Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Kansas Jayhawks Land 6'7" Defensive End Draeden Punt in Class of 2026 Over Kansas State Wildcats

Episode Date: February 6, 2025

Lance Leipold and Kansas Jayhawks football landed their 12th commit for the class of 2026, this time with 6'7" 3-star defensive end Draeden Punt, who picked KU over Kansas State Wildcats and South Dakota Coyotes. The impact of Punt's commitment and KU's strong class, Punt's game/scouting report, and the future of the DE Room for KU with now Punt and Hunter Higgins aboard in the class of '26.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!PrizePicksDownload the app and use code lockedonnfl to win $50 instantly when you play $5. You don't even need to win to receive your $50 bonus, it's guaranteed! Prizepicks. Run Your Game.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONCOLLEGE GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelSuper Bowl 59 is here, And there’s no better way to make every play more exciting than with FanDuel Sportsbook. New customers can bet just FIVE DOLLARS, and if you win, you’ll score TWO HUNDRED BUCKS in Bonus Bets. Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of Super Bowl Fifty-Nine. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

A six-foot-seven future star defensive end that Kansas State really wanted? Well, KU got him. Drayden Punt is a Jayhawk. We break down his commitment as the growing class of 2026 continues. 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. We got a bonus episode for you here today on the show as a Drayden Punt. The best type of punt is when you get a six foot seven defensive end named punt to commit to KU. So thank you to every dayers catching each and every show. Thank you to you for listening anywhere that you are getting your podcast or on our YouTube page.

And if you are, like and subscribe to the show. And if you're listening on an audio platform, if you could give us a nice little five-star review, certainly helps us out on our end of things. On today's edition of Locked on Jayhawks, we're going to break down the commitment of Drayden Punt as we're going to get into a little bit of everything on this, what it means for the class of 2026 for KU. We're also going to get into what it means for KU at the

defensive line room, specifically because now they do have two commits at the defensive line room and what that room could possibly look like when he arrives come 2026. Let's get right started right here, though. Who is Drayden Punt? He is a 6'7 defensive end who is a three-star recruit in the class of 2026. He committed to the Kansas Jayhawks football program, committed to Lance Lightpool to play for the defense with DK McDonald and company. And you look at the offers, and there's only two other ones up there. It's South Dakota, who has obviously been a very good FCS program, and Kansas State. And when him to a very real level if that was the case, and you really have two power five offers there that you're looking at between Kansas and Kansas State.

So this one becomes in the same vein that all those in-state commits that you've gotten, which has been abundant so far for KU, have committed to Kansas, and that has been big in the rivalry on the recruiting trail between the two schools. This is also in that same vein, even though it's not a local in-state kid. Now, he is local-ish, right, being from the Iowa area. But, you know, that just, I guess, makes it a little bit sweeter if you're KU to that perspective. But to me, this is even bigger because I really like the player that you're getting here. And we'll get into specifically what he brings to the table, scouting reports, some of the highlights and stuff like that.

But this now gives you 12 commits in the class. And if you're looking at 24-7 sports, Kansas now has the number 10 class in the country. Now, again, I've said this all the way through, like that's going to be a number that's going to change. Other teams are going to start getting more commits. Like a big part of this is quantity, not just the quality that KU is bringing on.

But you look at it now to this point in time, and you now basically have, what is this, one, two, three, four, five players as part of the class of your KU that are 88 grade or higher on 24-7 sports rating system, which is very good. I've talked about this before, the 0.8600 higher on the 24-7 sports composite grade and how Lance Leipold, it's just a billion of these recruits that he's bringing in. Well, Pott doesn't have a composite grade, so I can't necessarily add to that or register that, but I can tell you this. You look at it right now, again, 12 commits in tow now for Kansas and Lance Leipold. And of the 12 that are now committed, when you look at punt, he comes in as, let's see, top 60 at his position. There's a chance once the composite comes together that he'll probably be like a top 1,000 recruit. And let's say he is a top 1,000 recruit. That would mean of the 12 commits that KU has, eight of them would be top 1,000 commits. And I think there might be even a couple other guys that are waiting on their composite grade too. The most percentage of commits that KU has ever gotten in the 24-7 sports recruiting era, which goes back to 2010, that have been top 1,000 recruits. So you take the number of top 1,000 recruits

divided by the number of commits they have, would have actually been the 2025 class, which 53% the year before was their second best, almost 3% in 2024. Right now, they'd be trending at 67% if he ends up being in that situation. So it's pretty crazy what Lance Leibolden and staff has done in this class of 2026. Let's continue on, though.

What does he bring to the table? What is his scouting report on Drayden Punt? This episode of the show is brought to you by GameTime. Looking for tickets to your next big event, whether it's a concert, comedy show, or sports game? Finding the right ticket at the right price can be a headache. But with GameTime Picks, it's never been easier. Let me tell you how it works. GameTime Picks, the app does all the hard work for you. It curates the best deals so you don't have to waste time searching through endless ticket listings. I love using GameTime.

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Lowest price. GuarTime today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. I continue on Drayden Punt. What does he bring into the table? Well, the 88 graded three-star on 24-7 sports. That means he is tied for your third highest rated recruit. Caden Snyder, Hunter Higgins are listed higher on just 24-7 sports gradings. Again, like some of that stuff could be adjusted and change here or there, but for now, that's pretty good. He's also a 5.6 rated three-star on rivals. He is from Mock Floyd Valley High School in Iowa, 6'7", 220 pounds.

I mean, that is quite the frame, 6'7", for what you're bringing to the defensive end room. Now, the one question would be, okay, if you're 6'7", like, you know, how athletic are you are are you just you know tall and and no this dude is an athlete according to his huddle page he uh ran a 4.67 40 yard dash which is pretty darn good for a guy who's 6'7 in high school uh plays defensive end and tight end for his high school which i don't know if that's a smaller high school or what i don't know the iowa area as well but obviously i'd imagine there's going to be an adjustment to competition regardless.

But he's lengthy, and it shows. And the 6'7 frame tells you that he's probably got room to add some good weight to him. And does he profile to being more of a strong side defensive end or a weak side? I don't know. Maybe it'd make more sense for him to be weak side. He's 220 pounds, right? You can add 25 pounds to him. He's still 245. You'd probably still want a little more if he was strong side. But then again, maybe you'd say, hey, he's six, seven. Maybe we can get him up to

260 and then he's a strong side. But I'll be honest. I think he's more of the weak side based on the type of game he has. So when you think of the strong side defensive end, I think of more, right? And both defensive ends are going to be pass rushers. That's the ideal for you there. But the strong side might be a little bit better against the run and the weak side might be a little bit better as a pass rusher, just generally, right? It doesn't always work exactly that way, but just generally. And when I look at punt, I see a guy who could be a future star of a pass rusher. He's got great Twitch. and i was really impressed watching the highlights the jump off the line of scrimmage like that's i don't know if that's something you can

teach or if that's something that you're just kind of born with but he seemed to have like really good jump off the line of scrimmage which then when you add in a six seven frame that is a good um little i don't know package to have uh he has really good bend um i was really impressed with some of the stunts that he had where he's coming from the dn spot and then he's kind of looping around to rush as a defensive tackle it came in with really good speed and there's one really awesome highlight which is actually if you go watch his junior highlights uh i think on his huddle page it's like the second highlight so you don't even have to watch that long to see this there's this one play where he like stunts inside,

chips by the offensive lineman, knocks over the helping running back and goes and hits the quarterback. And this is all within like probably a second or two. Absolutely love watching the highlights on this kid. I don't know. He might be my favorite recruit in the class so far from the stuff I've watched. Like 6'7 defensive end who's really freaky athletic.

I don't know. I'm really in on this kid. I know there's a lot of other good recruit. Like Dunn again, really in on this kid. I know there's a lot of other good recruit. Like Dunn again, I think is going to be really early. There's a lot of really good players, but I absolutely love this pickup. And I also, it's not just the defensive side of the football. Think about the impact that a kid like this can have on the special teams game, right? Think about having a 6'7 guy jumping up to block field goals.

Think about having a dude with really good athleticism who's 6'7 to run in and try to block a punt um i think this is a huge addition for ku let's talk about the future of the dn room and uh how this class of 2026 has a couple pretty good defensive ends coming in this episode of the show is brought to you by prize picks where with the big game almost, there's no better way to make it even more exciting than with PrizePix, the best place for daily fantasy sports. With over 10 million members and billions in winnings awarded,

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We have a KU K-State preview coming at you tomorrow on Locked on Jayhawks. And thanks for tuning in anywhere you get podcasts or on YouTube. So you look at 2026, you now have two defensive end commits, Hunter Higgins and now this addition with Drayden Punt. And that is about, I mean, that's about as good of a defensive end class as you can imagine until you start thinking about past defensive end classes that KU has brought in as well. You brought in Adrian Hawley, who was a 90 graded four star

in last year's class at the defensive end position. And you brought in Garrett Martin, who was an 87 graded three star from the defensive end position. The season before stacks right and and chances are like some of them uh some of these players like you don't know which one like maybe somebody has injury woes they have to deal with maybe somebody you know it's it's too hard to make the adjustment to the college game maybe one of them breaks out to be an all-big 12 player and another one breaks out uh to be just the starter level player rotation level player you don't know how the careers from all these guys are gonna work out and if you know maybe two of them end up breaking out and being all big 12 level players but you're taking legit dart throws on these things that are like high percentage dart throws like you've moved closer to the dart board with the level of players you are bringing in and then you factor in some of

the guys that you brought in via the transfer portal right you think of by joe redshirt sophomore former four-star recruit caleb red uh former know, highly rated three-star recruit that you brought in from Kentucky. And those guys are underclassmen. Joe will be a redshirt sophomore in 2025. Red will be a redshirt freshman. You combine all this stuff together. They are loading up on the defensive end room with not just, you know, talented players, but players that could have a real impact down the line for KU. And then you look at this year's team that has Finkley and Miller, which I think could be a good little DN room for KU. I feel really good about the defensive end position, both in terms of this year and moving forward. And you look at 2026, right? Finkley and Miller would graduate. I guess Miller,

maybe he'll be able to get another year with the whole Juco stuff that remains to be seen. But you look at 2026, you could have a redshirt senior Dylan Brooks, redshirt sophomore by Job, second-year versions of Adrian Hawley and Garrett Martin, redshirt sophomore versions of Dak Brinkley and Caleb Redd, and then your freshman coming in this year. It's going to be a fun defensive end room and watching these guys grow up because it feels like you are creating a real pipeline where, okay, you've got a good defensive end now.

Oh, he graduates. Oh, boom, we've got this next guy coming along and they just continue to stack good classes in that defensive end room, which again is the case with Higgins and punt. I don't know for this episode of lockdown Jay ox. You can find our show anywhere. Get your podcast, including on our YouTube page. See you next time with LOJ.