Each summer, across the country, football fans spend time watching, waiting and anticipating the arrival of another college football season. And while that might not always be a favorite pastime of KU fans, many still get sucked in to the journey.
Will this be a better season? Is this the year that things finally get going in the right direction? Will Kansas at least be competitive therein making Memorial Stadium on Saturdays in the fall the place to be instead of a place to avoid? All are common questions KU fans wrestle with every year.
So in order to help you predict the answers to those questions and more, we set out to pinpoint the 25 players that could make the biggest impact for the Jayhawks this fall.
Big seasons from these guys — be them in the form of yards and touchdowns or just consistency and perhaps overachieving — could go a long way toward increasing KU’s chances at success during the upcoming season.
This is not a list of the 25 best players on this year’s team. That would be much easier to pinpoint and, while still key, would not exactly demonstrate the full value that each player has in regard to the upcoming season.
This is a list of the 25 players who need to have strong seasons in order for the Jayhawks to have a chance to crack the four-win mark for the first time since 2009.
Because it’s the summer and we’ve got nothing but time, we’ll unveil this list one player at a time each weekday in reverse order. So today we’ll start with No. 25 on the list and countdown during the next five weeks to the No. 1 most crucial player on KU’s roster for the 2014 season.
Tom Keegan and I came up with the list by each making our own list of 25 and then combining the results. He’s going to handle the blurbs on the odd-numbered players and I’ll handle the even-numbered Jayhawks.
Remember, this is not an exercise designed to identify KU’s best players but instead an attempt at pinpointing which players, with great seasons, could have the biggest impact for Kansas this fall.
Let’s get started:
No. 25: Jake Love, Junior LB
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*– by Tom Keegan*
Undersized at 6-foot and 220 pounds, Love never has let that stop him from acting as if he’s the biggest dog in the fight. Athletic, he turns his body into an air-borne missile to make plays, playing with a fearless mentality perfect for the linebacker position.
Sounds a little like Ben Heeney, doesn’t he? They do have similarities, although Heeney is bigger, faster and even a little crazier.
It’s tough to look athletic playing next to Heeney, which could be one reason Love doesn’t always get the credit he deserves for his physical gifts. A four-year letterman in wrestling, track, baseball and football at Tonkawa (Oklahoma) High, Love as a senior rushed for 1,761 yards and 28 touchdowns and had 122 tackles and four interceptions.
Hes’ primed for a big season and depth is a touch on the shy side at linebacker so a healthy season from Love would go far.
