Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Lance Leipold's Transfer Portal COUP | Illinois Alex Bray JOINS Jayhawks' D-Line - Game CHANGER?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Landslide pool keeps it going in the transfer portal Alex Bray a transfer from Illinois on the defensive line joins the Jayhawks 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 J-Ox. Thanks for making it your first listen every day. Thank you every day. We're catching each and every episode of the show. We are free and available anywhere to get your podcast including on our YouTube page where you can like and

Starting point is 00:00:37 subscribe to the show and on today's edition of Locked On J-Ox a little bonus episode because another transfer portal edition for Land, Flight, Bold in KU football is Alex Bray, a transfer defense event from Illinois is coming aboard into Lawrence will break down his game, what he brings to the table and how he fits in what the current climate of the defense line room looks like for KU on this bonus episode of this show. So who is Alex Bray? Well, he will be a junior this upcoming season. He's a six foot four 270

Starting point is 00:01:08 pound defensive lineman originally from Chesterfield, Missouri. He went to Marquette High School in Chesterfield. He came out of high school as the 24th ranked prospect in the state of Missouri. He was the 80th ranked edge player. And he was an 87 graded three star. I was also a wrestler in high school in addition to his football day. So he ends up going to Illinois, joins the team, spends a couple years there, plays nine games in his first season, although much more limited snaps.

Starting point is 00:01:38 Then in year two, he this past season, he plays almost 400 snaps. He plays in 13 games and becomes a starter for a few games for Illinois as well on the defensive line. So again, he'll be a junior with two years left to play. I guess theoretically you can use a red shirt on him, but I don't think that'll be the idea here for KU. And it bolsters your defensive line. You already added Leroy Harris.

Starting point is 00:02:01 He lost by Joe. That was kind of the replacement to that. This is more of just you were looking to add more competition, more players that can play right away on that defensive line. The beauty of adding Bray is you add somebody who can do that, add somebody who can add competition to the room right away, add somebody who has

Starting point is 00:02:19 that ready body for power five football or power four football. But also the beauty of him being a junior is that when you look at some of the defensive ends that are possibly out of him being seniors, he gives you the opportunity to not just be a player who's rotating in this year, but possibly be a starter in 2026. We'll break down more on that room in just a moment. This is Lockdown Jayhawks.

Starting point is 00:02:42 And today's episode of the show is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. The NBA playoffs are here and FanDuel has given new customers an incredible way to get in on the action. Right now when you join FanDuel and place your first $5 bet, you'll get $250 in bonus bets if your bet wins. With FanDuel, it makes betting so easy, whether it's picking your favorite team, picking the team that you have a strong feeling about that night diving into player props from three pointers to steals to assists. Fandool has so many ways to bet your favorite player props. Plus,

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Starting point is 00:03:46 So really not much we can take away too much from that But this season as a true sophomore at and it is unfortunately played the nine games It says the limited snaps to avoid the redshirt, but this year is a true sophomore. He played 391 snaps He ended up being a starter against Minnesota, Michigan State and Northwestern. Those are three of the team's final five games, which tells you that he was also getting better as the season went on and was starting to earn even more faith and the coaching staff you like to see kind of that trajectory. So 391 snaps, he had a 59 about overall

Starting point is 00:04:21 PFF grade 63 and run defense 73 and tackling 50 and pass rush. And then he had overall six pressures with five hurries one quarterback hit what that tells me I mean, obviously, you're talking about a dude who's 642 70 that is a big defensive end now in Illinois defense, they're running a three four, a three four defensive end is inherently going to be bigger. And so if you're a three four defensive end at Illinois, you be bigger. And so if you're a three four defensive

Starting point is 00:04:45 end at Illinois, you become kind of a tweener at Kansas who plays in more of a four man front, are you a smaller defensive tackle than they normally have? Or are you a bigger defensive end than they have? I do think Kansas will use that to their advantage, right? You can basically say, hey, in pass rushing situations, sure, they get a 50 pass rush grade, but that was as a defensive end. And in the three, four as well,

Starting point is 00:05:07 a lot of times the defensive end is not being as like, if you're a good pass rushing defensive end in a three, four, like those things are, they're unicorns. A lot of times they're being asked to take up blockers because it's the outside linebackers who are going and getting the pressure in that type of defense. Anyway, I think kids can basically say, hey, on pass rushing downs, we'll slide you inside, right? If it's a pass rushing, I think Kansas can basically say, Hey, on pass rushing downs,

Starting point is 00:05:25 we'll slide you inside, right? If it's a pass rushing, if it's third and eight, and we're expecting a pass, instead of running two defensive tackles out there and two defensive ends, why don't we run three defensive ends and one defensive tackle, right? And you can basically have him be a better pass rusher than a defensive tackle with a little more speed, even if he's not as good of a pass rusher as some of your defense events. So I think you can use it that way. And then on early downs or on running downs,

Starting point is 00:05:49 because he was a better run defender, and again, those grades 63 in run defense, 73 in tackling, that's in really his first full year of play as a whatever, I assume 20 year old, as a sophomore, like that stuff is probably gonna get even better to where you're solidifying your run defense a little bit more. And that is obviously very important. I also think it's interesting too, because I don't know if we'll

Starting point is 00:06:10 see this. But, you know, I think the idea and the thought process has been behind with DK McDonald, the new coordinator was previously with Philadelphia Eagles with Iowa State, that the Kansas is going to run a four to five defense, more of, and we've seen that at times for Kansas in the past, more predominantly now with DK McDonald. But I do wonder, because what Iowa State is running now, they're basically running like a,

Starting point is 00:06:33 it's like a three, three, five sort of thing. Like it's like three high safeties, the two corners on the outside, they're running like three down linemen. And their linemen are basically just like trying to stop the run and plug run gaps. And I do wonder, is that the ultimate goal? Does DK McDonald eventually want to go to that? And if so, then this guy makes even more sense in that situation.

Starting point is 00:06:51 But like I said, he does make sense in what they want to do. You can just play him in different areas. And I think it kind of works out from that regard. But this season, he ended up with 20 tackles as well. Didn't have any sacks, though, like I said, did end up with six pressures. But again, I think a better run defender than he was a pass rusher. For once worth in the game against Kansas when Illinois beat KU. That was his second game. He played 15 snaps at a 58 PFF grade. And I mentioned, you know, over the back half of the season when he was able to start three of the

Starting point is 00:07:19 final five games, that it seemed like maybe he was he was starting to play better. Maybe the coaching staff was trusting him a little bit more. Well, you look at those final five games that seemed like maybe he was. He was starting to play better. Maybe the coaching staff was trusting him a little bit more. Well, you look at those final five games again, in which he started three. He had a PFF grades of 64.6 against Minnesota, which at the time was his highest grade. The very next week against Michigan State

Starting point is 00:07:37 had an even higher grade of 67.4. And then he goes down to a 53.1 against Rutgers. And then he goes back up to above 60 in the final two games. So you're talking about over his final five games, four of them, he was above 60 on PFF grade compared to the first, I guess, what would that be?

Starting point is 00:07:56 Eight games of the season, one, two, three, four, five, six, eight games of the season. And he had two of those eight were above 60 on PFF grade. So that's cool to see too, that you have a guy that is improving. And again, if you're looking at the PFF grading scale, a lot of times it's going to like, you almost don't get credit for like above average plays. It's either you made like a splash play or you didn't. So theoretically somebody who's consistently at a 60 grade, which is kind of just average, especially in the role that we just talked about the typically

Starting point is 00:08:25 a guy like that is going to play in a three, four defense. I think it's a little bit more impressive than the grades might indicate. How does he fit in though, or with the rest of the KU defensive line? Where does he slot? Could he be a starter, second string, third string, future starter, those sort of things we discussed those next. This episode of the show is brought to you by Game Time. There's nothing like playoff atmospheres, whether it's going to an NBA playoff game, NHL playoff game, every

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Starting point is 00:09:36 Download Game Time today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. All right, thank you for joining us on this bonus episode. Don't forget to check out our Monday episode that will be coming out, which is what's next on the agenda for KU basketball in the offseason been a little quietly. So we discussed that on that episode and thank you to every dayers and I guess the double dayers who are tuning into the bonus episodes and the everyday episodes as well are unlocked on Jayhawks. All right, so where does Alex Bray fit in with the defensive line? So as I said, I think you might see him play

Starting point is 00:10:05 some defensive tackle on pass rush downs. You might see him play some defensive end on rundowns. But he also, in a question where KU has had kind of some guys where it's like, okay, you like having some strong side defensive ends that are a little stronger and have a little more weight to them. And there were some guys that you were trying to maybe

Starting point is 00:10:22 flex into that this year. Now that you bring in Justice Finkeley from Texas and Alex Bray, you feel good about having those two guys there. So I think Bray slides into the strong side behind Finckley. Finckley, somebody who got to have spring ball and also as a senior and a little bit more production at Texas. I would view Bray as the second string until we see what like, can Dylan Brooks continue to shake off the injury and maybe he'll have more knowledge of the playbook and can you serve him?

Starting point is 00:10:49 But I think Bray would be that guy there. And then on the weak side, I would view Dean Miller still as the starter there. I don't know if Dak Brinkley is going to be a weak side or strong side, but he could factor in either way too. I think Leroy Harris is going to be a weak side, but again, he could, you know, maybe eventually move in there too. He could factor in and then you have Caleb Redd, you brought in wretched freshman and then two true freshmen with Adrian

Starting point is 00:11:12 Hawley and Garrett Martin. So that's nine scholarship players on the defensive end room. And you have kind of good mix of the future players, Holly Martin, red, Brinkley, the now players, Finkely, Miller, and then kind of a mix of like, okay, there's some future to you. There's some future potential to you if you can hit on, you know, what we think you could be but also you can contribute right now with like Bray Brooks Harris and I guess Brinkley would overlap

Starting point is 00:11:39 into that too. So I like the way the defensive end room looks right now. I think it's hard to say it'd be as good as the one two years ago and he had Austin Booker, but can it be better than the one last year? I think it can. I mean, the thing is, you had three guys you could really trust at the top, right? With Jeremy Robinson and Dylan Woodke rotating at one spot, and then Dean Miller at the other spot. Those are three guys you could really trust. I think you'll be able to trust Finkly. Obviously you still have Miller. I don't know. I think

Starting point is 00:12:08 you'll be able to trust Bray, but it's not as known of a commodity. I do think there's a higher ceiling on this defensive end room than last year's. Now that comes with a little bit of hindsight because theoretically you thought that, oh, DJ Warner could raise the ceiling of last year's group a ton. That didn't end up happening. But in hindsight, based on how last year's finished, I do think there's a higher ceiling on this unit. I think the floor is actually kind of similar to where it was a season ago. But this gives you more flexibility. It gives you more depth. And I think when you're fast forwarding to 2026, okay, Finckley is a senior, Dean Miller is a redshirt senior. There's two open spots to be

Starting point is 00:12:43 at the starting spot if we expect those to be the starters in 2025 come 2026. And I think when Bray would be a senior in 2026, you would expect him to be a starter. So a lot of rotational snaps this year, and then starter in 2026. That would be my expectation for Bray. All right, that'll do for this episode of Lockdown Jayhawks. You can find our show anywhere you get your podcasts including our YouTube page. Don't forget to check out our regular episode talking a little KU oops, see

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Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Lance Leipold's Transfer Portal COUP | Illinois Alex Bray JOINS Jayhawks' D-Line - Game CHANGER?

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