Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Time to Panic? KU Football's Highest Ranked Recruit DJ Warner Enters the Portal + Devin Neal Snubbed

Starting point is 00:00:00 On today's Locked On Jayhawks, is it officially time to panic because KU lost DJ Warner, their highest rated high school recruit ever? 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. Thanks for making Locked On Jayhaw Network, your team every day. I'm Derek Johnson. Thanks for making Locked On Jayhawks your first listen every day. We are free and available wherever you get your podcast. Thank you every day for catching each and every show.

Starting point is 00:00:34 And you can find us on YouTube where you can like and subscribe to the show. On this bonus episode of Locked On Jayhawks, we're going to be going over, is it panic time officially with KU football? Because Sean Warner has left to the transfer portal, the former highest-rated commit that KU has ever gotten since 2010 of the 24-7 sports recruiting era. So we're going to get into that, the gravity and the impact. Is it panic time?

Starting point is 00:01:00 What KU has left at the defensive end position? And we'll get to a little bit of other news to finish up on a positive note, at least. I guess sort of positive. Some news, Deshaun Hanneke back, and then the All-Big 12 Awards came out as well. Let's start with the DJ Warner news, though. So Deshaun Warner posted this on Twitter earlier today. He said, first, I want to thank the whole Kansas staff. I'm forever grateful for the time and effort put into this past season.

Starting point is 00:01:27 I want to thank my teammates for the unforgettable relationships and memories that we've built over this year. I also want to thank the fans and everyone from Jayhawk Nation for the constant support and love. With that being said, with constant prayers and thought, I've decided to enter my name into the transfer portal. And so into the transfer portal he goes. Well, Sean Warner, this is why this is such a big deal, right?

Starting point is 00:01:46 And they lost a couple other players to the portal with BJ Dilworth and Caleb Purdy, two players who also were formerly highly recruited players for KU in their specific class. But that was highly recruited players for that specific class. This player, DJ Warner, became the highest rated commit that KU had ever gotten in the 24-7 sports era going back to 2010. He was top 200 nationally on the 24-7 sports composite. He was ranked 67th overall in the final 24-7 sports rankings. He was graded as a 96 overall four-star recruit. I mean, he wasn't even that far off from creeping into five-star status. This was a huge deal when KU landed him, and he wound up playing 202 snaps as a true freshman, which is pretty good considering, you know, you're playing as a defensive end where a lot of times it takes time to build

Starting point is 00:02:34 onto your body and everything. So the fact that he played, you know, that many snaps, the freshman was seemingly consistently playing 10 to 15 snaps a game. He was 16th on the team in snaps. He was fourth on the team in snaps among his position at the edge position. And two of the three who were in front of him graduate after this year. He wound up recording two tackles. I think pro football focus had him for five. PFF grades are not great for what it's worth from this first year. 47 overall. He was just a 35 PFF graded run defender. He was 55 in pass rush. He had five quarterback pressures,

Starting point is 00:03:10 including a quarterback hit. His last game that he played against Baylor was actually his lowest graded game. He played 11 snaps. He had just a 31 grade on pro football focus. So that on its own, you point to that and go, okay, this know didn't have a great year is it that big of a deal that he's leaving the program there's a lot a lot of reasons

Starting point is 00:03:31 why this this could lead to panic and obviously the fact that he even got on the field as a true freshman and the fact of what his past pedigree and what you know a lot of uh scouts and stuff are kind of expecting from him that he has this like all league, even NFL type potential makes it so that this transfer is kind of less about the here and now and more about what he could be. And you don't know when that would be. Would that be, you know, was he going to be bound to break out in 2025? Was he going to be bound to break out in 2026 or 2027? Would he be one of those recruits who just didn't come together? You don't entirely know there, but the potential is tantalizing.

Starting point is 00:04:10 And when you lose a high-ceiling player, it kind of also hits you hard knowing that something we just talked about, the everydayers heard this. We were talking about National Signing Day on a bonus episode yesterday, and we talked about how that 2024 class was the best in terms of quality that KU has ever brought on in the 24-7 sports era big reason why was because of DJ Warner was because of Deshaun Warner and because of the Desert Edge High School kids he was the the biggest gem from that class of players you brought from Desert Edge High School so what does this mean for them what does this

Starting point is 00:04:41 mean for the defensive end group what does this mean for KU What does this mean for the defensive end group? What does this mean for KU overall as a whole? Is it panic time? Let's get to that next. This is Locked on Jayhawks. Our episode today is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. Get ready to tackle the NFL action with FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. Because right now, new customers can bet $5 and get $150 in bonus bets if you win. The FanDuel Sportsbook app gives you everything you need

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Starting point is 00:05:26 an official sportsbook partner of the NFL. Continuing on this bonus episode, we will have a KU Missouri preview coming out later on your Friday ahead of that game on Sunday. Okay, is it panic time now for KU? I think part of the answer to that question, because this obviously signals the biggest loss you've had so far, it signals some, I don't know, I guess a leak in the boat, so to speak. Like, it's one thing when you're losing guys who are not going to be projected to be maybe on the two deep next season. It's another when you're losing a guy who might be a starter next year or, you know, beyond that is going to be on the two deep and has an insanely high potential

Starting point is 00:06:06 and was all those things. But I think what, what changes the level of how worrisome this is is very dependent on what is the motivation behind him leaving. And I don't know that we'll get an answer to that. It's not like he's going to do a press conference and be like, yeah, you know, I left for this, this, and that reason, right. Is he leaving because he's homesick?

Starting point is 00:06:24 Obviously, you know, going to high school at Desert Edge, being in Arizona, like, does he want to go back closer to home? Did he feel like he was too far away? If that's the case, in some sense, this becomes easier to stomach because it's just like that just happens sometimes, right? Is he leaving because of lack of playing time? I don't know. That one wouldn't really make sense.

Starting point is 00:06:42 He was fourth in snaps for edges. Maybe he was like, I should have been top two. But again, the PFF numbers were bad. He wasn't totally ready to play this year. KU kind of had to throw him into the fire because they were a little thinner at that position. But the fact he even got on the field, like, and then two of the guys who were in front of you, I know different defensive end position, the strong side versus him being, you know, more on the weak side. but like, um, you were probably due for a good amount of playing time this year. So I don't think it's that is he leaving because he wants to reunite with Jordan Peterson who recruited him and maybe Texas A&M. And again, that one to a certain extent is a little easier to stomach

Starting point is 00:07:18 because, um, if he was going to leave for Jordan Peterson at some point, then like, I don't know, I guess better now than after he had an all big 12 season and then leaves or something. But also it becomes a little less easy to stomach because it's almost like, man, why couldn't you have kept Jordan Peterson? Why couldn't you have made him the play caller or the full time D.C. and just had Brian Borland be the co-D.C. that wasn't really calling plays? You have the title and the money kind of going more toward Jordan Peterson. And you're in a spot where with Brian Borland his contract's up in like the end of February are you going to bring back are you not I don't know but you know if that is the case what becomes more scary with that one and what does make this more panicky is that if he's leaving to go to Jordan Peterson well guess what Jordan Peterson recruited all those other desert

Starting point is 00:08:04 desert edge kids too right and what does that mean that all those players's leaving to go to Jordan Peterson, well, guess what? Jordan Peterson recruited all those other desert edge kids too, right? And what does that mean? That all those players are going to go, does it? And then that's even more really good future talent that you could be losing. And then that's even more you have to do in the transfer portal. And it's even more money you have to spend in the transfer portal. And now you have to divvy things out even tighter. It just becomes very, very difficult there.

Starting point is 00:08:23 Now, the other question of this that could affect the level of panic it is or isn't, is he leaving because he's getting a bag to go? Like, that's one thing where, again, you can view that either direction. You can view it as, oh, no, Kansas doesn't have enough money. That's not good. You can view it as, oh, he's just leaving because he got this exorbitant amount of money. And it'll be good because Kansas will be able to kind of redistribute that money in other ways. I think the worst of all would be he's leaving because he just doesn't think

Starting point is 00:08:51 Kansas is going to be good enough, whether that's as a team perspective or developing him to hit his ceiling to where he wants to go. That would probably be the worst in all this, because then that would be signaling that like, oh, things feel like a sinking ship. And then there's kind of, again, you go back to the Desert Edge kids, like, how does this affect them? Does this make more likely for them to leave? Because they see, you know, the first domino fall, the first guy do it to where, you know, now it's going to be more likely that they could go to, that they feel like the door has been opened at this point in time. Or was this just kind of a one-off there? That'll be huge for Lance Leipold and and the staff they can keep those kids as well and then I think clearly regardless of the motivation

Starting point is 00:09:29 whichever one of those you think it is and whichever you think has the impact on that scale what I just discussed could be the difference between maybe being a four or being an eight or something I don't know on the the the panic scale I don't think it's like full panic time right now, but this certainly is one of the more, like you have Logan Brown leaving. Now this happens with Logan Brown leaving, you know, maybe you weren't fully expecting that to happen, or maybe you were hoping you could get him back, but you understand it. It's to the NFL. This is a different regard and it starts to make you worry about what the next moves are now if those next moves never end up happening this is going to be a unfortunate footnote and one that could be very impactful down the road but it's not going to be one that is like the end of the world so it kind

Starting point is 00:10:14 of depends what happens from this point forward now as far as it pertains to this season's defensive end group if you got the same level of of DJ Warner in year two as you did in year one maybe slight improvements it's not going to be that big of a loss for KU next year it's going to be replaceable you could argue you could get a more senior ready you know ready to play player right now for that position it's the idea of him though it's the idea that if it did click next year he's a you know possible future pro or the idea that in two years he becomes that all big 12 first team level performer so that's where it becomes a little interesting you look at the defensive end spot the strong defensive end spot um you lose both Dylan Woodkey and Jeremy Robinson

Starting point is 00:10:56 Ron McGee graduates as well so like basically your entire strong defensive end spot is gone now um Garrett Martin who's a incoming freshman Garrett Martin, who's an incoming freshman, Adrian Hawley, who's an incoming freshman, maybe one of them profiles more to be strong defensive end, maybe the other one wide, but I don't think that KU wants to get, you know, true freshmen on the field unless they absolutely have to in terms of those positions trying to gain weight on them. Maybe by Joe moves to more of the strong defensive end spot. I mean, he was already up to like 240. So maybe he can add another 1015 and play that one. I don't know. Maybe that's just the position where they're more most likely to add a transfer or at this point to transfers

Starting point is 00:11:36 to add a couple strong defensive ends. You look at the wide defensive end spot or the weak defensive end, whatever you want to call it. KU actually should be okay there in terms of depth and and that is at least the good news uh with Warner leaving again it's more the idea of what Warner could become and if you see him turn out to be an all-conference player an all-american and NFL draft pick that's where it's really going to hurt uh at the very least in 2025 Dean Miller's back he was just named all big 12 second team so you have him back as a redshirt senior uh probably going to start at that spot dylan brooks could be back after that injury and he's somebody who at any point could pop out he's a former highly recruited guy too dac brinkley was you know if you didn't if you never had dj warner to begin with dac brinkley would have been the prize recruit of that class

Starting point is 00:12:19 he was also a very highly recruited guy he redshirted added to his body like he could easily break out and then you do have holly and martin whichever side they play and again if by job another former highly recruited guy is which defensive end spot kind of is he so it's it's a little bit of proven play with dean miller and then it's a lot of these guys are very talented but they have to prove it on the field and then a lot of questions at the strong defensive end spot which i imagine they're going to go hard for in the transfer portal. Let's finish up here. Those all-big 12 awards, we'll touch on that.

Starting point is 00:12:48 And Deshaun Hanneke is back for KU. This is Locked on Jayhawks. We'll have our KU Missouri preview coming at you. Okay, other news. Real quick, Deshaun Hanneke is back at the tight end spot. He kind of announced that he's going to be going for the Mackey this year. That was his way of saying, I'm coming back, and that's my personal goal. I think Jeff Grimes wants more receiving tight ends,

Starting point is 00:13:08 and I feel like KU's tight ends this year were more the blocking team. I mean, Jared Casey, we're going to get to the All-Big 12 awards here, was listed first team All-Big 12 as a fullback, which I think is right. I think he's used as kind of an H-back fullback. But, you know, if you're going to get passes to you, we saw whether it was Jalen Daniels, I think it was more about the Jeff Grimes offense and the play calling. They weren't really profiling those tight ends.

Starting point is 00:13:28 But I think if Hanukkah was in there who is more of a receiving tight end, he'll be used more as a weapon on the offensive side of the field. It just comes down to, is he going to be the full same player coming off a bad injury? Does KU need to bring in another tight end where he can be kind of a rotational guy? Or is he going to be fully back to being a guy who you were coming into last year before the injury expecting to be the starter there? As far as the All-Big 12 awards, Jalen Daniels got co-scholar athlete of the year. We continue to wait on his decision.

Starting point is 00:13:55 All-Big 12 first team, Jared Casey is the fullback, as I mentioned. I actually thought Jared Casey had a better 2023 than 2024. Now, part of that was just, again, he was featured more in the offense, but I thought it was cool to see him recognize his fullback. Kobe Bryant defensive back got in unanimously. He becomes the first KU player ever to be three-time first team all Big 12. So the Big 12 goes back whatever almost 30 years at this point a little under that. There are other players who have been three-time all-conference. There are other players who have been you know maybe three-time all-league

Starting point is 00:14:24 and if it was you know all Missouri Valley back in the 20s or something like that. But in terms of the Big 12 only, no player has been three times first-team All-Big 12, so congrats to Kobe there. Mello Dotson got it. He also got a vote for Defensive Player of the Year, yet Kobe didn't, so that was kind of weird. All-Big 12 second team, Logan Brown, obviously off to the NFL. He also got a vote for offensive lineman

Starting point is 00:14:45 of the year you get michael ford on there which you know very deserved with how great of a past couple years he's had bryce foster gets on there we await his decision and then dean miller i was a little surprised by that one on the second team dean miller had solid production six sacks i think he's a solid player for you but i wonder if that was voted on more of just oh see this guy has six sacks as opposed to like you look at some of the pro football focus numbers like how much of those were hustle sacks versus uh the true pass rush but a good piece that could potentially be back for you next year and Dean Miller and certainly if he can take another step forward next year and

Starting point is 00:15:17 get up to eight sacks you would certainly feel a little bit better about losing DJ Warner here and then the all-big 12 honorable mentions. Bryce Cabledew was on there. Jeremy Robinson was on there. JV Brown was on there. This was the most controversial one. Devin Neal was on there. In no way, shape, or form should Devin Neal be on there. Now, I get it.

Starting point is 00:15:37 There's only two running back spots on the first and second team. The Big 12 is loaded with running backs. It's a 16-team league. I totally understand why UCF's running back got on there. He has ridiculous numbers in league. I totally understand why UCF's running back got on there. He has ridiculous numbers in Harvey. I totally understand why Cam Scadaboo got on there. Really good receiving numbers, really good rushing numbers, teams playing for the conference title, really good touchdown numbers, right? I can understand those things. Now, if you're asking me if you're having a draft of Big 12 running backs, I'm taking Devin Neal number one, even

Starting point is 00:16:01 over Cam Scadaboo, right? I think part of it is dependent on the context around you, but I can understand why those guys were in front of him in terms of the first team. There's no way he shouldn't have been on the second team. And I continue to harp on this. Why does Taj Brooks, Taj Brooks keeps winding up on these all big 12 first and second teams because he's getting like 300 carries in a season. He's a good running back. He's a good bell cow running back, right? He takes a lot of carries and stuff, but Devin Neal is averaging like more yards per carry, yards per touch. He's getting you the same amount of touchdowns. He also, you know, DJ Giddens, he had like 10 more touchdowns than DJ Giddens.

Starting point is 00:16:33 Maybe you could make that argument. He should be above him. But it's the Taj Brooks one because this is back-to-back years. Brooks has been in front of Devin Neal in some of these awards lists. And the only difference is just that Taj Brooks carries the ball more because Devin Neal has good running backs behind him.U likes to rotate running backs and they like to be balanced with Pat and like and they don't run as many plays as Texas Tech who's up tempo there's a lot of reasons why the carries is more to Taj Brooks Devin Neal is a better running back than Taj Brooks I

Starting point is 00:16:57 am sorry that is just the case and it is very dumb that he finished honorable mention there so whatever to the all big 12 awards I think those are just the coaches, though, so I don't know if there's like an AP one that comes out, and if that gets corrected, hopefully it does. That'll do it for this episode. Long one on our bonus show of Locked on Jayhawks. We'll be back for a KU Missouri preview. See you then.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Time to Panic? KU Football's Highest Ranked Recruit DJ Warner Enters the Portal + Devin Neal Snubbed

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