Growing up in Pickerington, Ohio, in the Columbus suburbs, Roman Pearson played wide receiver.
It wasn’t until his freshman year at Pickerington Central High School that his defensive backs coach moved him over to free safety. By his junior season, he was a cornerback.
And by the time he came to Kansas this spring, he had recorded five collegiate interceptions in his past three seasons across stints at Bucknell and Ball State, giving him more than the entire rest of the Jayhawks’ cornerback room combined.
“I’ve always been an offensive-oriented guy, so I just love going after and getting the ball,” Pearson said on Monday, by way of explanation. “And then my coaches at each of the stops have emphasized turnovers. So any chance I can try to get my hands on the football, make a play, I try to make the most of it.”
That makes him well suited for a group of defensive backs desperate to create turnovers in 2026. With Jalen Todd and Austin Alexander serving as first-time starters at outside cornerback, no corner recorded an interception during the 2025 season. The safeties picked up the slack somewhat with three picks out of KU’s four overall, but that was still among the worst totals in FBS, and the Jayhawks tied for 114th nationally with 10 turnovers forced.
“That’s punching at the ball, that’s tipped balls, get picked balls,” defensive backs coach Brandon Shelby said. “We got to hawk the ball.”
Beyond the additions of Pearson and Mississippi State transfer Elijah Cannon, the cornerback group doesn’t look all that different this time around, which makes it a bit of an exception on the KU roster. Todd returns as the top corner, with Alexander and Pearson among those competing for the opposite spot and Syeed Gibbs and Jahlil Hurley also likely to figure in.
But while the personnel is the same, the mindset might be different.
“This year I’m going in way more confident,” said Alexander, who did return a fumble for a touchdown last season. “A confident DB is a scary DB.”
That’s notable because confidence among the cornerbacks was a significant talking point throughout much of the second half of the 2025 season, especially after games when they allowed significant cushions to wide receivers and generally gave up a lot of ground to opposing offenses.
With another year of experience under their belt, it may be time for these cornerbacks to take the occasional gamble.
“Last year and the year before I didn’t have any picks,” Todd said, “so this year I’m going to take some chances and stuff like that, for sure.”
Shelby repeatedly emphasizes to his players that they need to take the ball away and limit explosive plays, “the two most important stats in football.”
“We got to give our offense an opportunity to change the game,” Shelby said. “When you look at football in general, teams and defenses who can do that are typically the ones who are successful.”
That may be particularly significant for KU this year with its Andy Kotelnicki-led offense likely to have the element of surprise on its side: “Just making more plays overall, (we’re) just giving the offense the ball back, and you know Coach K, what he’s going to do with the ball,” Todd said.
Shelby says he believes his players are buying into this particular offseason emphasis.
“We’ve seen the ball on the ground more than we have, and just competitive plays,” he said. “And so hopefully that can carry on moving forward.”
Kansas cornerback Roman Pearson goes through a drill during the first day of KU Football’s fall camp on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, in Lawrence.
Kansas safety Taylor Davis (left) collides with cornerback Austin Alexander during the first day of KU Football’s fall camp on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, in Lawrence.
Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World