Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - No Worries About Kansas Jayhawks Football QB Jalon Daniels' Back Headed Into Missouri State?

Starting point is 00:00:00 On today's Locked on Jayhawks, joined by Nick Schwert, we're going to talk a little KU football ahead of their first game in Missouri State. Early look ahead to that one. And what's more important to KU hitting their team win total over the defense or Jalen's health? All that and more on today's edition of the show. You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks,

Starting point is 00:00:21 part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. I'm Derek Johnson. You can hear me as well, Monday through Friday from 3 to 6 p.m. on KLWN in Lawrence with Rock Chalk Sports Talk. He's Nick Schwert. You can find him. He's got a new podcast, at Nick underscore Schwert on Twitter,

Starting point is 00:00:49 at DJohnsonRadio for myself. And on today's edition of Locked on Jayhawks, which you can find anywhere you get any of your podcasts. Thanks for making us your first listen every day. Or on our YouTube page, where you can like and subscribe to the show. We're talking KU Missouri State. We are going to talk of the impact of the defense and Jalen Daniels' health and everything like that.

Starting point is 00:01:07 First, though, this episode of the show is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase with GameTime. So, you know, going back through camp and everything that happened, I think the biggest storyline of camp has been kind of Jalen Daniels health here for KU. How much has anything that you've heard, seen read about with KU football camp so far,

Starting point is 00:01:33 how much has that impacted or swayed or changed your mind on anything as we head into the season here about how successful or I don't know, problematic anything could be this season. I haven't thought about it for one second. Seriously, I have not thought about Jalen Daniels potentially not being 100% for one second, because that's not what the offseason is about, man. That's not what this time of year is about, Derek. This time of year is not about, oh, are we sure our guys are going to be okay? This time of year is about unbridled optimism, about unwarranted excitement. Okay. So right now, all I'm thinking about is, well, can you go

Starting point is 00:02:13 eight and four or will they eke out a couple nail biters and go 10 and two? Those are the types of thoughts that are going through my mind. I'm not going to spend this time of year where for the first time I am preparing for a football game in how many months thinking about negative things. So if we get out there on Friday night and we see that Jalen Daniels isn't 100% or we find out that he's not going to be 100% all season or that this back injury is going to hinder his ability to be the playmaker that he was last year, then I'll start to worry. But right now, there is no worry rattling through these walls. Right now, it's just optimism and excitement,

Starting point is 00:02:53 and I would implore every KU fan to try and do the same thing. Okay, what would be the best thing that KU can do on Friday? Because as you know, in an FCS game, you know, if, if, if KU's offense puts up 56 points, we're not going to come away from the game going, look, the offense is even better than it was last year. It's more in an FCS game. What can go wrong? So, so what is something that you do think we could have a positive takeaway about, um, in a game where you should be overmatching the opponent? No, I think you should just do that. Just do your job.

Starting point is 00:03:27 Like run them out of the building. Curb stomp Missouri State and make it a very quiet bus ride home for them across the state line. Like that's the job. Yes, we're not going to sit here and say, oh my gosh, can you believe what Kansas did? Look at the points. Look at the way the offense was moving.

Starting point is 00:03:43 But if they're a bad team, we talk about this all the time with KU basketball. If they're so bad, then kill them, right? Beat the brakes off them. That is the assignment on Friday night. Open the season with an absolute drubbing. Make it very apparent that one of these teams is playing on a completely different level. Because by the way way derek they literally are playing at a different level right missouri there's dates an fcs team and they're not one of the better fcs teams so i think you do the job which is absolutely annihilate them i haven't seen an official game line come out a betting line for the game yet but release the line cow but... Release the line, cowards. Yeah. Release the line. ESPN SP Plus with Bill Connolly.

Starting point is 00:04:30 That's usually pretty close to the lines, usually a couple points apart. It added about 19 and a half. So if I told you the line ends up being in Canada minus 20, what are you taking? I'm hammering Kansas. Seven days a week and twice on Sunday. I'm hammering. This should be a 30 and twice on Sunday. I'm hammering.

Starting point is 00:04:45 This should be a 30-point win, Derek. Okay, so I was going to say, what's the number where it would make you feel a little uncomfortable? I saw Notre Dame beat Navy by like 30 or 38 on Saturday, and that was a 20.5-point line. 30, like 30.5. That's the number where I start to have to think. But if you're telling me I'm getting 24, you're telling me you're spotting 27, 28, I'm betting Kansas. Like I am to assume that Kansas, you talk about Bill Connolly, they return more production than any team in the country. And you're playing an FCS opponent week one, Friday night.

Starting point is 00:05:29 This should be an absolute drubbing. So 30 and a half is the number where I have to like start hesitating before I just hammer the Hawks. I think it was 30, 31 last year when they obviously covered that and more. I think they had that covered by halftime against Tennessee Tech. Obviously Missouri State better than Tennessee Tech, but like you said, this isn't being seen as a top 25 or maybe even top 40 team in the FCS coming into the season.

Starting point is 00:05:52 So we'll see how that all goes. I agree. If it is 20, I think if it comes out around 2021, I would say get in on it early because I feel like that number is going to continue to kind of creep toward the mid-20s, high-20s, before it's all said and done. So the earlier you get it, I think this is one of those that you're going to feel good in that regard to where you want to go with it.

Starting point is 00:06:12 I guess the one thing for me that would hold me up if the number is in like the high twenties would be what if this staff tries to hold stuff back? You know, like you go back to last year against Tennessee Tech, it didn't matter. They were running halfback dive, halfback stretch plays, just basic plays. And they were able to get 10 yards of pop. They were able to get 80 yard touchdown runs. It didn't matter. I think Missouri State's a little better than that, but I don't think the staff's going to want to give up too much away because you're playing Illinois in week two. If you go back to last year, they didn't run like any of the triple option plays. I think they ran one or two of the plays. And then all of a sudden week two, like that's the primary offense, right? So there are going to be certain things they probably don't

Starting point is 00:06:47 want to show on tape in this game that do make me wonder, could it be more of like a 38-14, 38-17 type game just because they're going to try to not give too much away for the rest of the season? Show it. Show it all. And show a lot of it, Derek. I want to see everything, and I want KU to say, here it is. This is what we're running.

Starting point is 00:07:10 Good luck stopping it. The gamesmanship in college athletics specifically, I think, is a little tired. It's annoying with coaches coming out. What do you think about the or at the kicker position on the depth chart. Right. The depth chart stuff, not releasing injury statuses

Starting point is 00:07:31 and not releasing who's going to be the starter. All of it gets a little boring. The idea that there are actual edges by playing those games, it seems a little silly to me. Run your offense. Like this is a preseason game. It is. It's a preseason game.

Starting point is 00:07:49 And you're not the Chiefs. You don't know that you're going to be world beaters. So get your reps in. This is a game, a live game speed practice versus Missouri State on Friday. So whatever you need to do as an offense to like get yourself ready for Illinois and Nevada, when you want to be executing at a really high level, whatever that means,

Starting point is 00:08:12 if that means resting the starters, so be it. But if it means we need to rep this stuff out, right? Like we need to practice this. We need to get this polished because I don't want to be going through the growing pains in week two and week three so if that means you're going to show more than you're like necessarily wanting to versus Missouri State who cares because if your offense is as good as you think it is right as good as we all think it can be then showing an extra two quarters of game tape shouldn't be the difference between you having a great season and you stumbling along the way. I remember a couple of years ago, Michigan was like beating somebody. It was like 45 to, I don't know, a lot to a little. And Jim Harbaugh ran like a fake punt.

Starting point is 00:08:55 He just didn't care. It was like, why are you using this now as opposed to in a game where you might need it later? But it was like, you know, just put it on film and make somebody else have to worry about it to another extent. I want to get more into this season kind of expectations and, you know, some questions about again, like what was going to be more important, Jalen Daniels health or the defense is improvement. First though,

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Starting point is 00:10:15 boom, you got half-priced tickets basically for the first game for KU against Missouri State. Terms apply. Again, create an account, redeem code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off. Download game time today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. Okay, so back to the key question here. What do you think is more important?

Starting point is 00:10:33 For KU to hit the win total over, which has been kind of going about six, six and a half, let's say for them to get seven or more wins, would it be me guaranteeing you that Jalen Daniels is healthy for all 12 games or would it be that I told you the defense is at least like, I don't know, a touchdown better from where they were a season ago? Okay, so you're telling me if I don't get the guarantee on one of them. Anything for that. Right, then Jalen Daniels may only play six games this year.

Starting point is 00:11:03 Or he could still play 12 regardless, but yes. I think if you said that Kansas football is a touchdown better, that's a massive swing. Giving up seven less points a game probably takes you from, I'm looking at it now, Kansas ranked 124th out of 131 teams last year in points allowed. I don't know. Maybe you can pull it up if you have it handy, but going from 35 to 28 probably puts you in at the very least the top 100.

Starting point is 00:11:37 So I think I would tend to take that, especially considering I do have a little bit of faith that if Jalen Daniels goes down, Jason Bean can play at a somewhat competent level, right? Whereas if you just told me it's going to be Jalen Daniels healthy, but this might be one of the 10 worst defenses in college football again, there's a limit to that. There's a tangible limit to how good that type of team can be yeah for what it's worth if you get to like 28 which they improved by like a touchdown from the year before to last year that was an easier bar to clear because you were giving up you know 41 42 a game but which is insane by the way it is it is um but that would put you around like 70th to

Starting point is 00:12:21 80th in the country which if you have a top 10 top 15 offense they were number nine in offensive efficiency a season ago if you can do that and the defense even just gets the 70th or 80th and the special teams can get a little better that is how you win seven eight maybe even nine games in that situation you know the team you're describing right now and i get it this is going to sound blasphemous but the team you're describing is USC from a season ago really good team best offense in the country 81st is still you're still a bad defensive team right you're you're not a great defense giving up 28 points per game but that is the difference between being able to win every single weekend and going into certain games and saying well well, the offense is going to have to put up 45.

Starting point is 00:13:07 Yeah. Yeah. And, and what I find the most interesting about the discourse with the defense, you know, if you were to ask some KU fans during the middle of some of the back half of struggles last year, they might think that Brian Borland's on the hot seat. Now I don't think that is something that is happening. I don't think it's not something that's even on the table at this point because we know Lance Leipold, the biggest thing about him is consistency with the staff. And I do think that it has made it probably more uncomfortable

Starting point is 00:13:33 for Brian Borland because of what Andy Kotelnicki has done. But Andy Kotelnicki had a full shelf, a full cupboard when he arrived. Brent Dierman is the one who recruited Jalen Daniels. Devin Neal was already on the roster. And this isn't to say that they're not bringing in good players via the portal and freshman that of course is happening. And they've maximized those players and they've helped those players improve and reach to levels that who knows, maybe the previous staff doesn't get those players too.

Starting point is 00:13:58 But my point is there were more dudes on the roster on offense for Andy Kotelnicki to have them the defense, which really was starting from from scratch and they're kind of adding to and I go back to the years at Buffalo six years Lance Leipold was at Buffalo if you just go by very simple points per game or points allowed per game four of the six years Buffalo was better in their ranking nationally in points allowed per game than points per game that's close close, four to two, whatever. Even in one of the years that the offense was better than the defense, they were still 30th that year in points allowed per game.

Starting point is 00:14:33 I say this to say that I think Brian Borland is a good defensive coordinator. He showed that at Buffalo. He actually had more success than Andy Kotelicki did at Buffalo. And so I just say this to say, like, I don't know if they even have the dudes this year maybe it takes even another year for them to get those in tow but I do think there is something to be said about the continuity of the coaches and the defensive coach that I do think is a good coach having another year in the system maybe there could be more growth to the defense than we're

Starting point is 00:15:01 giving credit to because of the fact that you go into a year where it's like, oh, you lost your best defensive player in Lonnie Phelps. How are you going to be better? No, you should expect them to be better because this is what this coaching staff does. This is what good coaching staffs do. We don't even have to make this specific to Lance Leipold and Borland and Kotelnicki. If you want to talk about the team as a whole, this is what good staffs do. And that's why I think going into this season, we can make this about Jalen Daniels or Devin Neal or any of these individual players,

Starting point is 00:15:29 Kenny Logan, whoever you're high on. But this season is the year we find out what the Lance Leipold effect really is. We saw parts of it last year, but you are returning more production than any team in the country with a coaching staff who has done this time and time again at various stops. We're going to find out what that looks like at Kansas. You bring everybody back. Everybody knows the system. The training wheels are off. How's your player development, right? We're going to see that very, very tangible ways this year, good or bad, like whatever that case may be. But that's why this season to me is all about Lance Leipold and his coaching staff, specifically with Brian Borland, because we already saw massive growth offensively last year. We have not seen it yet defensively. You mentioned it,

Starting point is 00:16:20 talent deficiency, totally fine. Nobody's holding it against Brian Borland, but this is the year we find out. Brian Borland has been with Lance Leipold for how long? Like 15 years. There is a reason why those two guys have stuck together this long, because clearly that is a marriage that works very well. They trust one another. And the fact that even despite, we knew this going into it, like we knew no matter what Lance Leipold wasn't going to be kicking any of his assistants to the curb because he's feeling pressure or they didn't perform well enough. Now, like if you're with a guy for 15 years, it's going to take something egregious over a long period of time to part

Starting point is 00:16:56 ways with it because there is a trust there that I know I give this guy time. He is going to develop that defense the same way that I'm going to develop that offense. And that to me is something I'm going to develop that offense that to me is something I'm really excited about this year because this is what these coaches do it's what they've made careers off of and I'm excited to get to see it in Lawrence all right I want to finish things up whose stat line is it anyway KU football 2022 individual game segment that on the other side okay finishing things up with locked on Jayhawks.

Starting point is 00:17:26 Whose stat line is it? Anyway, this is KU football, 2022 individual games. First up, we've got from the Liberty bowl. This player had 10 catches, 167 yards,

Starting point is 00:17:37 a touchdown. Those 167 yards were the second most ever by a Jayhawk in a bowl game. Okay. Luke Grimm, I'm just going through the names here. Luke Grimm is a candidate. Lawrence Arnold is a candidate. I remember correctly, both of those guys, I think Mason Fairchild, but he wouldn't have done it.

Starting point is 00:18:01 Give me the stat line one more time. 10 catches, 167 yards, and a touchdown. It's either Luke Grimm or Lawrence Arnold. And I remember Grimm had that one breakaway, so I'm going to go with Luke Grimm. Luke Grimm is the correct answer. When we talk about this year with the receivers, I think you can make a case for any of those three starting

Starting point is 00:18:25 receivers that are back Lawrence Arnold, Quentin Skinner, Luke Grimm to be the first guy that, you know, we, we talk about this every year. Can, can they have a thousand yard receiver? I don't know that it matters much this year. You have enough balance. It's not going to matter if the leading receiver is 700, 800 yards, you have enough dudes. They're a balanced offense. They don't pass every play. There's going to be less plays per game this year because the new rules with college football. But if you were to pick one of the receivers to break out and have that you know thousand yard type receiving season which of the three starters would it be you know it's kind of weird i think if you're just like why if you watched one game without any knowledge of kansas

Starting point is 00:18:56 and like you didn't know what depth chart pecking order you would probably look at lawrence arnold like i think he is the guy who kind of jumps off the page and you say, okay, wow, this guy has got game. But Luke Grimm was just so damn consistent for this team. It's kind of tough for me to bet against him. So I think you're right. It wouldn't shock me if both of these guys have very similar statistical seasons yet again, and they'll kind of take turns being that pseudo number one. But I just don't see any clear delineation between the two of them to be able to say, oh, this is why I'm picking Luke Graham

Starting point is 00:19:35 or this is why I'm picking LJ Arnold. But Graham, like, model of consistency. So I wouldn't bet against him. This was the game against Oklahoma State and Lawrence that got KU Bowl eligible with a win. This player had six tackles, one interception, one sack. Very impactful game. To get a sack, because did Kenny Logan get any sacks last year?

Starting point is 00:20:03 It wouldn't be Lonnie Phelps. I don't think he would bring up Lonnie Phelps because he's not going to be on the team. It's either Kenny Logan or Rich Miller. I'll go Rich Miller. It is Rich Miller, two for two. Good start for you here. I'm back.

Starting point is 00:20:23 You got named one of the captains. I think when you look at the linebacking core it's a unit that needs to be better this year it got better last year from the year before but it still wasn't good enough you had jb brown to the room but to me rich miller's the guy like rich miller if he can be that leader because he's kind of counted on being that guy but can you be that guy on the field where you're playing like this each and every game because that's going of counted on being that guy, but can you be that guy on the field where you're playing like this each and every game? Because that's going to be the difference for the defense.

Starting point is 00:20:48 Yeah, you don't need – I love the idea of having plus starters all over. It's not going to be your defense. But if you can have three or four difference makers, you can have at least one difference maker at each level, that's where you still start building some consistency on that side of the ball. So I'm with you. It doesn't have to be him,

Starting point is 00:21:09 but they need somebody to kind of step up and be a dude. Yeah. Okay, last one here, and maybe this guy could be that dude. This was the game at Baylor that KU came back from 28-3, made it 28-3, but he had a sack, a forced fumble, fumble recovery, and 49 yards off that fumble recovery. Who the hell was that? Dude, I don't know.

Starting point is 00:21:42 Taiwan Berryhill? Correct answer on this one is Jeremy Robinson, who's back in taking over defense. I'm going to be honest with you. I wouldn't have got that one. Well, now he's a starter. You had Kyron Johnson two years ago. You had Lonnie Phelps last year.

Starting point is 00:21:59 If Jeremy Robinson can put up similar production, I think you absolutely feel great that the defense will be better. If not, you just have to find other ways to create pass rush, right? Like maybe they end up blitzing more this year. I don't know. Yeah, you don't want that to be the solution, right? Like you want to be able to generate pressure without having this in the house, but it's one of those I'll believe it when I see it sort of situations.

Starting point is 00:22:23 Like I'm not going to go into the air thinking like, oh yeah, all of a sudden, but it happens, man. I mean, in college football, sometimes I think we make the mistake of like using some of the same approaches that we do for like evaluating NFL teams to be like, oh, well they showed, they show, you know, this guy, a couple of these dudes showed some growth. college football it happens way quicker way quicker you can go from a zero to a hero over the course of a summer because that growth curve happens much more rapidly in college than it does the NFL so if you told me that like all of a sudden there are like five or six dudes on this defense who look like legit big 12 starters it wouldn't shock me because this is what happens with good developing programs. Like they know how to get guys in their system and turn them into starters overnight. All right. He's Nick Schwert. You can find him at Nick underscore Schwert on Twitter.

Starting point is 00:23:15 Nick, what's the new podcast situation? The new podcast is called Could Be Wrong. So, you know, in it, in and of itself, in the title, I've given myself a disclaimer for any inaccuracies that I may state. But that'll be dropping every Monday, all fall, winter, and spring, talking KU sports. There we go. All right, give me a follow at DJohnsonRadio on Twitter. You can find this podcast with Locked on Jayhawks anywhere you get podcasts or on our YouTube page.

Starting point is 00:23:43 Like and subscribe. See you next time on Locked on Jayhawks.

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Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - No Worries About Kansas Jayhawks Football QB Jalon Daniels' Back Headed Into Missouri State?

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