Burning Questions for Fall Camp - BWR Roundtable: 31 Days Until Kansas Football

Heading into the most anticipated Fall Camp in a long time, what does our staff want to learn about the Kansas Jayhawks this preseason?

With preseason camp opening today for the Kansas Jayhawks, we are fast approaching the start of what will be an important year in the Lance Leipold tenure. And of course, that means there are plenty of things that our staff are wondering about this team.

As usual, this type of question is a great one to throw to our panel, as we look for multiple insights to answer the question from every angle possible.

Our first article talked about carrying lessons forward from 2022. The last one looked ahead to the upcoming schedule. Last time, we asked about the threshold of guaranteed success that would be needed to lock it in. Today, we look ahead to the important questions surrounding the team in camp.

Kyle Davis: I think several of my questions have to center around health, especially given the spring injuries at running back. Most notably: how does Daniel Hishaw look coming back? A potent ground attack is key to the offense maintaining its effectiveness, and Hishaw can be a fantastic complement to Devin Neal in the backfield.

My other big question is how does the front seven and pass rushing look for the defense? Kansas lost Lonnie Phelps Jr., Caleb Sampson, and Sam Burt to the NFL, which accounts for nearly 100 tackles and 11 sacks from last year’s production. The defense as a whole is a focal point for improvement, but we know what the secondary looks like. But what about up front, containing the run and not allowing opposing QBs to have all day to throw?

Brendan Dzwierzynski: The first one that stands out to me builds on Kyle’s second question, or is at least connected to it. Who is going to step up and take charge in a defensive line group that desperately needs it? You have a handful of returning players and a solid transfer group with the likes of Dylan Brooks, Gage Keys and Austin Booker joining the program, among others. There doesn’t appear to be a blue-chip piece or even an instant-impact, game-changing addition like Phelps was a year ago, however. Thus, who is going to become that guy? Who (and it may be multiple players) blows up in fall camp and gives us some much-needed encouragement for the defensive front?

Offensively, will we see some improvement in the run game from the offensive line? The Jayhawks have a deep and talented running back room, plus an offensive line that was generally excellent while protecting the pass last season. Those two strengths need to coalesce into a more dominant, powerful rushing attack up front in 2023. I trust that the pieces are in place for that to happen, but I want to know it’s brewing before we get to Illinois in Week 2 and a daunting Big 12 slate.

Derek Noll: Positionally and tactically, I think the guys above have summed it up nicely. I’ll change it up a bit. For me, I want to see how the Jayhawks deal with higher expectations they’ve set for themselves and that the media have obviously set for them. They’ve been saying all the right things in the preseason media tours, but this is the first time in a very long time that this program has serious expectations going into the season. I know Lance Leipold and company have built a great mentality at KU, but this preseason is when it gets tested first. Now they have to get to work.

I think that being strong mentally is especially important with this group this season. With expectations high for the first time in a very long time, what happens if that defense doesn’t come together as planned? What happens if the offense has to score every time down the field to keep KU in games? What does that do to the attitudes of the players on both sides of the ball? I trust Leipold and Daniels as leaders, but a thorough and disciplined preseason could go a long way in establishing the toughness the Jayhawks are going to need to face a difficult schedule.

Andy Mitts: It feels like the biggest questions are all related to the defense, and for good reason. I wrote about this in the linebacker preview on Sunday, but I’m curious to see how the coaching staff adapts the lessons learned from last season. Specifically, at a position of weakness last year, the Jayhawks didn’t seem to have a clear direction for what they wanted from this group last year. I think the fact that linebacker Craig Young qualified for ratings as a cornerback last year says it all. The position had way too many responsibilities thrown at it with only 5 legitimate workhorses. Of course, the loss of expected starter Gavin Potter didn’t help matters much.

And that leads me to the other question. How has the depth developed in the last two years? The vast majority of the starters have returned for Kansas, but so have the majority of backups that have eligibility. That should translate into the ability to rely on that depth in more situations, but that rotation of depth actively hurt the defensive line multiple times last year. Will the depth players be pushing the starters in camp? And does the coaching staff have a plan for how to more strategically employ their depth to keep players fresh but avoid exploiting a constant rotation?

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