12 Days Until Kansas Football: Previewing the Special Teams

We conclude our positional previews with a look at the collection of positions that can swing a game wildly.

Each week, we will take a deep dive into one of the 10 main position groups, highlighting the key players to watch and giving you an idea of what to expect from the position this year. This week, we finish the series by diving into the special teams units.

Other Positional Previews:

• Quarterbacks
• Running Backs
• Wide Receivers
• Tight Ends
  
• Offensive Line
• Defensive Line
• Linebackers
• Cornerbacks
• Safeties

Last Season

The Jayhawks had a relatively stable group of special teams contributors last season. 

Jacob Borcila handled the field goal duties, and was 9-15 on the year with one block. Tabor Allen handled the kickoffs and averaged 62.3 yards on 51 kickoffs with 35 touchbacks and only one kick out of bounds.

At punter, Reis Vernon punted 49 times, averaging 40.4 yards per punt. He had 6 punts that went 50 or more yards, with 7 punts inside the 20 with only 2 touchbacks but also 2 blocks. 

In the return game, Kwamie Lassiter handled all 8 punt return opportunities, averaging only 13.5 yards on each attempt. Kenny Logan Jr handled the majority of the kick returns, averaging 27.9 yards per return on 15 total returns. There were no returns for touchdowns for the Jayhawks.

Overall, nothing from any of these units stood out. While there were some highlights in the return game, it was difficult to consistently build momentum off the position, and the kicking game left a decent amount to be desired.

Cause For Concern

There are a lot of reasons to worry about these units, including last season's performances. While you can make an argument that the offense and defense did not favors for the special teams as they were adjusting to the new systems, there is no doubt that a 60% success rate on field goals is not good.

The lack of success in converting return opportunities into touchdowns is troubling as well, and there isn't a really good explanation for it. While you would think that returning most of the specialists would be a positive thing for this unit, so much of the return game is reliant on the blockers in front, so it's not easy to just assume it's going to get better.

Reasons for Optimism

The Jayhawks have had successful units in the past, and so there is a reason to think that they can get it going again. And you can argue that Borcila had several instances where the team made it harder on him than it needed to be. But the biggest reason to think there will be improvement is the change of focus and splitting of the coaching responsibilities for the units.

Add in that there are multiple players who can help share the load at kick returns (Devin Neal, Trevor Wilson, Ky Thomas and Luke Grimm have all been mentioned) and also to take over for Lassiter on the punt returns. There are a lot of possibilities that can help the Jayhawks to find the right choice throughout the season.

Projected Depth Chart

There aren't many changes from last year's depth chart, as nearly everyone returns. The roles are well defined and the kicking positions are basically the one spot on the team that doesn't have a lot of competition.

Kicker: Jacob Borcila

Despite the accuracy issues from last year, there aren't a lot of other options on the roster, and the Jayhawks are not looking to make a change. It's hard to imagine that Kansas will be in many situations where a field goal will decide the outcome of the game.

Kickoffs: Tabor Allen

Allen was successful doing the kickoffs last year, and with no serious changes in the personnel available, it's hard to imagine the team going in a different direction.

Punter: Reis Vernon

Vernon did well last year, and the Jayhawks don't typically have an issue with the punter position.

Kickoff Returns: Kenny Logan Jr

Logan has been doing the kick returns since his freshman year, and he has some pretty good highlights. The struggles last year didn't have much to do with his abilities, and so I expect him to be the primary returner. However, a lot will depend on the load for him on the defensive end as well, so expect to see multiple returners throughout the year.

Punt Returns: Luke Grimm

This is the true unknown on the special teams, as Lassiter was the only punt returner last year. Grimm has gotten a lot of good comments from the coaches in camp, and it's likely he gets the starting job for the year. But the big question is whether the punt returns are infrequent enough that Grimm can handle them all this season, or if the defense will step up enough that he has to share the load.

Coaching Staff

The special teams coaching duties are being split between four different position coaches this year, with Taiwo Onatolu officially the special teams coordinator. However, this seems to be a fairly unique situation, so it's hard to say how this might work out for the Jayhawks.

Overall Thoughts

With so many other pressing issues for Kansas teams of the past, it's been hard to focus too much on what the special teams has meant to this team. Punting has always been solid, but the coverage units haven't always been great. Kicking has always been an issue, and the return games have been very up and down.

This year, it looks like Kansas is making a concerted effort to improve all these units, as they devote more attention individual to each portion of this phase of the game. There are a lot of questions still, but this might be one of the sneakiest areas of improvement for Kansas this year.

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