Analyzing KU's Returning Production – 95 Days Until Kansas Football

The Jayhawks are bringing back more impact players than basically every team in the country.

The offseason has historically been a confusing time for Kansas football fans. Of late, it feels like it has been either that a new coach is coming in and cleaning house—giving fans new names to get excited about but uncertainty of how they’ll perform—or there’s some continuity in team and staff, but the returning production has been, let’s say, optimistic in pieces but not excitement-inducing as a whole.

That’s not the case in 2023. Kansas is bringing back a large portion of its players who saw meaningful minutes a season ago. And to make it better, those players actually accomplished success with the program’s first bowl game since 2008.

That’s excitement-inducing.

KU's Returning Production

Every year, ESPN’s Bill Connelly breaks down the returning production for every FBS team, which has now expanded to 133 programs. And where is KU on this list? All the way at second.

The Jayhawks are bringing back 85% of their production, including a whopping 91% of their offensive production. That offensive number is also second best nationally. On defense, KU will have 80% returning from last year, which is still 10th in the country.

That 85% is made up of 17 starters on both sides of the ball from a season ago. The loss of starters and rotation players are made up of some players who are now getting a shot on NFL rosters, including Earl Bostick Jr., Lonnie Phelps, Caleb Sampson, and Sam Burt.

Quality, Not Just Quantity

Consistency and familiarity bring its benefits, but the important takeaway here is not just how much production is coming back, but who is making up that production.

This isn’t just 91% of an average or, as often was the case with KU, a below-average offense. It’s 91% of one of the most dynamic scoring offenses in the country. Jalon Daniels leads a stacked quarterback room, Devin Neal and Daniel Hishaw are holding down the backfield, Mason Fairchild and Jared Casey are back at tight end, Lawrence Arnold should lead the receiving corps, and Mike Novitsky is back to captain the offensive line. Daniels, Neal, and Novitsky were all first-team preseason all-Big 12 selections from Athlon Sports, while Arnold and Fairchild also made Athlon's preseason teams. Health is a big factor, but on paper, that’s as stacked of a returning group as Kansas has had in, what, more than a decade?

The defense struggled more last year, but the production coming back is in some key spots. Specifically, that’s in the secondary. It’s a pass-first game and Kenny Logan, Cobee Bryant, Mello Dotson, and company are back to prove KU can stop touchdowns as well as it can score them.

The front seven took a bigger hit with seniors heading off to the pros, but Rich Miller and Craig Young are back to hold down the linebacker unit and Lance Leipold has worked on filling some of those gaps up front through the transfer portal and recruiting.

The most optimistic offseason in a long time comes with familiar faces that have proven they can turn the program around. 

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