Provided that the mental gains achieved through repetition and physical gains acquired via natural growth and weight-room work outpace the wear and tear on the body that comes with increased exposure to hits and injuries, it’s generally safe to assume that experience makes a football player better.
In that regard, Kansas should be able to field a more competitive football team than it did a year ago, when they Jayhawks went 1-11 and were outscored by opponents by an average score of 43.4-18.7. In conference play, the disparity (46.4-14.3) was even worse.
The obvious question: Why is it a good thing that so many players return from a squad that was so overmatched, week in and week out?
Fair question, but the fact is it’s better than if the Jayhawks had to replace most of the roster. If nothing else, it gives Kansas experienced depth. Several recruits from junior college will compete for starting spots, so having so many players back gives the coaching staff options.
Since 11 players start on offense and 11 on defense every game and there were 12 games, that’s 264 starts for the season. Players on this coming season’s roster accounted for 210 starts and 54 were made by players who won’t participate this coming season. So, 80 percent of the starts are back.
A look at the players who made starts last season who are not back:
| Player | Position | 2017 starts |
|---|---|---|
| Dorance Armstrong | DE | 12 |
| Mesa Ribordy | C | 10 |
| Ben Johnson | TE | 9 |
| Josh Ehambe | DE | 5 |
| Zach Hannon | OL | 4 |
| Chase Harrell | WR | 4 |
| Derrick Neal | DB | 4 |
| Jayson Rhodes | OL | 3 |
| Isaiah Bean | DE | 2 |
| Jacky Dezir | DT | 1 |
