Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Kansas Jayhawks Spring Football Storylines: Jalon Daniels Back, Injuries, Offseason Catch-Up

Starting point is 00:00:00 On today's Locked on Jayhawks football Friday, Jalen Daniels back in spring practice, some injuries. We're going to be catching up on spring football for KU. 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 find me on Twitter at D Johnson radio. Hit me up with any questions or anything you want to talk about on the show. We're doing our first football Friday. Spring football is back in session for KU football,

Starting point is 00:00:38 and it has been for a little bit here with the spring showcase coming up soon. So we're going to start doing now that we're in off season mode, football Friday additions of the shows here with locked on Jayhawks. We'll be talking about the biggest storylines right now in spring football. Jalen Daniels returning to action injuries, including a key one at left tackle and also some off season catch up. If you missed some of what happened with the transfer portal in the off season and possible positions to target for KU.

Starting point is 00:01:03 One spring football comes to close in the transfer portal opens back up. First, this episode of the show is brought to you by FanDuel. Make every moment more. New customers join today and you'll get $200 in bonus bets. If your first bet of $5 or more wins, visit fanduel.com slash locked on to get started. So let's start with the latest spring football storylines, the top storylines for KU football.

Starting point is 00:01:24 Well, Jalen Daniels, he is the top storylines for KU football. Well, Jalen Daniels, he is a pretty prominent figure for KU football. So let's talk about him first. Jalen Daniels is back. He has been practicing for KU. Now, it seemed like at first during spring practices that Jalen was more of a kind of limited participant, maybe out there in pads, maybe would participate in some of the drills, but not all of the drills. Well, you look at some of the latest, I don't know, highlights and things that are being talked about. It seems like he's starting to get more and more reps. I don't know that I would classify

Starting point is 00:01:51 him as being like a full participant. I don't know. Maybe he is, but certainly it doesn't seem that way, but at the very least he is back. He is in pads. He is there. He is a real person. He is good enough to at least be able to throw and everything, but this is going to be something where, yes, that is a good sign. Yes, that is a good thing that he is out there and he is at least ramping things back up and he is at least participating to some level, some extent, but you're going to be holding your breath the whole way through. Even if he makes it out of spring football okay, you're still going to be holding your breath in the fall. You're still going to be holding your breath once you get to camp and even every day through the season, because what we learned about, you know,

Starting point is 00:02:28 the, the injury here, and I don't know if, you know, cause it has been different injuries that have kind of kept him out over the different seasons so far for KU, right? You have the shoulder injury in 2022, you have the back injury last year, but what we saw last year with back injuries, it could literally flare up at any moment in time. So like, I know this is not like an assuring thing, but theoretically you could be 100% healthy through the first two weeks of the season. Who's to say that at any moment on a Wednesday practice it gets retweaked?

Starting point is 00:02:54 And that is an unfortunate way to live through a season that you constantly have that fear in the back of your head of is something going to happen again? But you just hope it works out out that everything lines up for Jalen Daniels in a season it's not his fault that like he's not choosing to be injured you know what I mean um some guys that's just kind of an unfortunate thing they have to confront and kind of have to deal with and so for Jalen you just hope he can stay healthy all the way through not just because you don't have Jason Bean anymore who is you know, electric backup quarterback that's still able to carry you to a nine win season. But that with Jalen, if you just want to see what it looks like for full season, he is such an electric player. He's such a dynamite player, such a dynamite character and a leader in this offense that, you know, you really just want to beyond

Starting point is 00:03:39 like for him and his personal sake and getting to possibly go off to the NFL after this season, if he does stay healthy and has that big season, like you want to see the test subject of what does it look like if we get a full season of Jalen Daniels, how good he has looked each season he's played in more limited sample sizes. What if you do get a full season? Like, are we talking, you know, possibly winning a big 12 championship? Are we talking about possible college football playoff contention for,

Starting point is 00:04:03 for Kansas and Jalen Daniels and everything like that would be so cool to see so really hope it uh everything happens and i i think furthermore like what's going to happen with the backup quarterback position becomes very interesting in spring it's not just about who wins the battle between cole ballard and isaiah marshall but it's also about do you feel confident enough saying that whoever does win that backup battle is good enough that if jaylen does have an injury and has to miss time during the season that they can not just be you know ho-hum and fill in but that they can win you games similar to how Jason Bean did last year and if the answer is no then maybe they go into the portal in the offseason if the answer is yes then you feel good about where you're at now the other big I think storylines right now is spring

Starting point is 00:04:42 football have to be kind of injury related whether it is like Jalen Daniels or other guys who maybe are more limited in some of the spring ball or maybe just aren't participating in spring ball, but are kind of expected to be back in the fall. And we saw that like a guy like Kenny Logan has missed the spring in the past. Mike Davitsky missed the spring last year for KU. Obviously, both those guys have departed from now. But injuries are not new. And obviously, in spring, you want to take everything very lightly with those guys. That is the case. But it seems like Calvin Clemens suffered a really bad possible ankle injury for KU.

Starting point is 00:05:15 And that's obviously very unfortunate. He started the bowl game for KU at the tackle position. And as just a redshirt freshman this year, since he still preserved his redshirt last year, was going to be in a tight competition. And it seemed like some people were picking him to be the favorite in that competition over Logan Brown. Logan Brown coming off an injury from last year, but obviously has all the talent in the world.

Starting point is 00:05:37 Now, it seems like Logan Brown has done very well in spring practice so far that who knows, maybe if Calvin Clements was healthy all the way through, that Logan Brown the job anyway now I don't know the situation Calvin Clements is this just an injury that's going to keep him from the rest of spring ball is it an injury that's going to keep him from fall camp and start of the season or any part of the season I don't know but certainly this makes you think that Logan Brown is going to further have that edge up on the tackle position and I don't know that's necessarily a bad thing. He, again, is a very talented player. And if he can live up to that potential this year, Kansas, I mean, it's hard to say you're going to get better at the left tackle position because Dominic Poonie was so good and he's going to probably be like a day

Starting point is 00:06:16 two pick in the NFL draft. So it's hard to say that. But I mean, Logan Brown has like all big 12 level potential in him, right? If you can kind of unlock that this season. To a lesser extent, some other injuries like LJ Arnold, that's kind of a big one, sounds like he's going to be out for spring football. It's less concerning, though, with the Arnold one as maybe some of the other ones for KU because Arnold is a proven commodity. You know what you're going to get there, whereas with the Clements one and kind of the tackle one in general, you're, you're kind of talking about

Starting point is 00:06:48 a position where you have competition going on and you're trying to figure out kind of what's going on. Another bit of news is that Matt Lubick, who was an analyst for KU is the Nevada new offensive coordinator. And so, you know, you're going to lose coaches to other jobs. You've talked about this before and Kansas has so far this off season, and especially you're going to lose coaches to other jobs you talked about this before and Kansas has so far this offseason and especially you're going to lose analysts to be you know coordinators elsewhere but this is about as big of a loss as any it feels like unfortunately we've said that a lot this offseason for KU you know first it was Andy Kotelnicki then you're talking about with Jordan Peterson right um you're talking about with uh Scott Fuchs the offensive line coach like you've lost not just a lot to the coaching staff this year and a lot more than you have in the previous years.

Starting point is 00:07:30 But you have lost a lot of really good coaching talent this year. Matt Lubick, you know, he's dealing with some health stuff, some cancer stuff. And so it sounds like he's getting over that. So, you know, prayers up for him and his family. And obviously you hope that he's moving past that and everything. And in the stage of, you know, recovery and heading in the right direction. If he was not dealing with that,

Starting point is 00:07:52 some of that stuff, he might've been the offensive coordinator higher for KU before they hired Jeff Grimes, because he had a heavy hand in, in what KU's offense looked like. Did Matt Lubick, Andy Kodelnicki is not the Penn State offensive coordinator right now without Matt Lubick. So that is a big loss from the analyst perspective.

Starting point is 00:08:09 Now, KU does have a couple other coaching additions that they made from the analyst perspective. I think they got a coach from Baylor. And it sounds like they're bringing in some good other sharp minds, but that one is a tough one to lose with Lubick going there. But maybe somebody to keep an eye on that. let's say Jeff Grimes leaves for a head coaching position or another position in a year or two. Maybe Matt Lubick becomes the next guy that you bring in for KU if things kind of line up a little bit more there. And then the last big storyline I have here is that in college football

Starting point is 00:08:38 this year, they're adding the headset communication. So, therefore, you have to have guys. Obviously, it's going to be the quarterback on the offensive side. But you have to have somebody on the defense who I think in the NFL, they call it what the green dot guy, the green dot on their helmet to signify that they're going to be the ones with the communication, the radio communication in their headset. And so like for the chiefs, it's like Nick Bolton. It usually is a linebacker. I don't know if any teams use like a safety, but the linebackers kind of the quarterback of the

Starting point is 00:09:01 defense in most times, uh, Cornell Wheeler is that guy for KU. And I think that becomes very interesting when you look at the linebacker position. Obviously, Rich Miller graduates. Craig Young graduates. And you have Tywon Berryhill back in the fold. You have J.B. Brown back in the fold. Cornell Wheeler back in the fold. Guys like Logan Brantley looking to make a step up.

Starting point is 00:09:20 And this is a position for KU that I wouldn't quite quantify as a strength compared to other Big 12 teams from what it's been so far every year of the Lance Leipold era, but it also felt like it's gotten gradually a little bit better each and every year, even if it hasn't again been a top five unit or anything in the Big 12. And this year, once again, it's a question. But I actually think there's a higher ceiling of this linebacker unit than any of the years in the past. And part of the reason why is Cornell Wheeler. I think JB Brown is going to be a stud in year two. I really liked what you saw in year one. I think with a bigger role in year two, it's only going to get better. I think Logan Brantley maybe is going to be ready to make a

Starting point is 00:09:57 bigger impact this year. Jason Gilliam can kind of rotate in at like the Hawk position and give you a little bit of reps there. Now it's still a position that maybe you're looking for to add more in the transfer portal. But like to me, the ceiling of Cornell Wheeler and JB Brown and Logan Brantley, I don't know, like Craig Young had a high ceiling too, but like he's maybe higher than the linebacking court. Now, are you going to reach that ceiling? That kind of becomes a question here. But point being, the fact that Cornell Wheeler is the guy that gives the helping communication to kind of signifies that, yeah, you're looked at as being a starter. You're looked

Starting point is 00:10:28 at as being a leader of the defense. He's a former Michigan transfer, so you're living up to that four-star kind of potential, and if they're basically saying he's good enough to be that guy, I think that is a great sign for the step he's taking forward as you look at that position to be better this year than maybe it was last year. There's been one of those positions each and every year. Two years ago, it was like, oh man, I don't know. You lose Kwame Lasseter. What do they have really back at the receiver position? Turns out the receiver position was a strength. Last year, it was like, oh man, you lost a lot on the defensive line or how good is this defensive line going to be? Well, it turns out you had Austin Booker and Devin Phillips and some of these guys that gauge keys that made a big impact on the defensive line. It was better

Starting point is 00:11:07 than you might've thought on paper. I'm kind of circling the linebacker core to be that position this year for KU. Let's get on to off-season catch-up. If you missed any of it, or maybe a reminder about what Kansas added and lost during the off-season and in the transfer portal, and then maybe what are some positions that they could target once we get through spring ball. Robinhood has the only IRA that gives you a 3% boost on every dollar you contribute when you subscribe to Robinhood Gold. But get this, now through April 30th, Robinhood is even boosting every single dollar you transfer in from other retirement accounts with a 3% match. That's right, no cap on the 3% match. Robinhood Gold gets you the in from other retirement accounts with a 3% match. That's right, no cap on the 3% match. Robinhood Gold gets you the most for your retirement thanks to your

Starting point is 00:11:50 IRA with a 3% match. This offer is good through April 30th. Get started at robinhood.com slash boost. Subscription fees apply. And now for some legal info. Claim as of Q1 2024 validated by Radius Global Market Research. Invest investing involves risks, including loss. Limitations apply to IRAs and 401ks. 3% match requires Robinhood Gold for one year from the date of first 3% match. Must keep Robinhood IRA for five years. The 3% matching on transfers is subject to specific terms and conditions. Robinhood IRA available to U.S. customers in good standing.

Starting point is 00:12:24 Robinhood Financial LLC member SIPC is a registered broker dealer. Off-season catch-up for KU football on our first Football Friday of the calendar year here. Let's start with what they lost. So if you remember, they lost a couple guys on the offensive line. Spencer Lavelle, who transferred to Nevada. He'll be there with Matt Lubick, I guess. More of a rotational backup offensive lineman who didn't see a ton of playing time. Armage Reed-Adams, he did see a ton of playing time. He kind of had six offensive linemen, six starting-level offensive linemen

Starting point is 00:12:57 for five spots that rotated around. Reed-Adams played some guard. He played some tackles. Was really solid for KU. He was a very solid starter. And with his size and potential, the thought is he could take an even another step this next year, but he's going to be trying to do that at Texas A&M. Then you have Gage Keyes, who you lost at the defensive tackle spot, which was, that was a big loss because you were already losing guys to graduation and notably like Devin Phillips and Gage Keyes probably would have been

Starting point is 00:13:21 a starter this year for KU. Gets a big sum of NIL money from Auburn, goes off to the SEC, and then you lose some other players who maybe weren't playing as much. Tanaka Scott, Will Huggins, and Reese Thomas. Thomas was like a walk-on. He's going to Lindenwood, so he'll play KU. Will Huggins goes to Pittsburgh State, which I think he's going to dominate there. And Tanaka Scott goes to North Alabama, which is the FCS side of things. But overall, I mean, yes, there are some key players lost there are key positions and everything but like

Starting point is 00:13:50 considering how much some teams get poached from the transfer portal that really is not as bad as it maybe could have been I guess would be the way of putting it KU has put a lot of resources to retaining guys now you could have more players leave and in fact you probably will at the end of spring ball. The key is going to be, can you retain the key ones on the two deep, right? Like it's one thing when you're losing Will Huggins as much as I like his potential and everything and Reese Thomas and stuff. It's another thing if you end up losing, you know, starting level players in terms of what you've gained though, in the off season on the offensive side of the ball, Deshaun Hanukkah tight end from Iowa state. Seems like he has been impressive so far in spring ball,

Starting point is 00:14:26 and he maybe end up will be tight end number one. Shane Bumgarner, who was the Division II transfer at the center position, was like the best center in Division II. Sounds like he is not the biggest guy in the world, but at center specifically, that's the position I care least about how big you are. It's more so just how effective you are. I remember that uh the Coastal Carolina teams that were really good the the two years that they happened to play Kansas and one year they were ranked and the other year I don't know they might have been ranked the other year for a good amount of time but either way like

Starting point is 00:14:54 double digit wins both seasons and Grayson McCall was great I I think they were like the mighty munchkins or something like that they had a nickname for the offensive line and like I remember their center was like it was like 5'8 like I don't know like 250 pounds or something like that but they were good and I think at that position specifically it's almost more mental and like centers are mostly they're doubling on a defensive tackle with a guard or they're working up to the second level on the linebacker so I'm a little less concerned with the size as long as he just knows what he's doing, he's a smart guy and snaps the ball well.

Starting point is 00:15:28 Like I think you can get away with that more than maybe some of the other offensive line positions. But it does sound like he's actually doing well in spring ball and that's going to be important because if he doesn't do well, then maybe you're having to play Michael Ford at the center position, which, you know, maybe that's a little more out of his comfort zone.

Starting point is 00:15:43 Michael Ford is a great guard. Would he be a great center? I don't know, that remains to be seen. And then if you can stick Shane Bumgarner at center and Michael Ford can just be a great guard, it opens the other positions up a little bit more and helps your depth a little bit more. You added Daryl Simmons to, to the guard position, a longtime starter for Iowa States that gives you, whether it's, it's being that kind of a starter at the other guard spot next to Michael Ford or being that first guard off the bench, you can kind of play the Armage Reed Adams role from last year. That is a very nice addition for KU. Defense side of the ball, you added Javier Derrett from North Dakota State, and he comes in at the defensive tackle spot. I think

Starting point is 00:16:20 just an adult you added to the room that's always good at the defense tackle and on the line. Dylan Woodkey is the transfer from Youngstown State. He's going to have a big role this year. And, you know, maybe initially the thought was we're going to rotate him and Jeremy Robinson. But now that you lost Austin Booker and maybe you don't have that obvious candidate to be the rush end. Now, maybe, you know, a guy like Dylan Brooks, who was the former four star transfer from Auburn. Maybe a guy like, I don't know, somebody further down the depth chart, like Dean Miller or something like that from last year

Starting point is 00:16:51 emerges this year and can be that guy. But maybe we see some Woodkey there too. He was a big addition for KU. And honestly, they could probably use more there at the defensive end spot. Devin Dye on the safety position. Sounds like KU is going to play a lot of three safety looks. I think it'll be a little bit less of, hey, we have this unicorn in Craig Young, who is a linebacker, but basically is also kind of like a safety. And so we can basically play with three linebackers on the field. I think now instead of that, you're going to see more two linebacker looks and it'll be more three safety looks for KU.

Starting point is 00:17:20 And that's been a popular thing in the Big 12. That's what like Iowa State does. And they always have these great defenses. KU has a lot of talent in the safety room with Marvin Grant and OJ Burrows back. And, you know, Jalen Dye coming back as depth. And you have some guys who were kind of coming up as young players, whether it's like Mason Ellis or something who logged like the fastest time in the offseason on one sprint. Guys that Taylor Davis, right, that you're going to have a lot of talent in the safety

Starting point is 00:17:44 room. Devin Dye adds to that. And it only adds to the idea of playing those three safeties and then you had a bunch of freshmen handful joining at semester obviously you'll have more joining in fall but jalen todd dac brinkley isaiah marshall red martel and damani maxson uh ended up joining at semester i don't know if uh maybe harry stew ended up joining too, but anyway, that gives those guys maybe a leg up and maybe gives a chance for Isaiah Marshall to be the backup quarterback and maybe for Damani Maxson to get on the field earlier. Jalen Todd, right, is kind of building the depth in those DB rooms or Dak Brinkley. If you are looking for more defensive end,

Starting point is 00:18:18 could a guy like Dak Brinkley get on the field right away, right? I think these kind of become some of the questions for KU, But what could they add in the transfer portal once spring ball comes to a close? We'll discuss that in a moment on Locked on Jayhawks. First, this episode of Locked on Jayhawks is brought to you by GameTime. Buying tickets to your favorite sporting event shouldn't be stressful.

Starting point is 00:18:39 GameTime is a fast and easy way to buy tickets to your favorite sports, music, comedy, theater event near you with killer deals on last-minute tickets and their best price guaranteed. You can stop stressing over tickets and start getting hyped for the fun that you're going to be having. Flash deals and last-minute tickets, easy to find and buy tickets for every kind of event in your area.

Starting point is 00:18:56 Images of the seat views. They even have lowest price guarantee, event cancellation protection, and job loss protection. And how about the game time guarantee? Means you'll always get the best price. If you find tickets in the same section and row for less, Game Time will credit you 110% of the difference. Snag the tickets without the stress with Game Time.

Starting point is 00:19:14 Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off the first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code LOCKEDON for $20 off. Download Game Time today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. So what can Kansas still use in the transfer portal? Well, it'll be interesting to see what they lose,

Starting point is 00:19:34 who departs at the end of spring ball. Now, if you remember, Kansas lost some of their assistant coaches like Jordan Peterson and Scott Fuchs. That was after spring ball or the second semester, whatever you want to say, had already started for KU, or I guess after the transfer portal closed, I think is the better way of me putting this. So theoretically, would any players have, if those guys left before the portal closed, would any players have left with them, you know, if the portal was still open and therefore they're going to have

Starting point is 00:20:05 that decision to make at the end of spring. Good news is for Kansas, you had all this time over the couple of months and spring ball and getting to know the new coaches to try to stick around, right. And to convince them to stay in everything. So that'll be interesting. And then it kind of becomes a little bit of, if you lose anything, you try to add that same position kind of in the portal for KU. But I think beyond that, obviously it never hurts to add more players on the line, whether it's offensive or defensive line, that's always position you're looking for more depth. But specifically for this team, you're looking to add more defensive line depth. I don't think another interior defensive lineman would be crazy.

Starting point is 00:20:35 I know Tommy Dunn and DJ Withers, you know, you went from being not playing much to then hearing good things to then you become kind of role players slash starters last year. Can you take another step up this year? And if you can, that'd be great. You had Javier Derrick, but again, KU will rotate four or five, even six guys if they got it at the defensive tackle spot. Defensive end clearly would be one, especially specifically if you can get a pass rush type, because that's what you had with Kyron Johnson, Delaney Phelps, to Austin Booker. It wasn't just a defensive end. It was your pass rushing defensive end. Whereas at the strong defensive end spot, which is kind of Jeremy Robinson,

Starting point is 00:21:10 more of a Dylan Woodkey, you maybe feel a little bit better there. So that would be what you're looking for. Maybe you add a starting level linebacker. They've kind of done that the last two off seasons. You know, J.B. Brown, I think he was an addition, though, before spring ball started. You did do that with Lorenzo McCaskill the year before. That would be one that kind of makes sense,

Starting point is 00:21:27 whether it is somebody who can at the very least be on the two deep and be extra depth, or if it is someone who can be that starter level player. And then the last thing you're looking for is just health, kind of going through the offseason for KU with some of the injuries and bang-ups that you're kind of dealing with. But that'll do it for our Football Friday edition of Locked on Jayhawks. Make sure you subscribe to the show anywhere you get your podcasts, including on our YouTube page. Back with more

Starting point is 00:21:48 KU basketball content if there's any breaking news. We'll have plenty more KU football content as well. This has been LOJ.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Kansas Jayhawks Spring Football Storylines: Jalon Daniels Back, Injuries, Offseason Catch-Up

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.