As a true freshman receiver in 2020, McBride ranked 11th on the team in receptions, making four while playing in six games. His position coach, Emmett Jones, foresees Year 2 playing out quite differently for the 6-foot sophomore from Napoleonville, La.

“I expect him to kind of make a name for himself in the Big 12 this year,” Jones predicted.

KU’s receivers coach feels so strongly about McBride’s trajectory because of what he saw from the young receiver over the course of the offseason. McBride first made a leap during the spring, becoming a reliable target for the Jayhawks’ quarterbacks just months after he was more of an afterthought as a freshman wideout filling in and doing what he could.

“Last year was just a learning process,” McBride said of his introduction to playing college football. “Learning from the older guys, getting some work from them to put on me.”

Coming up against older, more experienced defensive backs last year and absorbing the knowledge his veteran teammates had to offer helped McBride upgrade his skill set in the months that followed his freshman year.

Jones, who recruited the three-star prospect in the Class of 2020 to KU, is impressed with how McBride approaches the game and his responsibilities now, ahead of his sophomore season.

McBride, in turn, credits Jones for teaching him so much over the past year.

“I get everything from Coach Jones, and he’s been helping me on my game ever since I got here,” McBride said. “All the work he put in for me, all the work I put in for him, it’s just been getting better and better. I’ve been growing.”

McBride, a likely starter for the upcoming season, has progressed so much that Jones views him as the type of receiver who “can blow the roof off the coverage” for KU’s offense.

“One thing he does for those guys to help out the team is he stretches out the defense, so everything opens underneath,” Jones explained. “You get one-on-one coverage, our quarterbacks do a good job of knowing personnel, and if they see Steve out there they’re going to give him a shot.”

Super-senior KU receiver Kwamie Lassiter II said McBride has looked “really impressive” during the team’s closed practices this preseason.

The strides McBride made since the end of last season, when he made his first career start in the finale at Texas Tech, have culminated in him becoming a far more effective skill player within the offense, according to Jones and Lassiter. And McBride thinks the effort he put into making better personal connections with his fellow receivers, teammates and coaches played a factor, too.

At preseason practices, Jones said McBride doesn’t struggle at all with the offensive concepts and he knows all the assignments for each of the three receiver spots within the scheme.

Jones believes in McBride as a key playmaker and said the QBs working with the sophomore are trying to perfect their back shoulder throws and over the shoulder throws to help maximize McBride’s potential.

“That’s what he brings to the table. He’s great as far as complementing the route concepts of what we’re running, because he can push the ball downfield,” Jones said.

After accounting for only 17 receiving yards a year ago, McBride should be much easier to find on KU’s stat sheets in 2021.

“I’ve been working my tail off, getting better at what I do,” McBride said. “And I’m gonna just keep striving for it.”