Looking for a fall camp sleeper? Here’s your man.
Maybe we should have seen it coming. True, Brian Lipscomb played for an FCS team that went 0-11 last season, so it’s not as if he can turn a losing team into a winning one all by himself, but he has impressed coaches with his football aptitude, motor and maturity. He can’t compare to Kyron Johnson as an athlete. Johnson is one of the five or six fastest players on the roster, but as for knowing how to play the game, Lipscomb is a few years ahead of Johnson, a player with an extremely high ceiling and a long way to go.
Lipscomb has done as well as anyone during fall camp at flying off the edge and getting to the quarterback. He’s the most experienced player being used at the hybrid defensive end/outside linebacker position for which every program has a different name. Kansas is calling the position “Rock.” He’s 6-foot-2, 232 pounds and his experience makes him play bigger and faster than he did at a younger age.
A first cousin to former KU running back Brandon McAnderson, Lipscomb is from Hampton, Va. and was a three-year starter at VMI. It wasn’t until his junior season at Lipscomb that he performed like a player capable of making the jump to FBS. Something clicked and he turned into a big-time playmaker.
In his final season at VMI, Lipscomb posted 18.5 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks, three pass breakups, three quarterback hurries and two forced fumbles. He’ll face bigger, faster players this season than at any point in his life, so he won’t duplicate those numbers, but Kansas won’t need him to do that to become a big contributor on the deeper defense.
