The future of the Kansas defense took a significant hit on Thursday afternoon when DJ Warner, the Jayhawks’ best recruit of the modern era as assessed by 247Sports, announced that he will enter the transfer portal after just one season in Lawrence.
A 6-foot-3, 230-pound defensive end from Phoenix, Warner was a consensus top-10 edge rusher in the country coming out of Desert Edge High School in Goodyear, Arizona. He was one of several key freshmen recruited from that school as part of a sort of pipeline established by KU’s former defensive backs coach Jordan Peterson, as he joined the Jayhawks along with a pair of classmates in cornerback Aundre Gibson and linebacker Jon Jon Kamara.
Warner chose to stick with KU through his recruitment process despite scholarship offers from some of the top programs in the country that arrived before and after his commitment to the Jayhawks.
One of just a few true freshmen to see significant playing time in the last several years, Warner played 202 snaps on defense and 100 on special teams during the 2024 season, according to Pro Football Focus. Primarily serving as the second-choice weak-side defensive end behind second-team all-conference selection Dean Miller, Warner struggled at times to make an impact against veteran offensive tackles and was credited with just five total pressures and two tackles on the season.
“First I want to thank the whole Kansas staff, I am forever grateful for the time and effort put into this past season,” Warner wrote in a social media post. “I want to thank my teammates for the unforgettable relationships and memories that we have built over this year. I also want to thank the fans and everyone from Jayhawk nation for the constant support and love. With that being said with constant prayers and thought I’ve decided to enter my name in the transfer portal.”
His departure robs KU of a key building block heading into an offseason in which it could lose upwards of 40 players total. KU has other young defensive ends on the roster, including Michigan State transfer Bai Jobe, who was another rotational option this past season, and Warner’s classmate Dakyus Brinkley, who did not play in 2024.
KU also just signed incoming freshmen Adrian Holley, of Indiana, and Garrett Martin, of Arizona, to bolster the unit going forward, and has gone after players in the early days of the transfer portal such as Northwest Missouri State transfer end Langden Kitchen.
Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World
