While everyone seems to be talking about Kansas University’s quarterback competition, the Jayhawks do have other starting jobs up for grabs as well.
Take the weakside linebacker position, where junior Leo Etienne and sophomore Glenn Robinson are neck-and-neck heading into the final week of practice before KU’s Sept. 1 season opener against Southwest Missouri State.
“It’s a dead heat,” KU assistant head coach/defensive coordinator Tom Hayes said.
Or the right cornerback battle between sophomore Carl Ivey and Quincy Roe.
“That’s a dead heat, too,” Hayes said.
Other positional battles that will be decided in the next week are at right offensive guard and tight end.
Robinson (6-foot-3, 230 pounds) has a size advantage over Etienne (6-0, 205), but the latter thrives on his speed. Both players also appear to have a good feel for where the ball is, can drop into pass coverage and are tough against the run.
“Since we started spring practice, it’s been a dead heat,” Hayes said, “and that’s great because in essence you have two starters. At some point in time we’re going to name a starter and somebody’s going to have to run out there with the first group in the first game.”
Robinson, who’s from Longmont, Colo., played in all 11 games as a reserve last season, making six tackles. Etienne, of Winter Haven, Fla., is a transfer from Hutchinson Community College.
The 5-9, 190-pound Roe, from St. Louis, and senior right cornerback Andrew Davison are the lone returning starters in the defensive backfield. But Ivey, a 5-11, 175-pound corner from Kileen, Texas, is giving Roe a run for his money.
“It’s so close that I have two starters out there,” said Hayes, who also is the secondary coach. “They’re both going to play. We’re just going to have to see how it goes.”
Roe led the Jayhawks last season with three interceptions and 14 pass deflections. Ivey played in six games, starting twice. Whoever loses out on the starting job will play plenty as the nickelback. Junior right cornerback Matt Jordan is the Jayhawks’ dimeback.
Sophomore Adrian Jones has emerged as the starting tight end, but junior David Hurst is in hot pursuit.
“Adrian right now has kind of taken over the No. 1 spot from Hurst,” tight ends coach Clint Bowen said. “Obviously we’ve still got time before our first game and Adrian has got to continue to perform and keep the job. There’s always a battle there.”
Jones, who’s 6-5, 255 pounds and from Dallas, had one catch for 10 yards in four games last season. Hurst, a 6-3, 260-pounder from Austin, Texas, started the first six games. The spot was even more hotly contested before red-shirt freshman Jason Farley, who went to Blue Valley High, went down on Monday.
“The guy that you can’t forget is Jason Farley, who had a tremendous camp,” Bowen said. “Unfortunately he got a hip flexor and has had to miss the last week. If that doesn’t happen it would have made it even more interesting. We’ve got three guys that are all battling.
“Right now A.J.’s the man, but he’s got to play well and perform to keep his job.”
KU’s 6-5, 305-pound junior Kyle Grady has overtaken 6-2, 285-pound senior Jason Stevenson for the starting right guard position. Both players missed practice in the spring because of injuries.
“Grady’s been a little bit more consistent here lately,” offensive line coach Sam Pittman said. “But they’re both going to play a lot. You know, depth charts mean a lot more to the kids than they do to me. They’re both going to play. Obviously you have to have a guy run out there first and right now it’s going to be Grady.
“But it’s an on-going, every day battle over there.”
Grady, of Mesquite, Texas, started last year’s season opener before being lost for the season with a knee injury. Stevenson, of Killen, Texas, played in six games as a reserve.
There’s also a quiet tussle for the starting fullback position between 6-3, 245-pound junior Mitchell Scott and 6-1, 230-pound red-shirt freshman Austine Nwabuisi. But the Jayhawks mostly have used single-back formations with sophomore Reggie Duncan.
l
Dwyer tapped: KU senior defensive tackle Nate Dwyer is one of 81 players selected for the preseason Rotary Lombardi Award Watch List. The senior co-captain, who was one of 11 players from the Big 12 on the list, had 68 total tackles last season.
