. But anyway, across the board, left tackle, we got Dominic Poonie making the move from guard to tackle. I thought he was one of the most underrated players on the team and in the conference last season, so I'm excited to see what he can do at left tackle. That's what he played at his previous stop at central Missouri.

Starting point is 00:19:07 So we'll see how that goes. Uh, our Mars Reed Adams. I don't know if he's going to be left guard or right guard. Same goes for Michael Ford. I don't know which one's going to play where, um, but either way,

Starting point is 00:19:16 our Mars Reed Adams has been one of the most improved players of course, the last year to this year, it's up to 330 pounds and he is a heck of an athlete. I could see him having a breakout season and being an absolute road grader for you on the inside. Mike Novitsky at center, easy there, all big 12 player, returning starter. Michael Ford at guard, again, you can kind of play him wherever you need to. And then Bryce Cable do a right tackle who was playing some left tackle in spring, but he asked the coaching staff to move back to right tackle, just felt more comfortable there. And that's part of the,

Starting point is 00:19:45 the, you know, thing with some of these, these linemen, especially the backup ones. It's like, well, we try to cross train and figure out what they're best at.

Starting point is 00:19:52 So some guys are only good on one side, like right guard, right tackle. Some guys are only good at tackle. Some guys are only good at guard. Some guys are good at center and left at right. They try to figure that out. And so they figured it out.

Starting point is 00:20:02 Bryce Cable do. I thought he was a candidate to have a breakout year last year. Didn't end up happening. I thought he improved a little bit, but we'll see. Maybe this is the year that he kind of breaks out. Certainly you feel good about the offensive line. And then, like I said, with Logan Brown, I could see him being a swing tackle. You need him at left tackle.

Starting point is 00:20:17 You need him at right tackle as a backup, whichever one you need to fill him in for. That can happen. I think with Kobe Baines, I could see him being a backup guard at either spots or maybe being even a backup right tackle in a given situation. I think Spencer Lavelle, he's actually got the size to play tackle, but I think more so viewed as a guard that he could play at the guard position. I think he got some snaps in over the course of the offseason work,

Starting point is 00:20:38 so maybe he's even a swing guy you could use at center at certain positions. But I think those three, Brown, Baines, and Lavelle, would be your first three moving around, even if, like I said, the depth chart says, oh, well, this guy would be your backup here. But I think realistically it would be this guy just is going to move over and kind of cross to a different position.

Starting point is 00:20:56 All right, that's going to do it for our KU offensive depth chart predictions here. We're going to get to our defensive depth chart coming up on tomorrow's episode of the show, which will actually mark being a week out from the first KU football game against Missouri State. So you're going to want to make sure you're subscribed to the show, whether it's anywhere you get

Starting point is 00:21:13 your podcasts or on our YouTube page. You're catching all the stuff as we get ready for college football season and KU football season coming up. It's exciting, isn't it? See you next time on another edition of Locked on Jayhawks.

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Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Kansas Jayhawks Football Offensive Depth Chart Prediction: Which Linemen will Protect Jalon Daniels?

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