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Thursday, August 12, 2010

Full strength: KU’s Dudley eager to prove himself after surgery

By Andrew Hartsock

KU senior linebacker Drew Dudley missed spring drills after having surgery on his left shoulder.

Photo by Mike Yoder

KU senior linebacker Drew Dudley missed spring drills after having surgery on his left shoulder.

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Last year, Drew Dudley made 88 total tackles — surpassed on Kansas University’s football team only by Darrell Stuckey’s 93 — had 8 1⁄2 tackles for loss and was credited with three sacks.

Not half bad for a man operating at only half strength.

Dudley suffered a torn left labrum, a shoulder cartilage, early on, then played out the season in pain.

“How much did it affect me? I’d say quite a bit,” Dudley, KU’s 6-foot-2, 241-pound senior linebacker from College Station, Texas, said. “I didn’t have a lot of strength on my left side after the injury. How much? I don’t really know. But I know I’m looking forward to this season, playing with a healthy shoulder again.”

Dudley is pretty nonchalant talking about his wounded wing.

“It would pop out pretty much every game,” he said, without so much as a wince, “so they decided that I needed surgery.”

So Dudley went under the knife. The resulting six-month rehab kept him out of spring drills.

As a result, KU’s coaches only knew of Dudley what they could glean from tape.

“I certainly watched a lot of film,” KU defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Carl Torbush said. “So I was familiar with him. I saw that he played hard, that he played well. He’s obviously a tough young man. He’s extremely smart, with great work habits, a great athlete. I watched plenty of film. Was he limited because of the shoulder? I didn’t see that.”

The way Torbush sees it, the forced spring layoff didn’t hurt Dudley any, and it might have helped the Jayhawks in the long run.

“It was probably a plus he was not out there,” Torbush said. “It gave Justin (Springer) a chance to come back. He’d been banged up, beat up. To see him perform in the spring, I know he gave me a lot of confidence in him. If Drew had been there, maybe I wouldn’t have seen that as much.”

So despite the fact he was KU’s top returning tackler, regardless of his 38 career games and nine career starts and his honorable mention nod to the All-Big 12 team, Dudley found himself in the darnedest position on the post-spring depth chart: No. 2.

“It was a motivating thing,” he said. “I understand. I didn’t go through spring ball, and the rest of the guys did. Everybody … that’s where they’re at. They deserve it. I’m just looking to do what I can to help the team.”

Has he so far in the preseason shown enough to earn a starting role?

“You’d have to ask coach (Turner) Gill,” Dudley said. “That’s up to him.”

For now, at least, the sore shoulder won’t hold him back. Nor will he throttle back to ensure the injury doesn’t return.

“You really can’t,” he said. “You just can’t play any differently. All you can do is pray for it.”

He’s not praying just for himself. Well aware the Jayhawks are thin at just about every position, Dudley’s looking for a little divine intervention on the injury front.

“My only concern for the team this year is injuries,” he said. “That’s my main concern, injuries, for myself and everybody else, because we need everybody that we have.”

And if everybody stays healthy?

“I can’t really tell you what’s realistic with this team,” Dudley said. “Realistically, we WILL go to a bowl game. Beyond that … we’ll have to see once we get into it.”

Comments

  1. JBurtin (anonymous) says…

    It seems that nearly everybody must be under-rating this kid.

    88 tackles is nothing to sneeze at and if all three linebackers had played that well last year we likely would have gone bowling.

    1. dagger108 (anonymous) replies…

      If we could have run out the clock, or even tried to, against mizzoo, we would have been 6-6 and could have gone bowling.

      There were plenty of other opps for the team as well. IMO it's better to dismiss with the limited knowledge of the dysfunction, and be glad we've moved on. The alternative is being played out in Boulder. Not quite as dysfunctional last year, and no victory promises this year, but you'd have to be a huge, and blind, fan to have any optimism out there.

      Glad we have Gill.

      1. Rivethead (anonymous) replies…

        CU fans have plenty to be excited about. They've got how many USC transfers coming in? I believe one is an RB. Carroll was an excellent judge of talent. CU will reap that reward.

        But hey, KU should be excited too. We've got several Buffalo transfers coming in. But I beleive they have to wait a year, unlike the USC kids.

  2. pleiker (anonymous) says…

    There is it again..."Kansas University". Is it that hard to write "The University of Kansas"? So annoying.

    1. okiedave (anonymous) replies…

      Its "The University of Kansas", d/b/a "Kansas University" and d/b/a "K.U." and d/b/a "Jayhawks". A great university whatever its called.

    2. inteldesign (anonymous) replies…

      Sorry, but lets drop this okay? We know. KU=The University of Kansas.

    3. jhawkdan42 (anonymous) replies…

      It's more annoying to read posts from people bitching about it

  3. KU_Cobra (anonymous) says…

    “Realistically, we WILL go to a bowl game."

    That's the attitude I like to see! Can't wait to see you guys come out strong!!! Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

  4. KCHawk81 (anonymous) says…

    Looking forward to seeing what a healthy Dudley and Springer can do at LB. We need them both to be quicker than they were last year, although I hope that an improved secondary will take a little pressure off of them. Losing Tharp hurts.

    As for "Kansas University," it seems like this comes up in these comments every couple weeks or so. AP style flops the names of universities to delete the "of" when the result is publicly accepted (like "Holy Cross College" instead of "College of Holy Cross"). Now, we could debate whether the alumni and other KU supporters who read the LJW really accept a less-than-correct moniker for our beloved school on the hill, but I'm assuming the LJW has a local style guide that says it's always "Kansas University." The Associated Press hates serial commas and the word "of"--the Journal-World just follows it like every other paper in America. (There. Grammar-nerding out every once in a while keeps me sane.)

  5. mvjayhawk (anonymous) says…

    we're finding out more and more how banged up we were last year. and it was quite significant to a lot of our regular players. i know Darrell Stuckey played hurt last year...and we know Jake Sharp and his hairline leg break was also substantial.

    tough kids, all of them...and Drew Dudley is a perfect example. as many injuries as we've already had this pre season, we deserve some luck..and with Dudley's health and experience, our LB position needs him badly.

  6. Jayhawk1116 (anonymous) says…

    I think all the Kansas University people should be more concerned that I read an article about Kentucky the other day that refered to them as "KU". That scares me.

  7. mikendal (KUFanSince1975) says…

    Any success that the Jayhawk defense can experience, is "icing on the cake." Success includes---- "No more injuries to our defense." Dudley is a tough dude.
    I am holding my breath, crossing my fingers, praying (that is what Dudley said to do) for good defense this season. It will only help the Jayhawks get to a bowl game! Rock Chalk.

  8. 741hawk (anonymous) says…

    Assist, please.
    Will there be any pre-season practices open to the public?

  9. JBurtin (anonymous) says…

    I don't believe so. Gill doesn't seem to like them. They're ok for PR, but you would have to go pretty vanilla if you have a big crowd watching, so I think I'd rather see.them get as much real practice in as possible.

  10. inteldesign (anonymous) says…

    If this D can come together I like our chances to get 8 wins. Call me crazy, Keegan.

  11. tkeegan (Tom Keegan) says…

    Crazy.

  12. yovoy (anonymous) says…

    I NEVER questioned our backers' toughness, but I had a problem watching guys just blow by them. We need and infusion of speed at that position. Hopefully we'll recruit some, and keep it. That was the biggest part of the team that went "backwards" last year IMO. Of course, lots of things didn't go as they could've/should've for whatever reason(s). I know that we had some good linebackers under ourMangino, but the guys last year just seemed a bit slow. Our new coach said he's going to recruit speed; hopefully he gets some behind that d-line, and soon.

    Hats off to Dudley, and the others that played injured last year. Hopefully they'll be even better if they're healthy.