A pair of Kansas cornerbacks who had been tabbed as first-team all-conference selections in the preseason made it there by season’s end — and they were joined by an unlikely teammate.
Senior corners Cobee Bryant and Mello Dotson, who combined for nine interceptions and 14 pass breakups as the ever-reliable anchors of KU’s secondary, earned first-team All-Big 12 honors on Thursday in a poll of the league’s head coaches. It was a unanimous selection for Bryant and his third straight, while Dotson received his first first-team selection.
Also making the top group of Big 12 players was senior Jared Casey, listed as a fullback despite having long ago been converted to tight end. As the starter at that position, Casey caught 18 passes for 203 yards and two touchdowns while serving as one of the Jayhawks’ top run blockers.
KU’s lone individual honoree was quarterback Jalon Daniels, who shared scholar-athlete of the year honors with Texas Tech running back Tahj Brooks. Daniels has a 3.54 GPA as a sports management major and accounted for 20 total touchdowns this season.
The second team featured four additional Jayhawks, including three of KU’s starting offensive lineman: right tackle Logan Brown (who declared for the 2025 NFL Draft on Wednesday), left guard Michael Ford Jr. and center Bryce Foster, a transfer from Texas A&M. All three ranked among the highest-graded players at their respective positions on Pro Football Focus throughout the season.
Defensive end Dean Miller, who racked up six sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss, got a spot on the second team as well, a significant accomplishment for the first-year starter who had struggled to put on weight and worked primarily on special teams after transferring to KU from College of the Canyons, but molded himself into a strong pass-rush option over the course of the 2024 season.
Notably absent from either of the all-conference teams was running back Devin Neal, who had to settle for an honorable mention following a season in which he became his hometown school’s all-time leading rusher, and holder of a host of other records, while running for 1,294 yards and 16 touchdowns (plus catching 24 passes for 254 yards and another score). UCF’s RJ Harvey and Arizona State’s Cam Skattebo made the first team, while Brooks and Kansas State’s DJ Giddens were second-team running backs.
Other honorable mentions were linebacker JB Brown, left tackle Bryce Cabeldue and defensive end Jereme Robinson, while Logan Brown also got an honorable mention for offensive lineman of the year, as did Dotson for defensive player of the year.
Nearly everyone receiving an honor on Thursday has exhausted their collegiate eligibility. With Brown declaring for the draft, only Daniels (who went through senior day), Foster and Miller will have the opportunity to come back for the 2025 season.
Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World
