It is often said that nervousness and excitement are two sides of the same coin, or at least that is often said by people around me when they have to hear about how irrationally anxious I am about almost everything almost all of the time.
Whatever the case, Kansas fans are likely experiencing some combination of those two emotions — the exact proportion probably depends on one’s level of general optimism — as the start of football season approaches.
There’s now just over a week remaining until the Jayhawks host Fresno State at the newly renovated David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium; one would imagine the level of anticipation surrounding that venue tips the scales a bit more toward excitement over nervousness, too.
In any event, until the kicker tees up the ball for that first kickoff of the 2025 season — and by the way, if (wholly unscientific) trends from the end of last season continue, after KU lost six straight coin tosses and all six opposing teams deferred to the second half, it’ll probably be Fresno State’s Dylan Lynch setting up for the kick — all the KU football viewing public can do is speculate about what might come next. And speculation can lead to more anxiety.
With that in mind, I will now take some time and space to address a few of the foremost concerns about this year’s Jayhawks and decide whether they are reasonable or unfounded.
Kansas sophomore Tavake Tuikolovatu watches on during practice Friday, Aug. 1, 2025 at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium in Lawrence.
Possible concern: It’s problematic that KU’s offensive-line transfers at left guard and right tackle haven’t already seized starting roles.
My ruling: Unjustified, as KU’s coaches have earned the benefit of the doubt in this realm.
It feels like forever ago now, but there was a not-insignificant time period in fall camp ahead of the 2024 season during which Bryce Foster was running with the second unit behind Shane Bumgardner at center. Bumgardner made Foster work to obtain the starting job. In the end, of course, Foster became arguably the best center in the conference and is now one of the best players, period, on the 2025 team.
Not to mention that KU swapped its tackles late in fall camp in a move that may have created a sense of unease at the time but ultimately resulted in an elite offensive line that sent both tackles to the NFL.
Agpalsa, Leipold and company have a history of making things work upfront at this point. And Agpalsa has a valid point when he says that protracted, even competitions — such as those at left guard between James Livingston, Tavake Tuikolovatu and Amir Herring, and at right tackle between Enrique Cruz Jr. and Nolan Gorczyca — should ultimately mean that KU has better depth beyond its top five linemen than it did last season. He also said that given the competitive personalities within the position group, “I would have been shocked if it would have been concluded earlier.”
Plus, it’s not a surprise that Tuikolovatu and Cruz have needed time to adapt. Tuikolovatu missed some of the spring due to injury, and Cruz didn’t even arrive in Lawrence until the summer.
It may not be clear who is actually going to start at these two spots until KU releases its first depth chart at the start of the week-zero game week, or even until the Jayhawks come out for their first drive against Fresno State (maybe after that opening kickoff by Lynch, who knows). Sure, the line may need some time to build chemistry. But protracted competition doesn’t by any means suggest an inferior quality of play.
Kansas cornerback Jahlil Hurley runs through drills during the first practice of spring on Sunday, March 2, 2025.
Possible concern: KU’s secondary lacks experience and could have trouble with some top passing offenses as a result.
My ruling: Justified, and exacerbated further by D.J. Graham II’s uneven participation at times in training camp.
During the portions of practice open to media, Graham took part in some drills but not others. Defensive backs coach Brandon Shelby acknowledged on Saturday that the sixth-year senior had been banged up, but said, “You’re starting to kind of see him run around a little bit more out there.”
Georgia Tech transfer Syeed Gibbs is the other most experienced player at cornerback, and even if he could potentially play on the outside, KU brought him in with his nickel experience in mind, and he should serve as the primary alternative to Mason Ellis at that fifth defensive back spot (more on that later).
Besides Graham and Gibbs, then, the Jayhawks’ top three corners are Jalen Todd, Austin Alexander and Jahlil Hurley, a true sophomore, redshirt freshman and redshirt sophomore with 169 career defensive snaps between them. All have extremely high potential — Todd’s more-than-a-cameo late last season and Alexander and Hurley’s recruiting pedigrees make that clear — but ideally wouldn’t serve as the top three corners on a team at this juncture in their careers.
Shelby and Alexander have praised Graham for the impact he’s made from the sidelines when he’s been limited, but the Jayhawks would love to have that leadership actually manifest itself in the course of game action. Indeed, Shelby acknowledged that having him on the field “calms a lot of those younger guys down.”
The safety position isn’t as much of a cause for concern. There’s some reason to wonder how well Taylor Davis will adapt to serving as an incumbent, full-season starter after his breakout showing late last season, but just about everyone else in the room — headlined by Oklahoma State transfer Lyrik Rawls — has been around the block, and many players who have struggled with injury in the past, like Ellis, will be healthier this season.
Kansas linebacker Bangally Kamara takes part in spring practice on Thursday, March 6, 2025, in Lawrence.
Possible concern: This is not the ideal year for KU to transition to more frequently deploying a 4-2-5 look on defense.
My ruling: Justified, but essentially unavoidable, so not worth worrying about.
Observations from the open portions of practice, as well as discussions of the defensive back and linebacker positions with assistant coaches Shelby and Chris Simpson, have made it clear that KU is going to operate with five defensive backs more often this season.
As mentioned above, the fifth defensive back is being referred to as a nickel back, though it apparently shares some traits with what KU formerly called a “Hawk” linebacker, given that Shelby called it “a mix of a linebacker and a little mix of a secondary, DB guy.”
KU seems to have reasonably good fits for that spot in Ellis, Gibbs and Auburn transfer safety Laquan Robinson. The problem is that if there were ever a year for KU to deploy three linebackers, it would be this one.
The Jayhawks have vastly more depth at that position than they did in years past, having brought in three capable transfers in Bangally Kamara (South Carolina), Trey Lathan (West Virginia) and Joseph Sipp Jr. (Bowling Green), and with Jayson Gilliom and Logan Brantley healthy and more experienced, not to mention Jon Jon Kamara oozing with potential as a hyperathletic reserve option. Compare that to last year, when after middle linebacker Cornell Wheeler’s early-season injury, KU had barely anyone to put on the field at either Mike or Will linebacker besides Taiwan Berryhill Jr. and JB Brown, and Berryhill struggled mightily. (Alex Raich also had to play in Gilliom’s place at times.)
However, this is the year that first-time defensive coordinator D.K. McDonald has taken over, and a year in which he must lay down the fundamental principles of his defense with so many newcomers up and down the roster. The hope for KU will be that since players like Kamara, Lathan and Sipp at linebacker and Gibbs at nickel were recruited with McDonald’s preferred scheme in mind, they will help it thrive regardless of the overall numbers at their respective positions.
Kansas senior Jalon Daniels calls out instructions during practice Friday, Aug. 1, 2025 at the David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium in Lawrence.
Possible concern: Jalon Daniels was by all accounts, out of sync with his receivers early last season, which hampered the offense, and those were teammates he had known for years, even grown up with. Doesn’t that suggest chemistry could be an issue again this season, as Daniels is throwing regularly to at least four transfer wide receivers?
My ruling: Unjustified, because coaches are clearly aware of that situation, and Daniels has taken offseason steps to build a rapport with his new wideouts.
Various members of KU’s coaching staff have stated, essentially since Daniels broke out of his early-season funk and started looking more like himself in the second half of 2024, that the long-term injury-related absences of Daniels and his wideouts Lawrence Arnold and Quentin Skinner during the offseason were a big reason why the Jayhawks’ passing game was so disjointed early on. (In retrospect, a story I wrote last summer in which players and coaches marked the first day on which Daniels, Arnold, Skinner and Luke Grimm all practiced in full together — which was Aug. 16, 2024, less than two weeks before the season opener — looks like it should have been more of a bad omen than a cause for celebration.)
Daniels was limited during spring practice after an offseason knee procedure, and that deprived him of having a full semester to work with transfers Emmanuel Henderson Jr. (Alabama), Cam Pickett (Ball State) and Levi Wentz (Albany), who were all on campus then. But he has been a full participant in fall training camp, has impressed his coaches and teammates throughout, and, importantly, took his own steps even before the start of camp to strengthen bonds with his new teammates.
That trio, along with summer transfer Bryson Canty (Columbia), freshman Jaden Nickens and returnees Doug Emilien and Keaton Kubecka, made a trip out to California to work out with Daniels over the Fourth of July weekend. Wentz, for whom it was the first-ever visit to the Golden State, said it was a valuable experience for on-field work and off-field bonding.
In short, it’s hard to be certain after how things ended up last year, but all indications are that KU’s coaches and players have taken steps to help Daniels get off to a fast start in 2025. Now we’ll see if that is borne out on the field.
Of note, one caveat is that Canty and Nickens, both of whom enrolled at KU during the summer, have not had much on-field work in recent weeks. During the period in which practice portions were open to media, which began on July 24 and concluded on Saturday, Canty was not seen taking part after the first few practices (Leipold said it was due to a leg injury) and Nickens was not seen participating at all (Leipold said it was the result of a “non-football-related incident injury”).
Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World
Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World
Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World
Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World