Kansas Jayhawks College Football Preview 2021: Defense
– The defense didn’t help the cause to overcome the awful offense. The Jayhawks allowed a Big 12-high 459 yards and 46 points per game. The pass defense was bad, the run D was worse, and there wasn’t any pass rush to get disruptive.
For good and for bad, this group is undergoing an overhaul after being gutted by the transfer portal.
– So who’s back and what’s in place? Safety Kenny Logan made a team-high 58 tackles and came up with two of the four picks, and Ricky Thomas is a good-tackling veteran who tied for second on the team with 42 stops. These two are good, but it’s not a plus that they have to make so many tackles.
The safeties are fine, but the corners will take a while to come around with Elijah Jones off to Oregon State and Karon Prunty in the transfer portal. This is where the decent recruiting class should help the cause – Cam’Ron Dabney and Devonte Wilson might be thrown into the fire right away.
– The defensive front had a shot to grow into something okay, but … the transfer portal. Top tackle-for-loss end Marcus Harris left for Auburn and tackle DaJon Terry took off for Tennessee. The front needs 292-pound Caleb Sampson and 6-4, 222-pound end Steven Parker to rise up.
Again, the defensive backs had to make too many stops, but 223-pound super-senior Kyron Johnson is back to work in a hybrid way – he tied Ricky Thomas with 42 stops – and Gavin Potter and Nick Channel are smallish, active tacklers. It would be nice to have a 240-pound thumper, but size is an issue across the board for the Jayhawk D.
– What You Need To Know: Offense
– Top Players | Keys To The Season
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Kansas Football Schedule Analysis