Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - SERBIAN SOLUTION? Mihailo Musikic TARGETED by Bill Self and Kansas Jayhawks for 2026-2027

Episode Date: July 3, 2026

Kansas Jayhawks target Serbian big man Mihailo Mušikić as a potential frontcourt boost. Does his international pedigree and unique skill set fill KU’s lingering needs at center? Derek Johnson spotlights Mušikić’s journey—from Euro U20 gold to standout play in the Adriatic League—breaking down his versatility, passing, and defensive rebounding. The scouting report weighs Mihalo Mušikić’s strengths, injury concerns, and eligibility questions, while exploring how his addition could reshape KU’s big man rotation alongside Paul Mbiya, Christian Reeves, and Davion Adkins. The episode also previews KU Football’s offensive line for the upcoming season, focusing on key players like Amir Herring and newcomers Nick Morrow and Kason Carpenter. Can Kansas reverse its downward trend in O-line performance, or will questions at tackle and center persist? With player roles and depth chart battles heating up, Derek Johnson highlights standout run-blocking potential and the looming challenge of pass protection against elite Big 12 speed rushers. Everydayer ClubIf you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub   Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. From the opening whistle to the final kick, Let There Be Goals on FanDuel.Visithttps://FANDUEL.COMto get started now.   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) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Officially have a new target on the board for KU basketball. Mahilo Musich, a big man from Serbia. Does he make sense for KU? What would he bring to the table? We break him down with today's player deep dive. 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 on today's episode. We'll get to a little football for Football Friday with a, offensive line preview to finish up. But we're going to start right here with Mahilo Musa Kitch. We're going to get into his game, his potential scouting report, and potential fit with KU, as Kansas reportedly has some interest in the Serbian big man.

Today's episode of the show is brought to you by Fandualualsport. Biggest stage in world soccer is here. Let there be goals on Fandual, visit fanduel.com to get started today. So who is Mahilo Musich? He is a 7 foot, 227 pounds. who was born in Serbia. He's going to turn 25 years old next March. So yeah, eligibility is a real question of how they can get it done. But, you know, I guess if they're entertaining this, they clearly have a path that they feel comfortable in making it happen, right? Although,

I guess you probably would have said the same about Bryce DeSere last year. And he ended up, you know, not being a thing. And now I think he's committed to LSU. We'll see if that happens. But anyway, point being, this is a player who won a gold medal with the, U-20 Euro championship Serbian team in 2022. He was a junior league Adriatic champion in 2021. He's been basically at some top clubs in the Serbian league. He was with Mega Basket, which is one of the top teams over in the Adriatic League, though he's been with some other different teams kind of on loan and stuff since 2020.

I believe now he is a free agent. So that's positive because I don't think you'd have to pay a buyout or anything to get him aboard. But in his most recent seasons, so let's look at his two most recent seasons. So 2024 to 2025, he played on loan with some of a Serbian league team, other with a Croatian league team, both of them with the senior teams playing against other professionals. And between the two stops, you're talking 23 games played, 22 starts. He averaged 11.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and half a block per game in 24 minutes. Shot 62 percent. from the floor and 13 of 32, so over 40% on low volume from three point range.

Really good season then. This year in 2025, 26, not as good of stats, but I do think he was playing at a more difficult level. He was still playing at the Serbian National League or the Serbian senior team, but he also logged like six games at the Adriatic League. Basically what the Adriatic League is, is it's basically like, imagine like an all-star League of the best teams from Serbia and Croatia and I don't know, Slovenia or like the nearby countries. It's basically like a Euro League, but for those, you know, nearby countries. So the

Adriatic League is a very good league. And between the Serbian League and the Adriatic League and the games and the competitions he was playing in, you're talking 29 appearances last year, 23 starts. He averaged 8.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 0.8 blocks per game. in 23 minutes per game. Shooting percentage was at 52%. He was 71% at the foul line, but the three-point shot fell off for him this year from where it was a season to go,

shooting closer to 20% this year. Now, he's always been somebody who's performed well at the national level two. On the U-19 team for Serbia, he had the average 10 and 5 in one of the Fiba tournaments. Then on that U-19 team that ended up winning the, or no, I'm thinking of the U-20 team, But on a U-19 team, he averaged the 10-and-5 and then the 11 and 3 on the U-20 team that gets the gold medal.

And I'm pretty sure on the U-19 team where he averaged 10 and 5, I'm pretty sure that was 2021. And in that year, you can actually go back and go on YouTube and find a couple of the games that he played. One of them he plays when it's like a obviously young version of Victor Wembenyama. And he's going up against him. There's actually one play in the game where he like makes kind of an alley-up, lay up past Wembe Nama. So, like, at one point in time, he was on that same level of play. I don't think that it has, you know, become that same way at this point in time.

That was still a while ago, five years ago. But, you know, there is some interesting stuff here. Now, as far as some of maybe Musakicch's more advanced stats, right? So there were 44 centers in the Serbian league, the senior league, that qualified based on enough, you know, time played, right? And among those 44 centers, he ranked at least above average. And so let's say top 20 among those 44, right, that puts you above the midway point. In true shooting percentage, total rebound rate, assist rate, turnover rate, block rate, points per shot, O rating, D rating, net rating, and PER.

And also in win shares where he wound up in the 80th percentile in the last. league among centers that were qualified in windchairs. And he did that in just playing 17 games. Every other center who was in the top 14 on that list, he was in the top 10. Every other center who was in the top 14 on the list played at least 21 games and 12 of the 14. So really outside of him and one other player were playing 25 or more games each. So he was actually a really efficient player. And metrically speaking was a really impactful center in the league and was at least above average in a lot of different traits to good in some other traits, right?

Now, this is a player that honestly, like, I don't know how high I was at first in the initial kind of deep dive to this. I think after doing this deep dive, after preparing for this show and going through some this stuff, I actually am a little bit higher on Musa Kitch's game than where I was before this started. Does that mean that I am higher on him than Malik U.N? No, it does not mean that. Like Malik Ewan is still the top route for KU to get, you know, a big man.

But you don't know if he's going to get eligible. And with the news that J.P. Estrella, the big man who transferred from Tennessee to Michigan, you know, we just heard that Mustafa Chom's going to stay at Michigan. We just heard today that J.P. Estrella is going to be staying at Michigan. So we know that there's not going to be another, you know, big wing in the portal at the big position, despite the potential lifeboat that Dusty May leaving was going to offer. It ended up not being a lifeboat at all, right? So the options are more limited.

And I went over some international targets at the big position that I would certainly like, you know, guys like Basalo Bagayako. I'm big on him. There was another guy who was, I can't remember the name of it from that episode. Momo Faye continues to be rumored to Texas Tech, but it hasn't happened, it seems like. So maybe could you find, like there's some other big men that I might be a little more interested in, but maybe they don't match the price tag. that KU has available.

And so this is one where you would be getting another body in the building. You would at the very least be giving somebody else for Paul Mbia to practice against to his seven feet and more to his size than when he's going up all the time against Grant Mordini and Atticus Richmond. On top of it all, the agent for this guy is a super powerful agent. I believe he's actually Nicole Yokic's agent, but he also is very connected with a lot of the top prospects overseas. So, you know, getting an in here would go along.

way to future big time additions from from overseas as well. So keep that all in mind because I think this is more like this is about more than just the player. But let's break down more on the player with the scouting report next. Get to his strengths and weaknesses and potential fit with the team. This is locked on Jayhawks. We're brought to you today by Fanduals sports book. The biggest stage in world soccer is here at every match feels like it has the potential for

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and they'll keep advancing and he can get back in that conversation, you can bet on that too. So from the opening whistle to final kick, let there be goals on Fandual. Visit fanduel.com to get started now. Thanks again for joining us here on Locked on Jayhawks, Derek Johnson with you. Let's get to the scouting report for Mahilo Musichich.

And we'll start with the strengths. He does have a little bit of a post game to him, right? He's got some pretty good footwork. I would say he has a decent hook shot, decent counter moves to the hook. shot and I would say that that's kind of his big move. It's a hook shot or it's a counter kind of step through move off the hook shot. But he does have a little bit of a post game.

And for Kansas team that, you know, as much as I'm in on the development here of Paul Mbia, that is a question. What is he going to give you from a post perspective, right, offensively? Christian Reeves, that's not really his game. He's more of a rebounder, blocker and a dunker, right? And that might be the way that Paul Mbia is going to. When you look at Davian Adkins, more of kind of an athletic, like, the archetype of player that Flory was.

So you don't really have that big man who is a post presence. And this would give you kind of a different look from that perspective, right? He also has a bit of a face-up game, which again, when you're going down the list of the centers that KU has on the roster, they don't really have one of those, right? And I get it. Like Bill Self doesn't tend to love playing those guys all the time. But I'm sure it's nice to have on your roster from a scouting perspective, right? whether it was Cam Martin or Zach Clements before him, you know, I guess like Carlton Bragg,

like even if those guys aren't in the rotation or aren't playing, if you're playing another team who has a big man that can shoot, it can be nice to in practice and in preparation for the game have that guy play that role if they are further down the rotation anyway, right? Now, you're talking inconsistent from three, 27% from three over his last three seasons combined of all the different competitions. It is in his arsenal. He's not a super trustworthy three-point shooter, but he can at least do it.

But it can also hit a little bit from kind of the short, mid-range and stuff like that too. I do like his effort and contests on perimeter closeouts. I think when he gets, I don't know, switched on to somebody who's about to launch a three, like he really works hard to get out there and get a hand out there. And I actually was, this was one of the areas where I did come away more impressed than I thought it was going to be when I like watched,

because I watched highlights from his, 24, or 23, 24 season and 24, 25 seasons. And honestly, like, I was kind of impressed with his defense. Now, the block numbers and the steel numbers aren't really there for him. I just don't think he has the longest wingspan. He's not the most bouncerest prospect in the world. But one thing that I was impressed with was I thought that he did a really good job switching. When he got guarded onto a guard or a quicker player, he did a pretty good job

staying in front of them and sticking with them. Now, it's one thing to do that in the Serbian league. It's another thing to do that in the Big 12, where maybe the guard you switch on to is quicker, faster than the guy you were having to switch onto in Serbia. But at the very least, sure, maybe he can't switch on to ones and twos like occasionally I honestly saw him do in some of those highlights. But maybe in the Big 12 level, he can at least switch fours and fives. Maybe he can switch on to certain threes.

So I was impressed with kind of the mobility of his defense and being in the right spot and hustling and seeming to have energy there. I mean, he has 75th percentile the rating among Serbian league centers. So that kind of backed up what I saw with the eye test, and that was kind of good to see. He's also got good passing skills. I think both in terms of the creativity and the awareness, right? When you see the creativity, that would come in the form of like finding sharp angles to fit a ball in or doing a good job of, hey, this isn't open on a chest pass, but it is on a bounce pass, so I'll bounce pass it. Or I can get this one in, but I have to lob it over the defense.

Or I have to do a behind the back pass here, right, to get them more open and it'll keep the defender on me. He had a good creativity with the passing, but also good awareness. There were times where he caught the ball and immediately just shoveled it to somebody else because he knew what the defense was trying to do. He knew why the ball was coming to him to keep the ball kind of moving and reversing. I thought he showed a good presence there. And in the end, he wound up in the 82nd percentile among qualified Serbian League centers in assist rate while also being above average and turnover rate in terms of avoiding them, right?

So I do think you'd be getting some good passing skills there. And that is, honestly, maybe the biggest question we haven't really talked about from Paul Mbia is the idea that, like, for instance, Paul Mbia's final season at the French Junior League, he averaged half an assist per game, and he turned the ball over like four times the amount that he had assists. So that is a little bit of worry, not as much the case here with a guy like Moussich. Then the defense, Rebounding is pretty good for Musa Kitch as well. You're talking 75th percentile among qualified Serbian league centers in defensive rebound rate. And his defensive rebound rate was almost 22 percent, which like we've talked all offseason about how elite Keanu Daz is his defensive rebounder.

He's close to 25 percent. But like last year, Paul Mbia, technically he wasn't qualified, but if you did count Paul and Bia, he would have led Kansas in defensive rebound rate. And Bia's defensive rebound rate was 18.8 percent. This guy was at 21.7. If you don't want to count Mbia, then Flore, he was in the 18% range as well. Now, 21.7%, how does that scale to the Big 12? Right? Like, I don't think it's going to be 21.7% with the Big 12.

I think the Big 12th is a better league than the Serbian league. But does it scale to still being, you know, 18, 19% where he would still be a solid defensive rebounder? I think it probably would, right? Now, the in-between for the scouting report, stuff that I wouldn't consider strengths, but I wouldn't really consider weaknesses. He's about an average offensive rebounder statistically. You're not getting the huge presence there, but he's active enough. He's not a zero on that end either.

I wouldn't really call. He's not the biggest jumper in the world, although I will say this. I wouldn't call him the twitchiest athlete in the world either, right? But this is really interesting. If you go back and watch the 2023 to 24 tape, you will watch that tape and go, oh, this guy's like a non-athlet. And then you go back and watch the 24 to 25 tape and you're like, this dude's like running everywhere, jumping high in the air.

He's dunking everything. He looks way more spring. It looks night and day from players. Now, he's had to deal with some different injuries. And that would be one of the weaknesses here that you'd have to worry about that through the last couple of seasons. I can't help but wonder if that 23, 24 season, he was marred by injuries. And if in 24, 25, which was kind of his best statistical season,

is when he was maybe healthier because it was night and day, the athleticism that you kind of saw. So kind of good to know that like, I guess if he is hurt, he's not going to look athletic at all. If he's not hurt, he does have enough springiness there, right?

Now, some of the weaknesses here, I think there were too often where he caught the ball on the block or in the high post or something and took too long to, to kind of evaluate before making a move. It felt like there were times where the ball stuck. He caught it, took a second, evaluated, then started backing down in the post, or then made a move to somebody else. You want to see him be more decisive, I think, in some of those situations.

I would also say he doesn't always play to his size. And I think a big reason why is more of a, like he is seven feet tall, but I don't think he has the longest wingspan in the world. I don't think he has the biggest standing reach in the world comparatively to being seven feet tall, right? But I think above all, it's the lack of strength, right? you're talking 227 pounds of seven footer you know you could afford to put on i don't know 20 25 pounds especially of muscle if you get him in the building if you're k you right and i think at times you

saw him get pushed around a little bit you saw him get when he was guarding the post he got backed down by somebody who was stronger than him um there were times where he was on the block as an offensive player and couldn't gain any ground because he couldn't push back on the player he was going against. And that could be a problem at the collegiate level, right, to where I think a lot of the things kind of stem from that of what you're talking about here, right? And then there is the injury bug. He's had to deal with different injuries over the past couple of seasons. Like, what would that be like at Kansas? And then I guess beyond all that is the eligibility question that you're talking about here, right? Like, um, is he going to be eligible? How many years are we talking here, right? Now,

the possible role if Kansas does land him, I guess in theory you just toss him in with the, it's a free for all, right? Paul Mbia, it'd be Musichich, it'd be Reeves when he's back, it'd be Adkins and whoever wins out, not just the starter spot, but the backup spot, like boom, there you go, right? I will say this, like, there was a really good article post last summer by German basketball analytics on substack. And it ranked all the different leagues overseas, and it ranked the France's B league as the 19th best league among the 32 leagues it calculated. Now, he did not calculate the Serbian league. He did not count the French Junior League, which is the one that Mbio was in. He did have the Croatian League in there, which was

14th. And I think the Serbian League probably a little better than the Croatian League. He had the Adriatic League in there, which was like 12th. So point being, this guy did play. He's older than Polymia. He played at a much more difficult level at the European level. Is it that crazy that he would be in competition with Mbia? No, I don't think so. But I, I do think Mbio beats him out. You're talking, you're in the system now for Mbia. I think the differences in like the wingspan and the size and the length and what that can provide for you is just different. And the rim protection is just kind of different.

The potentials there a little bit more here. But at the very least, this is another body you're bringing in, right? It gives you insurance. If Reeves ends up being delayed in his process or if, you know, by not being able to return to practice till October, is rusty when he comes back. It gives you another option of, hey, what if he beats out Reeves because he gets the extra time that he doesn't have?

It gives you an older player, right? You've got young guys in there like Mbia and Adkins to kind of add a little bit more veteran presence. And if he does beat out one of those guys and ends up being a player for you, great. If not, if it's an extra body in case you have fouls or injuries, that's a good thing too. Because right now, like let's say Reeves were to,

you know, miss the start of the season, for instance. one of your bigs fouled out, you're down to one center, basically, right? And then if you get a rolled ankle, like you don't have. So you end up in a situation where you need another body. And that's before even getting into the idea of, hey, think about if we're talking about Paul and Bia needs reps and needs development, how like what is going to be a better development for him? Is it going to be going up every day in practice against like a six foot nine Grant Mordini who weighs 50 less pounds than him? Or is it going to be going up against a seven footer every day who is basically an adult. I mean, he is an adult, right? He'll be 25 next March. I think that's going to lead to better experience

and more development for Paul M. B as well. And even if it's just a move that you bring in that gives you more in case of emergency and makes one of your potential starters a better player by developing them better, that to me is worth it on its own. Right. So I think this is a kind of guy who like, he reminds me of like an older version with a little bit more postgame but of a kind of Zach it's almost like a Zach Clements Mitch Lightfoot combo now that I'm thinking about it it's like you take the well technically he can face up and shoot but it's still under 30 percent at least it was for Clements at Kansas you're a little string beanie and and sometimes not strong enough which would happen to Lightfoot and Clements um but you're an older version.

which I guess that would be the Mitch Lightfoot part of it, would be the older version. And you do have a little bit of a post game, which would be Mitch Lightfoot. But I think he's also a worse shot blocker than Lightfoot. And he's also probably a better passer than both. But he's also seven feet tall. So I don't know. I think just something there, a little bit of a mix of both into his game. All that being said, if this move prevents you from getting Malik Ewan, then I'm out on it.

Unless you know that the Malik-Ewan thing can't happen, then I guess you got to go somewhere. I would still prefer there's some other international bigs I'd be in on. But like I said, if this gets you an in with an awesome, you know, agent, and that's going to help you more down the line. And you still do have one more scholarship after this to go after another big or to reclass to Von Bardwell. Then I guess I'm in for that reason. All right. Let's finish up a little KU Football Friday, KU Offensive Line preview.

This is Locked on J-Hawks. Thanks for joining us on Lockdown Jayhawks, our KU offensive line previews. We continue on with our different position previews. Let's start right here with this position. What is kind of the theme of this unit? I think for me, it's the theme of trying not to go backward again, right? KU went from having legitimately one of the better offensive lines in the Big 12 in the country, if you're looking at things like pro football focus grades for back-to-back

seasons in 2022 and 2023. And then it was a little worse in 2024, but it was still really good. And then you go to 2025 and it was still probably about average nationally, but it took another step back. And so now you're trending in the wrong direction. And you go into this year and there's some more questions about the offensive line. Can you stop the skid?

Can you reverse it the other way, right? So you look at the potential starters for KU. I think you look at the tackle position. It sounds like Calvin Clements going to stay over at the left tackle spot. He'll be a fourth year player, potentially have two more years with KU. and then Nick Morrow, the transfer they brought in from Cal, I think profiles in as your right tackle. Then you look up the middle for KU, and that's really where the moving around could happen, right? Mere Herring is somebody who was your starter at left guard last year,

see if he'd be your starter at left guard again or if he'd move to right guard. But he's also taking some snaps in back-to-back springs. Could you just decide, hey, if your best fight, like, because right now there's a competition between Conorstrow and Tabaki Tuukovatu at one of the guard spots. And if you decide that, hey, why are we choosing between one or the other? What if both of them are two of our best five offensive linemen? Well, let's just play both at guard and then we'll move Herring to center. That's a discussion you have to have.

But as of right now, I project Herring at guard. I'd project the winner of Stro and Tuiko lovatu at the other guard. I think right now I'd be leaning to Ikolovatu just from the experience in the system going that way. But it wouldn't surprise me if Stroh usurped them. And then you'd be looking at Kaysen Carpenter, the transfer from Oklahoma State as the starting center. One thing that's interesting there is basically your top six linemen, Clements, Morrow, Herring, Stro, Carpenter, Tuiclovatu, all are fourth year players, right, in this new five and five system. And so it's a fool's errand to expect everybody to come back every year between the transfer portal and NFL and everything like that. But in theory, you can have a lot of continuity.

maybe they're really building to 2027. But you look at that. I think those are your top six. And then the question kind of becomes, who's your next best three? I think whoever loses the guard competition between Stro and Tuika Lovatu, that's apparent you're in that, right?

Who are the other two? And ideally, you want them to be able to come in and play different positions. I think you're looking at Jack Tanner or Brandon, Salis, transfers in. Tanner spent a year in the program from Tulsa, Salis coming over from Missouri. Can one of those guys win kind of a swing

tackle role. You look at James Livingson, fifth year player. Could he be somebody who can play multiple positions and get that for you? What about Anderson Cop just in his second year, but could potentially be a center of the future for you? So I think there's some different options that you could look to there. And I think that'll be where the real competition is besides, you know, who's going to start on the interior is who's going to be that seventh and eighth man for the KU offensive line. Best player in this unit, I think is pretty clearly a mere Herring. He had over a 70 pro football focus grade. He was one of the 10 highest rated guards in the big 12 a season ago.

Now he's back for another year. He's a former four-star recruit transferred in from Michigan. So it makes you think his ceiling certainly is higher to go to another level. And I think he can do just that. So I think Herring's the guy I look at and say, you're the best lineman on the team. My guy, the guy that I want to, you know, I don't know, fight for is Tavaki 2, I liked his game last year. He was coming in more in a backup role.

And so maybe you're not always getting the most informational reps of what you can go with. But I do think you had a pretty decent year last year after coming in from UCLA. It seems like he might be taking a step up this spring. So I am a Tobaki, Tuukolovatu guy. I also love saying the name. So that would be my guy from the offensive line. Future piece to watch. I mentioned cop earlier.

Caden Snyder has to be the one, though. He comes in as a four-star recruit on the offensive line in-state kid from the state of Kansas. this dude has the chance to be a freak on the offensive line. I don't think you'll see him this year. You probably don't want to just because if you're having to play a true freshman on the offensive line, that probably means a lot of bad things happened. But definitely somebody to watch down the road that could be a future starter early in his career for KU. I think the biggest strength as a unit for this offensive line has to be run blocking.

When you look at the interior being the strength of the line, that's going to lead to run blocking. When you look at Tuico Lovatu and Stro, like those are huge people. Amir Herring is a good run blocker. They should be able to move people. With Clemens and Morrow, those are huge people. And Clemens is even going back to his high school days, I would define him as a better run blocker than he is a past blocker. So I look at all that and I think this offensive line is going to be a better run blocking unit,

which might be okay because I think that's how they're going to kind of lean into their offensive play style. I think they're going to run the football a lot. And I do think this offensive line is going to have a good combination of road graders and guys that can move and get out on some of those option or wide zone plays. The biggest question as a unit, though, I do think is past protection, but I think specifically it's against the speed rush, right? When I look at the two offensive tackles, Clements and Morrow, they're both huge dudes. They're tall.

They're like six, seven and six eight respectively. But what was the biggest thing Clemens struggled with last year? Like David Bailey is as fast of a speed rushers you could go with. He ate all of KU's offensive line for lunch, but it was difficult for Clements. And in general, I think Clemens struggles more with speed rushers than he does with power rushers. I was watching some film on Nick Morrow at Cal. I was watching him he would go against somebody who was more of power rusher and he'd be able to hold up a bull rush. But then he would give up a speed rush with a guy who has good bend around the edge.

And so I think it's going to be very similar for both guys. If KU's playing a team with good speed rushers on the outside, that might be a problem for KU. They might have to use more tight ends and chip a little bit more. But if they are playing more of a power defensive end, I think KU can be okay there. So that'll be very interesting to see, do both players grow and get better at that? or does KU have to adjust for it in the way that they call and use other players on the offense? Overall question here, better, worse, or the same to last season for the offensive line. I'm going to lean worse.

I don't think it's going to be a bad offensive line. Okay, so this is weird. I could see it being better production but being worse overall. Because if KU does optimize the offense to running the ball more and being more of a road greater team, then in theory, like your Madden ratings, your college football 27 ratings could be lower individually, but the success you're having could be better because you're being utilized better to what your strengths are,

if that kind of makes sense. But you look at last year, you had Bryce Foster at the center position. There's questions about what the center position is going to be for KU this year, right? So that's kind of a big one that you're losing. You look at the guard position and Kobe Baines was one, of the five highest rated guards in the Big 12 last year on Pro Football Focus. He's gone from the team as well, right? Enrique Cruz had a really strong year at the tackle position.

And I think he's better than what Nick Morrow is. So the way I look at it, I am a little bit concerned about the offensive line. I do think it's going to be worse than last year. But like I said, maybe they can optimize it and play to a style that benefits them a little bit more and protects them a little bit more and works out okay for KU. All right. That'll remember for this episode of Lockdown, Jayhawks. You can find our show anywhere you get your podcast, including on our YouTube page where you can like and subscribe to the show. See you next time.