Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - POWERFUL Tulane DT Tre'Von McAlpine Transfers to KANSAS | Is Jayhawks D-Line the Team's BEST UNIT?

Starting point is 00:00:00 KU just added an all-conference defensive tackle. It's becoming pretty clear the strength of this KU football team in 26. It's going to be on the D-line. 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. Thanks for making it your first listen.

Starting point is 00:00:30 Every day. Thank you the everydayers catching our show. And thank for making the Lockdown podcast network to the number one sports podcast network. On today's episode of Lockdown, Jayhawks, we're breaking down another commitment for KU out of the portal, Trayvon McAlpine, who is an all-conference defensive tackle, joining what is quickly becoming a very strong strength for the KU football team in 2026. We'll get into the news. We'll get into the scouting report on Trayvon McAlpine. We'll get into what he brings to the table and how he affects the position room at defensive line, defensive tackle for. KU in 2026 and beyond. Let's just start right here. McAlpine visited KU over the weekend, spent a little bit of time, I guess, I don't know, finalizing details and ends up signing with KU to join the Jayhawks as a transfer edition from Tulane before that at Texas Tech. Big dude, six foot three, three hundred and ten bouts. It is interesting, too, because you look at KU's defensive tackle additions now with

Starting point is 00:01:26 McAlpine being at 310 pounds and you look at their. earlier defensive tackle edition that they were able to make earlier in the portal from UAB with Eamon Smalls, and he's listed, I think, at 305, but you look at them on film, you look at pictures of them, and they're like legit, 305, 310. And then you look at some of the KU football roster from this past year, and some of the detackles are listed at like 300 or 295 or something, and you're like, the dudes that KU is bringing in right now look way bigger than those guys do for whatever reason. So I don't know.

Starting point is 00:02:00 It feels like a legit giant dude that they're adding here and overall. Originally from Saraland, Alabama, spent three seasons at Texas Tech and then the one year at Tulane where he was an American Athletic Conference, all second team selection. So he's going to be a redshirt senior in 2026 that gives him one year left of play. This has been a position that KU has done a pretty good job in the portal with adding some plug-in play guys from year over year. You think I always think like Devin Phillips, he was certainly an impactful defensive tackle for KU a couple years ago, adding from Colorado State.

Starting point is 00:02:34 They've had some success here internally developing guys at DJ Withers and Tommy Dunn and Blake Harold, like I said, adding already a couple other portal additions to additions in the transfer portal this year at defensive tackle. I mean, the retooling of this room feels about complete now, right? I mean, you have seven scholarship players at defensive tackle. I don't know. Are they going to add maybe more of a developmental guy to try to be an eighth? I guess that's always possible.

Starting point is 00:03:00 But right now it feels like you're in a pretty good position here, right? Because you look at the defensive tackle room and adding Jibril Conday back in December, adding even smalls earlier and now making this edition. It's not just that those are additions of, hey, you're adding a body or you're adding depth, like all of those players that I expect to be impactful good players for KU in 2026. And I'm really excited about this one with Trayvon McAlpine. So let's get into this game next. This episode of the show is brought to you by Rocket Money.

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Starting point is 00:04:40 as a red shirt he had in the two seasons of play for the Red Raiders, 32 tackles, three tackles for loss and two and a half sacks is kind of a rotational defensive tackle. And then this past year at Tulane, he becomes starting defensive tackle for them and has 35 tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack, and a fumble recovery. He did all that as being a spring transfer to, which inherently is going to be more difficult when you join later in the year. Obviously, he was there for Texas Tech in the spring. And then they add all these guys in the transfer portal. And he's like, hey, now I might be the, whatever, the third, the fourth defensive tackle for Texas Tech. I want to go somewhere and be the guy. And he goes to a really

Starting point is 00:05:19 good Tulane team that wins the American Athletic Conference, plays in the college football playoff and is a really impactful player. Now, he did not play in the CFP game. I don't know if he entered the portal before then or if he was injured or what happened there. But his season high of four tackles came in six separate games. So did it a lot. One of them was against powerful opponent in Northwestern. One of them was against North Texas in the conference title game for them. He's doing this on winning teams. It's not just the Tulane. I know he wasn't on, you know, the college football playoff version of Texas Tech, but Texas Tech was back-to-back bowl teams when he was there as well. So everywhere he has been, they have won. And he had a,

Starting point is 00:05:58 64.8 pro football focus grade, so that in its own is solid. It's good when you're looking at defensive tackles. That was 24th of 62 qualified interior defenders in the American Athletic Conference. So that on its own is above average. At Texas Tech, it was a 64.6th grade, which is 29 to 59, so about average there. So let's just start here. If you're starting from a point of saying you have an average level starter, that is a good place to be in. I know that can sound like a negative connotation these days like the word average it's not because if you think about it this way if you have like 18 average starters of your 22 and then you have like four potential all conference players or like studs i mean theoretically if you have 22 average starters you should

Starting point is 00:06:43 be a bowl team that would get you to six and six so if you have 18 average starters and four studs that should get you to seven or eight wins right but even then i think this is more than an average player um i think he gets slept on in the pro football focus grading system this is something i've kind of been talking on tight ends and defensive tackles are positions that inherently um on pro football focus is grading sale at the college level aren't going to rate as highly as some other positions and part of the reason why especially is going to depend on on what your job is as a defensive tackle if you can rush the passer as a defense tackle you almost get like extra bonus points but the thing is you can be a run stuffing defensive tackle or you can be a defensive tackle

Starting point is 00:07:27 who's a nose tackle which is the case of McAlpine he has a nose tackle you can be a defensive tackle who their job is basically a lot of times the case of the nose tackle to almost like set the tone for your run defense to take up blocks in the interior to take up those guys that allow your linebackers to shed or to have an untouched hold to the running back right that is one of the biggest jobs it's almost like you know as the nose tackle you're not going to see a bunch of tackles, you're looking for assists. Like, we should almost have that. We should have assists for nose tackles.

Starting point is 00:07:59 Or it's like, if the note took up the block that allowed the other player to come in and make the tackle, like, that's an assist for the nose tackle. And this dude is good at getting those, right? So he's a 57 pass rush grade both seasons. That's not the biggest part of his game. And that's what puts his overall grade more in the mid-60s, which is an average starter, which is still quality. but he is a stout run defender,

Starting point is 00:08:21 and he is going to make all these linebacker additions. KU has had their job so much easier. And overall, he wound up with 21 stops in 438 snaps. That was good for the sixth most stops in the American Athletic Conference. What are stops? We mentioned this earlier when KU added small. Small said 27, which is second most in the AAC. A stop is basically a tackle that makes a tackle on a failed play for the offense,

Starting point is 00:08:47 according to pro football focus. KU has two of the top six from the American Athletic Conference in that specific stat. He had 11 of them at Tech in 2024, and that was in 284 snaps, which if you equaled out to the snaps he played at Tulane, would put him on par in a tougher conference to have 17 or so. Well, KU's defense-line leader this past year was Leroy Harris with 19. So this is a good player who I think the pro football focus grade tells you on its own, like he's at least a solid edition there, but I'm telling you that that doesn't even do it justice,

Starting point is 00:09:20 that he's even better than that. And I think that's why he was named to the All Conference second team. I think that's why, you know, everywhere he's been has been successful, right? It's not just because of him, it's a team sport, but he's certainly contributed in every way. He's also got just a 5.3% missed tackle rate. Even at Tech, it was an 8%. Those are good numbers. And among 19 American Athletic Conference, Interior Defenders, with 50% of the snaps.

Starting point is 00:09:44 Now you're talking the defensive tackles or interior defenders who played a lot of snaps. That 5.3% miss tackle rate was second best in the league. This is a very good addition. Smalls is a very good addition. I like the upside swing with Condé. I mean, it's going to be tough to figure out who the starters are for KU a defensive tackle. Let's discuss the projected role. And more next.

Starting point is 00:10:05 This is Locked on Jayhawks. Thanks in for joining us here on Locked on Jayhawks. So KU adds Trayvon McAlpine, the defensive tackle from. to Lane before that Texas Tech, 35 tackles this past season for McAlpine. But how does he fit in to the defensive tackle room for KU? What does it look like for the Jayhawks? I think the defense line is the strength of this team. Let's just start defensive line is a big picture.

Starting point is 00:10:29 Leroy Harris and Dak Brinkley, I think are two of the, I don't know, six or so best players on this Kansas team. I guess certainly returning. I'd have to reconfigure after adding some of these portal players. But they're two of the 10 best players on the team, and Harris is going to have a chance to be the best. I think the conversation for who the best player on this team comes down to three defenders, at least right now, to me, Leroy Harris, Blake Harold, and Jalen Todd.

Starting point is 00:10:51 And you could really zero in on those two defense alignment. Now, maybe Harold would have your answer right now, but that goes in the position group we're talking about. So those are studs. Alex Bray, as a returning players, played a lot of snaps for you. And don't forget about like Adrian Holly and Garrett Martin, guys who redshirted, who were highly recruited defense events for you, like Holly was a four-star recruit for you, that maybe one of them could make an impact the same way we saw Dak Brinkley. start to be kind of a rotational player

Starting point is 00:11:14 that showed some flashes as a redshirt freshman as well in 2025. You look at the defensive tackle group, though, Blake Harold DeMe as a shoe-in starter as a potential best player on your team as Redshirt Jr. Who the heck is going to be the other starting defensive tackle? And it's not a question of, oh, they don't, it's more of a question of they have a lot of good players. So who do you choose?

Starting point is 00:11:33 Do you go with Eamon Smalls, the Redshirt Jr. transfer from UAB? Do you go with this edition, with Trayvon McAlpine, right, who's going to really help you in the running game? What about Marcus Calvin? He showed some really good flashes last year. He'll be a redshirt junior.

Starting point is 00:11:46 Jibril Conday, what if he breaks out as the former transfer from Grand Valley State who had a big season last year for them? And then obviously you have some more depth of future players you're looking to develop with Josiah Hammond, the retro freshman, and Aquin Tomlin, the true freshman behind them as guys that, you know, if Hammond's ready, then he can be your six defensive tackle. Like, if he's ready, he'll play as a six defensive tackle.

Starting point is 00:12:07 If not, then it'll be five-man rotation. Or maybe KU will add one more, right? KU will play the guy. that are ready, basically with Jim Pantagos. Now, I think what's interesting here, too, is the role when you look at, so Smalls is somebody who can play nose tackle or defensive tackle. And McAlpine can play nose tackle or defensive tackle, but it's a little bit different. So when KU goes to their four-man fronts, I think that'll probably be Smalls and Calvin

Starting point is 00:12:35 a little bit more next to Harold. When KU, but there still could be some times where it is McAlpine in those situations. I think where McAlpine is going to get used the most, though, is as that nose tackle in the three-man fronts. And then in the three-man fronts, when KU likes to play three defensive tackles, it could be Herald as the outside defense tackle. And then who knows? Again, it could be smalls. It could be Kahn, it could be Calvin as the other one. I think there's some different options there.

Starting point is 00:13:02 But I feel like this KU defense a lot. Like they did lose some key players from last year. You think of Gage and Tommy Dunn and DJ Withers and these guys graduating. way for KU, you know, players that played him helpful snaps for the KU defense over the past few years. And you look at it now, though, and I think there's more size. I think there's more versatility for what you can do with them. Now, to those guys credit in the past, like they were recruited to when KU was running a four down front. Like that was the idea for KU. And now they're running kind of a mix of sometimes three down front, sometimes four down front, sometimes

Starting point is 00:13:37 basically five down front with having two defensive ends as linebackers where it's like, is it three down. Is it five down? And you didn't really have like a true nose tackle, I would say, on last year's roster. I guess Keenan Caldwell was at times like to that. And you were able to use some other guys there. But it feels like, hey, you now with full off season of knowing what they want to do is able to attack. Okay, now we have two guys who can play the nose. Now we have defense alignment who can play in the gap between the center and the guard. Now we have defense tackles who can play between the guard and the tackle. You have different guys who can do different things,

Starting point is 00:14:12 but you have multiple of them at each that you're able to be versatile, that you're able to do different fronts, that you're able to throw different personnel and guys out there, keep guys fresh. And I really like this defensive tackle and defensive line room for KU. And McAlpine is another great addition for KU. Certainly, I think if we're talking the best edition so far, because I don't know, like McAlpine and Smalls,

Starting point is 00:14:36 that might be your one and two i mean they you could have an argument with i don't know maybe like connor stro um if you are a believer in in some of the pff grades transferring up to a bigger role and bigger level with quincy david but like to me the two defensive tackle additions you've made with with smalls um and almic alpine those are your two best editions so far and it already came to a position where you had a really good player in blake herald and some other players like Marcus Calvin and Debreel Conde, right? So yeah, really like this defensive line. Good place to build. All right, I don't know for this episode of Locked on Jayhawks. You can find our other commitment episodes of all the other KU transfer editions that they've made

Starting point is 00:15:16 so far. Make sure to check those out on Locked on Jayhawks or anywhere you get your podcast with YouTube as well. See you next time on LOJ.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - POWERFUL Tulane DT Tre'Von McAlpine Transfers to KANSAS | Is Jayhawks D-Line the Team's BEST UNIT?

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