Several more former Kansas football players have received NFL minicamp invites over the course of the week following the 2025 NFL Draft.
Javier Derritt, Lawrence Arnold and Michael Ford Jr. will get opportunities to prove themselves to professional teams at various rookie minicamps that begin next Friday.
They join previously reported invitees Jared Casey and Marvin Grant, who will both take part in the Kansas City Chiefs’ rookie minicamp, with Casey also a candidate to join the Miami Dolphins’ minicamp the following weekend.
Derritt will get his chance with the New York Giants, KU announced on Tuesday. The native of Warrensburg, Missouri, played one season as a rotational defensive tackle with the Jayhawks after five years at North Dakota State. He played 99 snaps on defense, according to Pro Football Focus, and recorded two tackles.
Arnold was a longtime steady presence at wide receiver for KU who had something of a down season his final year with just 26 catches for 360 yards and one touchdown. The prior two seasons, he caught 44 balls each year for a combined 1,498 yards and 10 scores through the air.
After five total years with the Jayhawks, he will get a chance at the Atlanta Falcons’ minicamp, KU announced on Thursday, where he will reunite with former KU cornerback Cobee Bryant, an undrafted free agent signing of the Falcons’.
Michael Ford Jr. was a fixture as a starting guard for the Jayhawks from the moment he arrived with head coach Lance Leipold as a transfer from Buffalo in 2021. His PFF grades increased each season and in 2024, a year in which he started all 12 games at left guard for KU, he finished with a grade of 76.8. He was a second-team All-Big 12 honoree.
Aaron Wilson of Houston news station KPRC reported on Friday that Ford will take part in the Indianapolis Colts’ minicamp next weekend. The Colts’ general manager Chris Ballard is the father of KU backup quarterback Cole Ballard, and former Jayhawk Jason Bean is currently on Indianapolis’ roster.
Kansas’ Lawrence Arnold Jr. runs a drill during the Big 12 Conference’s NFL football pro day Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Frisco, Texas.
Kansas’ Michael Ford runs a drill during the Big 12 Conference’s NFL football pro day Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in Frisco, Texas.
AP Photo/Jessica Tobias
AP Photo/Jessica Tobias