Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Kansas Jayhawks Get Their In-State Version of Travis Hunter in 2026 DB/WR JJ Dunnigan + Portal Recap

Starting point is 00:00:00 On today's Locked On Jayhawks, did Kansas get their version of Travis Hunter, the in-state Kansas version? With JJ Dunn again, we're going to break that down in the KU Football Transfer Portal recap to this point of what they've added on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. 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 happening? Derek Johnson here. This is Locked on Jayhawks. Thanks for making it your first listen every day. Thank you to every dayers catching each and every show.

Starting point is 00:00:39 And thank you for being a part of the action. You can find our show anywhere you get your podcasts, including on our YouTube page, where you can like and subscribe to the action. You can find our show anywhere you get your podcasts, including on our YouTube page where you can like and subscribe to the show. And on today's edition, we're talking some KU football. J.J. Dunnigan, big time in-state prospect committed to KU over this past weekend and wanted to get into that, the importance of it, what it means in-state and possible two-way player. You don't see those happen very often for KU football or for, I guess KU actually has a decent amount, which we'll get into, but also a KU football transfer possible two-way player you don't see those happen very often for ku football or for i guess ku actually has a decent amount which we'll get into but um also a ku football transfer portal

Starting point is 00:01:09 recap to this point uh things seem to be slowing down and doesn't seem like they're done but let's recap everything they've added on the offensive and defensive side of the football to this point before we get into any of that this episode of the show is brought to you byTime, where you can get tickets to whatever you're looking to go to right now. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase with GameTime. All right, so Kansas lands J.J. Dunn again. He is listed as a corner, I think, on some places, but it like i'm gonna be a safety for for ku down the road but uh according to his interview he committed to kansas during the under armor all american game which allows underclassmen to perform he is part of the class of 2026 um sounds like he's gonna be

Starting point is 00:01:58 a two-way player is kind of what he was saying that he'll be a receiver and a safety for KU uh 6'2 185 pounds um the fact that he's listed by some as a corner shows you that if he is a safety gonna be a good covered safety as well and obviously a freak athlete to be able to do that um he's obviously I I kind of teased some of the Travis Hunter stuff I I don't mean to say that he's like Travis Hunter was the number one recruit in the country right um he's just this freak athlete I don't mean to say that he's like Travis Hunter was the number one recruit in the country, right? He's just this freak athlete. I don't mean to say that it's going to be necessarily that, but in the same vein of being a two-way player, in the same vein of being, you know, what I think probably closer to what

Starting point is 00:02:35 Aqib Tlaib and Charles Gordon were, where they were full-time defensive starters for KU, who also rotated in for certain packages on the offensive side of the football that could you know make some some offensive plays that's what we typically seen from two-way players right when you think back to Charles Woodson when you think back to like Jaleel was Jaleel Peppers whenever it was for Michigan it's guys who okay they're playing in a few packages maybe they're getting five ten snaps on the offensive side of the ball each game, but they're mainly playing on the defense side. That's probably more apt, but Travis Hunter is the most recent example of it,

Starting point is 00:03:10 and you just want Heisman, so let's go with it. It sounds more fun. It sounds more flashy. But he's rated as a three-star prospect with an 88 grade on 24-7 sports. To begin with, that's very good. I mean, that's close to being a four-star recruit. On the composite, he comes in as the No. 44 corner nationally. nationally he comes in as the number six prospect in the state of kansas that's all part of the class of 2026 so it's not going to be this upcoming class it'll be the class after uh it's part of the top 600 national rankings on the 24-7 sports composite but even all of those

Starting point is 00:03:41 which are already good to begin with are not not necessarily doing it justice. So it sounds as if he is going to be somebody who is going to be a riser in the upcoming ranks. I mean, he was just playing in the Under Armour All-American game, which is obviously a big deal. And he had an interception in that game. And this guy, who's a very good athlete, has very good size. He comes from a lineage of, you know, football family, I guess you would say. His dad played at Kansas State. And by the way, that adds a little bit more intrigue to all this, that his dad did play at Kansas State and that he is from Manhattan High School,

Starting point is 00:04:14 that you were able to snatch a player out of Manhattan High School. And I think that among all of this is as important as anything. I think Dunnigan is going to be a fantastic player for KU when they're able to land him. And like I said, maybe he ends up being one of the top few players in the state of Kansas. And that in itself is very important for Kansas, who continues to try to build inroads on creating this pipeline in the state of Kansas because for so long it has been Kansas State. And they've gotten some key players from in-state, whether it's Devin Neal, whether it's Calvin Clements, right? They've been able to get some players there,

Starting point is 00:04:59 but Kansas State has still gotten the majority of them. But obviously it was going to be a long process for KU because for so many years, a lot of these players who are committing now grew up on Kansas not being good at football. And so you get that ingrained in your mind but they were starting to turn that around they're starting to you know land more and say guys and that is why this is even more important in the class of 2026 for for the state of Kansas figures to be a pretty good one so uh you add to it then that he took Kansas over the there was you know a bunch of other schools that offered him obviously but it sounded like Nebraska Kansas State Kansas over the – there was a bunch of other schools that offered him, obviously, but it sounded like Nebraska, Kansas State, Kansas were the main three that were involved here. And from the Nebraska perspective, they have Big Ten money. They're offering big NIL packages.

Starting point is 00:05:33 So the fact that you get Kansas over Nebraska, that's a big deal on its own. Plus, they're nearby as well. From the Kansas State one, you have the family side of things. You have the fact that he's there, local. I mean, it's a big deal to go grab somebody from manhattan high school and it's something that we've seen kansas state be able to do successfully not just successfully but get really good players from the lawrence area by being able to do that like they went into lawrence high and got echo boydo and i don't know the full process there or what happened from the kansas perspective like did they even give him a shot i don't know but he ended up being a player who's like kind of been a journeyman nfl guy so far in the course of his career i don't remember

Starting point is 00:06:16 if he was drafted or not but he's like stuck on rosters or practice squads and stuff they were able to get that from lawrence high school where your college is like that's something you cannot allow to happen, right? You think of some offensive linemen from Free State that have gone over to Kansas State and had great careers. You can't afford for that stuff to happen if you're KU. And on the flip side, for you to be able to go into Manhattan and get one back just makes it a little bit more sweet to a certain standpoint. Now, here's the scouting report for Dunnigan on 24-7 sports from andrew evans uh just gonna kind of you know paraphrase some of this stuff for uh skip stuff checked out the full part of it on his 24-7 profile but he is a uh uh defensive back with

Starting point is 00:06:56 developmental upside length speed combo um he uh has really dynamic turns uh quick-footed wide receivers uh he's allowed to hang with those guys um made a lot of plays in a variety of different ways so should be able to you know flex whether it's an outside corner or uh safety um and projects as a multi-year starter that will likely need some seasoning before he's ready to go on saturday so um i think this kid's going to be an impact defender down the road and you look at the stats of Manhattan who was the 6a runner-up and nearly was the 6a champion this year lost a close one to Gardner in a back and forth game he had 65 tackles six pass breakups three interceptions also had two forced fumbles and then he had 28 catches for 556 yards so 20 yards of catch basically

Starting point is 00:07:45 five touchdowns he had two kickoff return touchdowns and a par return touchdown so this guy's dynamic with the ball in his hand and he uh like i said had an interception in the under armor all-american game but class of 2026 so that would mean that uh he is what a junior in high school right now so he'd be a senior in high school this upcoming year or this upcoming fall so to speak and then he would join the team in 2026 as far as how he impacts the roster come 2026 um assuming you keep his commitment that is one part of this like whenever you're talking about class of 2026 recruits like you still have to keep recruiting those players you have to steal to still do well as a program and you'll fend off it always is re-recruiting guys so over the course of the year right

Starting point is 00:08:28 but it's safety jalen and devon die graduate after 2025 so that would be you know two players gone though if they do get another year both of them because of the juco thing you actually could have every safety in 2026 back from 2025 if you're kansas but then at the very least in 2027 which would be the time that Dunnigan would be a second year player so either redshirt sophomore or I'm sorry either redshirt freshman or a true sophomore you'd be for sure losing both Dye brothers you'd be losing Lyric Rawls you'd be losing Mason Ellis and then you'd have a probably a redshirt senior in Taylor Davis so you'd be looking at that crop of young safeties with Dunn again with the Monty Maxson and some of these guys is competing to be your second starter next

Starting point is 00:09:11 to Davis and then come 2028 it'd be completely open for who's going to be you know the two starters and obviously there are really three safeties who are playing starting level snaps in how Kansas runs their defense so I think there's a real chance you could see Dunn again playing a real role for Kansas as soon as his second year in the program. And I mean, if he's that good of a recruit, then he'll get on the field in year one in same ways that we've seen players like, you know, Jalen Todd. It just might be more, hey, we're going to preserve your red shirt,

Starting point is 00:09:37 but then you're going to really play over the last four games or something like that. Now, as far as the offensive side of the ball receiver, I'd view him more as a rotational package receiver with the main position being as a db or safety but obviously they have brought in four freshmen in 2025 uh they still have a lot of portal seniors coming in on this year's team so there should be playing time opportunities at the position for him as well as as long as uh that ends up being something that does carry over into things. Now, from a class of 2026 perspective, what this means, Dunnigan joins two other commits.

Starting point is 00:10:09 There is three-star corner Lenny Brown. There's three-star quarterback Jalen Mason. And that also means that two of your three recruits are in-state kids with Mason and Dunnigan. And from Mason's perspective, you're going down to the Wichita area, but Dunnigan again from Manhattan. So Mason's still unrated so far in to the Wichita area, but Dunnigan again from Manhattan. So Mason's still unrated so far in the class.

Starting point is 00:10:31 That'll come in eventually, but that gives Kansas an 88 graded player with Dunnigan, and again, that might even go up, and an 86 graded player with Lenny Brown, according to 24-7. So continuing to fill the future class while they also work on things in the portal. Let's talk more about the portal, though, recapping what they've added so far. This is Locked on Jayhawks. And our episode of the show is brought to you by GameTime.

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Starting point is 00:11:39 Again, create an account and redeem code LOCKEDONCOllege, L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N-C-O-L-L-E-G-E, for $20 off. Download game time today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. All right, continuing on, thank you for joining us on this episode of Locked on Jayhawks. Don't forget, you can check out Locked on College Football, Locked on College Basketball for your second listen every day. Recapping what KU football has added in the transfer portal to this point in time so let's start with the offensive side of the ball LaShawn

Starting point is 00:12:08 Williams comes into the program he was your uh uh I guess first one of the offseason early second one you added because in season you added Bengali Kamara but we'll get to that on the defensive one uh but LaShawn Williams running back from Iowa figures to kind of contend to be one of your top running backs on this year's team then you look at keon burnett he comes in a tight end from arizona former four-star recruit 89 graded transfer on 24-7 he figures to come in and compete for your starting tight end position so uh you look at it too and then you look at the receiver positions emmanuel henderson the transfer from alabama bryson canty the transfer from columbia levi wentz the transfer from albany cam pickett the transfer from ball state i think you kind of

Starting point is 00:12:50 figure that one of those guys will probably compete to be uh k use receiver one if i was putting money on it uh i mean the ceiling of emmanuel henderson would make you pick that henderson would be the most likely you know assumption for who's going to be KU's receiver one. But if it doesn't click, then Bryson Canty might be my actual next one on the list there. And maybe it is a guy who's returning like Doug Emilian. But point being, as I just went through all those, it's not a guarantee, right? There's still guys like Harry Stewart and John Thompson and Daniel Hyshaw. Sounds like he could be back now.

Starting point is 00:13:25 And, you know, that those guys could be your running back one or that, like I said, a million could be this or Sean Hanukkah could be tight end one. But the fact that you at least have a chance to get running back one tight end one receiver one out of this portal class. I mean, I guess it can go both ways, right? If it's because your

Starting point is 00:13:45 your current guys on the roster aren't doing very well that's not a great thing but i view it more from a positive light of like you've gotten starting level players and that is a very important thing to have and players who could be playing big roles on the team and even if you know those things don't happen let's say hanukkah is tight end one keon burnett's still going to play a lot of tight end two ku plays a lot of two and sometimes even three tight end sets. Like if Daniel Hyshaw is your running back one, LaShawn Williams is still going to get a lot of carries. KU uses two running backs, right?

Starting point is 00:14:12 The receiver position. Let's say Emmanuel Henderson's not receiver one, but he's receiver two. You're still going to get a lot of targets and stuff. Then you look at the offensive line, and this isn't as much of, you know, seeing guys who I think are going to factor into the starting lineup right away. Now, I do think Tavaki Tuikolovatu, the transfer from UCLA, he very well might end up being a starter. I think Tyler Mercer, the transfer from North Texas, he might very well end up being a starter. I think you look at it and, you know, both of them are going to be competing for a starting spot.

Starting point is 00:14:44 Maybe one of them ends up being a competing for a starting spot maybe one of them ends up being a starter the other end spot are too deep with jack tanner and deandre harper yeah maybe either or both ends up on the too deep i don't know that i would expect either one to start but they're both future long-term players guys that you're going to get three more seasons out of right and maybe even four if if you end up red shirting one or both of those players so while you got more i think impact ready-made players at the skill position so far on the offensive line i think it's been more about building for the future while also at the very least adding depth for this year's team um and you look at it and and i think that does make a little bit of sense right i mean

Starting point is 00:15:21 obviously from the skill position positions you're surrounding a uh you know veteran quarterback with jaylen daniels who needs those good skill positions and you look at the offensive line and yeah there's still going to be some questions about it but at the very least you have price foster kobe baines back you have calvin clements back who is going to be a third year player who hasn't started a ton of games that has started some games to where you feel confident about what he'll be doing in year three. So it does make sense to be like, hey, you're losing all these receivers and you're losing this and that. Add some ready-made players for there.

Starting point is 00:15:55 But then on the offensive line where especially continuity is so important, it makes a lot of sense to add guys with multiple years. So that's what they've done on the offensive side of the football um could you go through and say like if we're talking about where do those players rank compared to the players they're replacing you know leshawn williams is not going to be an upgrade over devin neal i'm sorry he's just not uh keon burnett could be an upgrade if he hits his ceiling over what KU had a tight end this season. But also, Jerry Casey was first team All-Big 12 as a fullback.

Starting point is 00:16:30 I think they're just different players. Burnett is more of a just, you know, true tight end and could be a receiving tight end. If Emmanuel Henderson hits as a former, you know, top 60 recruit nationally, then maybe his ceiling is higher than any receiver k you even had but i think overall you'd probably say you know you're not necessarily uh getting better from some of your senior like is is levi once going to be better than luke grim i don't know remains to be seen but like stuff like that we'll see and then the offensive line like the players you graduate really good players like logan brown's going pro for a reason. Is DeAndre Harper going to be better than him in 2025? No, probably not. So I think it'll be interesting to see. But I think you could also make the case that if you are making those comparisons, well, one, you're hoping for internal player improvement to overcome some of those improvements. that realistically Kansas was closer to probably being like a 7-8 win team this season when you look at their resume and how many close losses they had and so if you view it from that perspective

Starting point is 00:17:31 of like okay if they were really closer to being like they should have been an 8-win team even if they're worse than they are you know next year um maybe you view it as okay but they'll be luckier in one score games and they can still find a way to get six wins and bowl eligibility but who knows maybe some of these transfers end up being even better than you expect and you have a lot of as okay, but they'll be luckier in one score games and they can still find a way to get six wins and bowl eligibility. But who knows? Maybe some of these transfers end up being even better than you expect and you have a lot of internal improvement. But let's talk about the defense side of the ball next. And this episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. From big upsets to game-winning drives,

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Starting point is 00:18:59 And I will recap that game and also get you ready for the Cincinnati game, give you a preview and recap for that one coming up this weekend, as as we uh stop and do a little KU football here okay so uh recapping KU's defensive additions on the transfer portal so far so we started in the defensive line where Gage Keyes coming back returning to Lawrence and I think that's a nice addition I like what KU's defense tackle room already looked like I like it even even better with Gage Keys back in the fold. I know it didn't really get much playing time with Auburn, but a different level on the line of scrimmage in the SEC. And I think KU probably utilized him a little bit better.

Starting point is 00:19:36 I think there was a little bit of you saw it over the season. Like Gage Keys kind of regretted the decision you could see. I mean, I never blamed him for doing it because if you get a bag to go to go like and you're not somebody who's seen as this like third round draft pick first round draft pick into the nfl like go change your life go change your family's life make some money but um i think that's a nice addition back for for ku um you look at the more edge position caleb red comes in transfer from kentucky and he's someone who was a former highly recruited guy from the Missouri area nearby obviously ends up at his SEC school as well was playing more linebacker for Kentucky but you know outside linebacker probably transfers over to be a

Starting point is 00:20:15 defensive end at Kansas and he kind of joins a list of young players defensive ends for Kansas that are forming highly recruited guys like by Job and and Dak Brinkley, who can they break out? Can you get at least one breakup? Dylan Brooks would apply to this too, right? Can you get at least one or two breakouts from that group this season to really hammer home that position? Then you look at the linebacker position. KU was added to so far.

Starting point is 00:20:39 Bengali Kamara, he was your in-season ad, transferred from South Carolina before that pit. And Joseph Sipp Jr., really productive player at Bowling Green. This was an area of importance for KU to add portal players. One, because the linebacker group struggled last year. Now, I do think J.B. Brown had a really good year for KU as a linebacker position. He was more of a see-and-hit-you linebacker than a cover linebacker, but he still had overall a good season.

Starting point is 00:21:03 I think Cornell Wheeler was having a good season, and then then he had the injury and then after trying to come back from the injury you saw like for instance the pff grades really drop off and i think that was unfortunate and what it did for his season because like i said the first four or five games he was doing really well uh and then the west virginia injury and then things didn't really end well from there barry hill really struggled in the end. KU ended up with, I think, two of the bottom three or four linebackers in the Big 12 by PFF grade. So you're looking to get this position better, but you're also losing players who were starting level for you.

Starting point is 00:21:33 So that's not a good place to be. The fact that you added two productive transfers over the course of their career, huge hits in the transfer portal. We'll see if they can add anything else there. Then you look at the DB room, and this is where maybe ku did their most work overall besides receiver if we're talking defensive side i think in terms of clearly quantity this is where they did their most work but i think you can make the case that um by quality this is where they did the most work maybe you could say a linebacker but i don't know man uh if you're just counting the dbs as a whole

Starting point is 00:22:03 like jaleel hurley for alabama again kind of guy like Emmanuel Henderson hasn't been on the field like a bunch, but for a really highly recruited guy that if you can get the most out of, after losing a couple studs and Melo Dotson and Kobe Bryant. You add Lyric Rawls at safety, who I think is going to have a good year, and he can even have multiple years in the program after coming over from Oklahoma State. That's a good place to be if you're Kansas, adding those three players. And I guess if you wanted to tack on Leif Marjon, the transfer kicker from South Alabama who was nails for the Jaguars last year coming over to Kansas, that South Alabama who was nails for the Jaguars last year coming

Starting point is 00:22:46 over to Kansas. That would be another good addition for the defense. But I think you look at it overall for Kansas defensively, and it felt like they kind of flatlined a little bit from where they were in 2023 to where they were in 2024 on the defensive end of the football. So how can you take that next step? How can you get better on the defensive side of the ball? And one beauty for Kansas is for the first time in the Lance Leipold era, they'll bring back their sack leader in Dean Miller, right? So that'll be a nice place to start. And then you add some of these good transfers. Even though you do lose a lot of linebackers, I think there's an opportunity to be even better there, right?

Starting point is 00:23:22 Especially if you can make another addition to that linebacker room. And clearly you had some work to do in the DB room with all the players you lost at DBs. I don't know that the players they've replaced as good of players as I think they've added there. I don't think you're going to expect them to replace everything you had with Mello and Kobe and Marvin Grant and everything, but can they at least give you enough that maybe you can be better in some

Starting point is 00:23:44 other areas and the new defensive coordinators and they were DK McDonald, that it's enough for the defense to at least take a small step forward this next season. Because if you are looking at it, if we are going back to this idea of getting the office side of the ball, you lost Devin Neal, you lost your three starting receivers. And even though you added some solid transfers in, if they're not as good, what if the offense isn't as good next year as it you know was this past season well then the defense better be better so that you can make an improvement and make a bowl game and i do think that is possible based on what they've done in the portal but again there is still more to possibly come but that's kind of recapping what's happened so far in the

Starting point is 00:24:18 portal for ku football all right we'll be back tomorrow to talk a little kansas arizona state should be an interesting one in the field house last time Arizona State was there Remy Martin happened and not the good Remy Martin for Kansas in the NCAA tournament 2022 it was bad for KU at the time but we'll discuss all that and break down that game on tomorrow's episode so make sure to subscribe anywhere you get your podcasts including on our YouTube page see you then

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Kansas Jayhawks Get Their In-State Version of Travis Hunter in 2026 DB/WR JJ Dunnigan + Portal Recap

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