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Kansas Jayhawks (Last Year: 8-5)
2009 College Football Season Preview:
Star Players:
QB Todd Reesing, RB Jake Sharp, WR Dezmon Briscoe, WR Kerry Meier, WR Jonathan Wilson, T Jeff Spikes, C Jeremiah Hatch, DE Jake Laptad, CB Justin Thornton, SS Darrell Stuckey, FS Phillip Strozier, PR Daymond Patterson.
Draft/Graduation/Transfer Losses:
WR Dexton Fields, T Matt Darton, G Adrian Mayes, G Chet Hartley, C Ryan Cantrell, DE John Larson, DE Russell Brorsen, DT Todd Haselhorst, OLB Mike Rivera, OLB James Holt, ILB Joe Mortensen, CB Kendrick Harper, S Patrick Resby.
2009 Kansas Jayhawks Offense:
The scoring offense dropped from second in 2007 to 11th in 2008, which can probably be traced to not taking anyone by surprise and a better defensive effort in the Big XII last season, but I think this team is poised to repeat its 2007 success offensively.
They are led by senior quarterback Todd Reesing as he lives in the shadow of Colt McCoy, Sam Bradford and Zac Robinson in the Big XII. When we are talking about production, Reesing definitely belongs in the discussion. He threw for 3,880 yards last season with a 32-13 TD-INT ratio. Reesing is a very accurate quarterback and he gets rid of the ball quickly in Mark Mangino’s spread offense. He will remind many of Chase Daniel because of his small frame and arm strength, offset by his great production.
The Jayhawks wide receiving corps is probably the best in the history of the school. Dezmon Briscoe returns for his junior season as the offense’s No. 1 target. He had 1,402 yards last season with 15 touchdowns. Briscoe is a big receiver and a great third-down target. Kerry Meier is the team’s backup quarterback, but surprisingly was highly productive last season for Kansas. He led the team in receptions (97) and had 1,045 receiving yards and eight touchdowns. Jonathan Wilson is a junior who also deserves mention as the teams’ third receiver.
While the team is known for throwing the football, they like to keep it balanced with the rushing attack led by senior Jake Sharp. Sharp will rush for around 850 yards and several touchdowns next season. He is a somewhat athletic back, but generally Mangino likes to keep defenses honest in the Big XII and Sharp is a good workhorse.
The offensive line is decent, but nothing to write home about. Sophomores Jeremiah Hatch and Jeff Spikes received a lot of playing time last year and will be counted on to provide leadership. This line is green, but they have very good size and strength to be better than anticipated in run blocking. They will give up sacks and lack the athleticism to consistently keep defensive lines at bay.
2009 Kansas Jayhawks Defense:
The defense is moving to a 4-2-5 alignment next season and the reasoning is very simple. Somehow, some way, Mark Mangino has done a terrible job of scouting linebackers at the collegiate level. How do I know? When you have a converted tailback with three career tackles starting at linebacker as a junior (Angus Quigley), you have some serious problems. Senior Artist Wright is the other starting linebacker and he complements arguably the worst linebacking corps in the country.
Despite ranking 83rd in the nation last year in scoring defense and 78th in defensive yards per play, Kansas was 60th in passing defense (YPA) and 59th in rushing defense (per attempt). This shows that in the pass-happy Big XII, a lot of the statistics are skewed because every game is a shootout. Kansas’ defense is solid by Big XII standards, but I don’t see much NFL talent.
The defensive line has some potential, but they can’t be hyped until they produce. The returning leading sacker on the team is defensive end Jake Laptad (7). No returning lineman has more than one sack accumulated in the 2008 season. We will find out just how good this coaching staff is early on in the year.
The best unit by far on this defense is the defensive backfield. By moving to the 4-2-5 alignment, which is very smart in the Big XII as much as everyone throws it, they take advantage of the talent they have defensively. Darrell Stuckey is a likely mid- or late-round draft pick next April. At strong safety, he had 98 tackles and seven interceptions last season. Junior free safety Phillip Strozier can cover some ground and will be depended on to play centerfield this season for the Jayhawks. If he can break out this season, the Jayhawks have the potential to pull off a big upset over a team like Oklahoma or Texas with some timely interceptions.
2009 Kansas Jayhawks Schedule and Intangibles:
Let me put the 8-4 Jayhawks’ 2008 season in perspective because this is one very underrated team at the moment. Their four loss were all top 25 teams: No. 19 South Florida on the road by three points (37-34), No. 4 Oklahoma, No. 8 Texas Tech and No. 3 Texas.
Kansas schedules a bunch of creampuffs for non-conference again in Northern Colorado, UTEP, Duke and Southern Miss. I can’t really blame them because two of the three teams in the Big XII South they are obligated to play are top-five programs in Oklahoma and Texas. I doubt either of these games will be wins due to Kansas’ shortcomings defensively.
The three-game stretch to watch is after Oklahoma because they have two road games in Texas Tech and Kansas State, then go back home to play Nebraska.
Rock Chalk Jayhawk might have a breakout star in sophomore punt returner Daymond Patterson. He was arguably the best freshman punt returner in the country with an 11-yard average and one return touchdown.
2009 Kansas Jayhawks Positional Rankings (1-5 stars):
Quarterbacks |
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Offensive Line |
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Secondary |
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Running Backs |
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Defensive Line |
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Special Teams |
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Receivers |
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Linebackers |
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Coaching |
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2009 Kansas Jayhawks Analysis:
With Kansas’ cupcake non-conference schedule and lack of talented opponents in the Big XII North, I think this team will start out with a blistering-hot record of 6-0. Two of the losses obviously are Texas and Oklahoma, and I have to sprinkle in another defeat somewhere because of how bad Kansas’ defense could be. This team is one of the most underrated teams in the country and I think they are set to surprise people again in 2009 like they did in 2007.
Projection: 9-3
More 2009 College Football Season Previews
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NFL Picks - Oct. 21
2025 NFL Mock Draft - Oct. 16
Fantasy Football Rankings - Sept. 4
