Gabriel Toomey has spent a good portion of Kansas University’s spring football practices just standing around.
Kevin Kane has not.
“Out of the three starting linebackers so far, Kevin’s probably had the best spring ball,” linebacker Nick Reid said Thursday during a chat on KUsports.com. “He’s been making plays left and right. This is probably the best depth we’ve had so far. We’ve had a lot of young guys come in and play real well.”
Kansas returns three junior starters — Toomey, Reid and Banks Floodman — at linebacker, but Toomey has been held out of contact drills because of an undisclosed injury. That has opened the door for Kane, a junior who made 21 tackles as a backup linebacker and special-teams player last season.
Reid (133), Toomey (121) and Floodman (93) ranked among KU’s top four tacklers last season, along with defensive back Tony Stubbs (98). But KU defensive coordinator Bill Young said before spring drills began that every job was up for grabs.
During Monday’s open workout, Reid, Kane and Floodman were working with the No. 1 defense. Junior Darren Rus and red-shirt freshman Bruce Ringwood were working at outside linebacker with the second-string defense, while juniors Zach Mims and Brandon Perkins were splitting time in the middle.
Senior Greg Tyree had moved from linebacker to end.
KU will be even deeper at linebacker during preseason camp when freshmen Mike Rivera and Joe Mortensen arrive on campus.
Reid, who started six games as a true freshman in 2002, knows KU’s depth won’t keep the newcomers on the sideline if they’re good enough to contribute.
“If they come into summer workouts and the fall with good workouts and good heads on their shoulders and prove they should be on the field, they’ll be on the field,” Reid said.
“We really don’t have a 3-4 defense in the game plan yet,” Reid said. “We’ve still been playing the old 4-3, and it’s been working pretty good for us this spring.”
“He’s gotten kind of big,” coach Mark Mangino said. “I’ve talked to him about it. As long as he can move around well, I don’t have a problem with it. He feels like he needs to be stronger. You know offensive linemen are 300-pound guys. He feels like he needs to be a little bigger. I’d say at this point in time, this is the most active I’ve seen Travis since I came to KU — really encouraging signs that Travis has put the injuries behind him.”
