where are the ORs?
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s game week, and we have a depth chart. In years past, the week 1 depth chart has been, shall we say, less than enlightening. Previous coaches and even Leipold’s staff have a history of liberally using the word “OR” to indicate that two or even three players are all even in terms of their position on the chart. When most of your starters have an “or” listed next to their name, followed by the name of another player, why even bother with the depth chart?
This year we have a breath of fresh air in the form of a depth chart without a single OR. This is a good old-fashioned two deep, with only two names at each position. Here’s the chart in its entirety, followed by some observations:
Offense
Quarterback: Jalon Daniels; Cole Ballard
Running back: Devin Neal; Daniel Hishaw Jr.
Wide receiver: Luke Grimm; Doug Emilien
Wide receiver: Lawrence Arnold; Torry Locklin
Wide receiver: Quentin Skinner; Trevor Wilson
Tight end: Jared Casey; Trevor Kardell
Left tackle: Bryce Cabeldue; Nolan Gorczyca
Left guard: Michael Ford Jr.; James Livingston
Center: Bryce Foster; Shane Bumgardner
Right guard: Kobe Baynes; Darrell Simmons Jr.
Right tackle: Logan Brown; Dre Doiron
Defense
Defensive end: Jereme Robinson; Dylan Wudke
Defensive tackle: DJ Withers; Kenean Caldwell
Defensive tackle: Tommy Dunn; Caleb Taylor
Defensive end: Dean Miller; DJ Warner
Linebacker (Hawk): Jayson Gilliom; Alex Raich
Linebacker: Cornell Wheeler; Taiwan Berryhill Jr.
Linebacker: JB Brown; Tristian Fletcher
Cornerback: Cobee Bryant; Damarius McGhee
Cornerback: Mello Dotson; Jalen Todd
Safety: O.J. Burroughs; Jalen Dye
Safety: Marvin Grant; Devin Dye
Special teams
Kickoff specialist: Tabor Allen; Owen Piepergerdes
Placekicker: Tabor Allen; Charlie Weinrich
Punter: Damon Greaves; Grayden Addison
Long snapper: Luke Hosford; Emory Duggar
Kick returner: Trevor Wilson; Sevion Morrison
Punt returner: Trevor Wilson; Luke Grimm
Holder: Damon Greaves; Grayden Addison
Observations
-Cole Ballard held onto the backup QB role. Ballard stepped in last year as a true freshman when both Daniels and Jason Bean went down. He was competing with Ben Easters and a true freshman in Isaiah Marshall, who drew rave reviews throughout camp and earned a lot of comparisons to Daniels himself. Ballard must have continued his steady play, because it sounds like he’s the guy if anything happens to JD6
-It’s hard to believe just a few years ago Jared Casey was a walkon who even Kansas fans likely hadn’t heard of. He earned a scholarship two years ago and now he’s earned a starting spot, even if it it’s largely due to transfer TE DeShawn Hanika being out for the year
-Kansas did a lot to address the edge rushing role with the early departure of Austin Booker. Youngstown State transfer Dylan Wudke appears to be a 2nd team DE, but I was interested to see if the highly-rated true freshman KU pursued would appear on the depth chart. The answer is yes, as DJ Warner will make the jump from playing Arizona high school football to power conference edge rusher as the backup opposite Wudke
-I don’t know if this counts as an observation, but the lack of observations that jump out to me are striking. The players we know are still starting, and the players we assumed would step up to fill the void of departing players are on the two-deep. While a freshman coming out of nowhere to snag a starting job would be fun, it speaks to the consistency of the coaching staff that they have a plan, which includes a next man up they feel confident in when one departs
-Tabor Allen beat out Owen Piepergerdes for both kickoff specialist and placekicker. The one place Leipold and Co. haven’t found a true answer yet is kicker, but it appeared that Piepergerdes would likely step into the role after backing up Seth Keller last year. If Allen is ready to take on the job then great, but he’s been at Kansas since 2020 and they haven’t trusted him to attempt a single PAT or FG yet. He’s been a solid kickoff specialist, but I have some concerns that placekicker might be a stressful position yet again this year
Did anything jump out at you that I missed? Any predictions on players who might play their way onto this list by the end of the year? Let us know in the comments!