77 Days Until Kansas Football: Previewing the Quarterbacks

We start our positional previews with the single most important player on the field: the quarterback.

Contents

1. Last Season
2. Cause For Concern
3. Reasons for Optimism
4. Projected 2-Deep
5. Coaching Staff
6. Overall Thoughts

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. Up first is the position that probably has paradoxically the most certainty but also the most depth.

Last Season

The Jayhawks had three players log a significant number of snaps at the quarterback position last season. 

Player Name	Games Played	Games Started	Completions	Attempts	Yards	TDs	INT
Jason Bean	11	9	102	182	1252	6	6
Jalon Daniels	6	3	81	117	860	7	3
Miles Kendrick	5	0	12	18	106	2	1

Jason Bean started the first 9 games for the Jayhawks, but an injury in the Kansas State game knocked him out of action the next week. Miles Kendrick also suffered an injury in the same game, paving the way for Jalon Daniels to start against Texas. His performance in that game was enough to give him the starting job the rest of the season.

Cause For Concern

The main concern has to be the inability of the Jayhawks the last few seasons to keep their quarterback healthy through the season. While a lot of that has to do with the offensive line depth, Kansas signal callers have shown a knack for putting themselves in risky situations.

In Jalon Daniels' first season at Kansas, he was one of the most sacked quarterbacks in all of college football. And Jason Bean is a quarterback that likes to run, which has put him in some situations to take some nasty hits. While Kansas was fortunate to have a third-stringer last season that could step in and play well, they would be better served not having to rely on Ethan Vasko to step in this season if they can help it.

Reasons for Optimism

Put simply, the depth. Jalon Daniels has shown the ability to change a game with his arm, and his emergence was the spark that Kansas needed last season to be competitive. Jason Bean showed that he was a very capable quarterback last season, and his running ability added another wrinkle that made it much harder for opponents to prepare for games against the Jayhawks.

But the biggest reason to feel good about the depth is the reports coming out of the program about the early signs being shown by true freshman Ethan Vasko.

Posted on the slant last night, but I’ve heard VERY good things about freshman QB Ethan Vasko.

Like REALLY good things. Always gonna be JD’s job to lose (imo) but iron sharpens iron and I’ll be interested to see how those reviews progress as time goes. #kufball

— Bryson Stricker (@BryBryStrick) June 17, 2022

While the expectation is that Vasko needs at least a year to develop behind Daniels and Bean before pushing for a chance at the starting job next season, it's good to hear that the staff has some confidence in him if they needed to give him some significant snaps at some point this season.

Projected 2-Deep

There really isn't much uncertainty about the 2-deep at the quarterback position, but there is definitely plenty of time for things to change if someone takes a huge leap. As it stands right now, this is my best guess:

Starter: Jalon Daniels

This really shouldn't be a surprise to anyone, as the offense looked much cleaner and much more energetic when he took over the job. And looking at his performance in the Spring Preview, it's clear that he is more than capable of executing the offense that Lance Leipold and Andy Kotelnicki have planned for this season.

Backup: Jason Bean

This is the spot to watch, as I've been hearing a LOT of good things about Vasko. But as it stands right now, Bean provides the highest floor of the options for backups, and Leipold has preached the importance of consistency.

However, given how much we know the coaching staff values flexibility, I wouldn't be surprised to see Bean get shifted into a role similar to Torry Locklin from last season, playing a decent number of snaps as a back that has the ability to throw in some unique sets. If Vasko continues to progress quickly, don't be surprised if the backup listed on the roster changes.

Coaching Staff

The quarterbacks will be coached by Jim Zebrowski, returning for his second season in that position for the Jayhawks. Prior to coming to Kansas, he coached the same position for four years under Lance Leipold at Buffalo. Prior to joining Leipold at Buffalo, he coached at Minnesota from 2011-2015, at Northern Illinois in 2010, and was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Wisconsin-Whitewater under Leipold from 2007-2009.

He has a history of developing quarterbacks successfully at each of his stops, and has been able to help multiple quarterbacks stand out, even in offenses that heavily featured the run.

Overall Thoughts

The quarterback position is in probably as good a spot as you could hope for, with an established starter that has the full confidence of his coaching staff and teammates. The backup is very experienced and has already shown the ability to play well in the type of system that the Jayhawks are expected to run, and there is a third option in a developmental quarterback with a LOT of upside.

Obviously the play of the quarterback is heavily affected by the other positions around them, but I have a hard time imagining that we will look back after the season and say that the quarterback play was anything other than a huge positive.

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