2022 JaySquawk 2022 1st Quarter Report Card

[Bundy]

Kansas QB Tyler Summers rushes against West Virginia in their Week 5, 2022 matchup.

 

 

Quarterbacks

Redshirt freshman Tyler Summers has been the only Kansas quarterback to receive reps outside of practice, with him playing both of their spring scrimmages and starting all three games to date. Summers best game was the season opener hosting Michigan, where he went just 13/24 for 158 and an INT. On the season, he's gone just 35/72 (48.61%) for 412 yards (a 5.72 avg), with no TDs and SIX interceptions.

 

Grade: F

 

Summers has ability on the ground - rushing for 184 yards on 39 attempts, a 4.71 average and found the end zone this week at West Virginia. But he offers nothing in the passing game, and its likely we'll see a new signal caller for the rest of the season wiht Summers needing to develop a bit more if Kansas wants him to command them to a bowl game. 2021 punt returning athlete Aaron Diaz, a junior once thought to be in early competition for the job, or senior quarterback Jeff Maeda, who started Kansas' inaugural game in 2021 but was relegated to clipboard holding behind Ian Morgan the rest of the way, are those expected to see time at the position going forward. Maeda put up a similarly poor pass completion % in his lone start, but had added 271 yards and thrown a touchdown, simplistic benchmarks Summers feels miles away from touching.

 

Runningbacks

Kansas has unveiled a 3-headed rushing attack that has been eye opening for multiple reasons. The Bene' Humber truthers, enamored by his success when it has come to early Big 12 awards, wonder why he isn't being used as a feature back in his senior season, with a few angered that it could be hurting his draft prospects. However, redshirt sophomore Cody Casspi has done more than enough to prove excitement for the future, both the rest of the season and for the following years. And probably most intriguingly, junior fullback Marcell Maysonet has become a big staple in the offense, after toting the rock just 14 times in 2021.

 

Humber started the year against Michigan with just 3 carries for 3 yards. He's since followed that up with 18 carries for 114 yards the last two weeks, bringing him to a 1st quarter total of a 5.57 rushing average with a singular touchdown. Humber has added 3 receptions for 14 yards.

 

Casspi has exploded onto the scene, with 38 attempts for 194 yards, 5.11 average and 2 TDs. While his average isn't quite up there with Humber's, it is well believed at this point that Casspi has more than enough ability to take a permanent bell cow position in the offense come 2023. Casspi rounds out with 4 receptions for 41 yards.

 

Maysonet came into spring camp wondering if he even had a future on the roster, with KU having brought in two freshman fullbacks. Instead, he's churned out team leading marks of 62 attempts, 296 yards,. and 2 rushing touchdowns. His average is lower at 4.77 yards per carry, which is still very good, especially considering Kansas has been using him to slam up the inside. Maysonet has only seen one target in the passing game.

 

Grade: A-

 

If Kansas can keep their rushing averages as is, while feeding everybody a healthy amount, this team could have a winning season. With Summers imminent benching, though, its unsure whether Kansas will keep rushing as their bread and butter, or try to open the passing game up more with some more intermediate routes.

 

Receivers

5th-year senior Trenton Adam and 4th-year senior Adam Williams were expected to provide steady if not occasionally lethal threats when Kansas has thrown the football, and that hasn't quite been the case this season. Trenton Adam opened his collegiate career with 3-69 on 6 targets against Michigan, but Kansas has dialed back their passing, and it turned him into a monster against Iowa State with 7/112 on 10 targets, before settling to season lows 2-12 on 5 against WVU. On the season, he's totaled 12-205 across 21 targets - enough to move the sticks at times, but not someone to gameplan against. Surprisingly, his reception, yard, and target numbers are on pace to dwarf 2022 1st Round Draft Selection Junior Ogbah's stats come season end, but no KU receiver has hauled in a TD to date this year. With Tyler Summers benched, maybe a more experienced QB can connect better to the impressive-in-practice wide out.

 

Adam Williams was thought a darkhorse redshirt candidate this year after posting 57-779-5 marks in 2021, but fellow senior Tomas Nelson ended up getting that role. Williams was excited to team up with Adam for the "Adam + Adam" gimmick at the wide receiver position. Williams has been a massive disappointment though, notching just 5 receptions for 58 yards on 10 targets. Perhaps he should have been the one taking the redshirt year after all.

 

No other Kansas receiver has seen a target this year, which was to be expected with the team focusing on extra players near the tackle box rather than spread wide.

 

Grade: C-

 

Trenton Adam has performed decently enough in the WR1 role. He could catch a larger % of passes, but he's been performing at a reception rate similar to last year's Jayhawk receivers. Adam Williams has seen a massive step back, but he too could be suffering from quarterback incompetency rather than it being solely his fault for the way his stats look.

 

Should Kansas open up the offense a bit and go 3- or even 4-wide at times down the stretch, expect it to be Bene' Humber and Steel Blue getting opportunities out wide rather than a true wide receiver. Junior Nate Lucas has struggled to separate from even OLBs in coverage in practice, while junior Braden James has seen his role relegated to special teams coverage duties.

 

Tight Ends

Perhaps no position received more off season hype locally than the KU tight end position. Junior Alex Atkins lit up the Big 12 last year, and KU top recruit Steel Blue was expected to come in and contribute day one. Kansas has run a lot of 2-TE looks, and thus far, it hasn't paid off so much in the receiving game.

 

Atkins opened up the year with 4/37 on 5 targets, but has added just 6/66 on 13 targets since then. Atkins opened up to Big 12 reporters post game this week, expressing personal frustration and a desire to bounce back over the next 9 games.

 

Steel Blue has just one reception on 6 targets for 3 yards, and its entirely possible he sees a redshirt year in 2023, since he just hasn't been ready to compete quite yet. Kansas will look to line him up out wide to try to get the 2021 ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ recruit more opportunities to shine.

 

Grade: D

 

Another position group that's struggled dealing with inadequate quarterback play, seeing 24 targets in 3 games and turning them into just 106 yards has truly held back a one trick pony offense. There's legitimate potential here for both of the main contributors - but its possible we see more of sophomore Bryan David, who excels at run blocking.

 

Offensive Line

The Kansas offensive line took massive blows with the losses of last year's offensive leaders, left tackle Gary Albers and right guard Danny Syndergaard. But they've added redshirt junior Pete Blythe into the middle at center, and a line thats seen 6 different linemen play this year, with Drew Solano starting 2 games and Zach Rogers 1, has actually meshed pretty decently. Kansas' headline players Bene' Humber, Trenton Adam, and Adam Williams aren't the captains from 2022's offense, no - its senior RT Rashad Shaw and junior LG Jose Moustakas calling the shots, filling in for Albers + Syndergaard more than admirably.

 

The KU offensive line has allowed 0 sacks across 72 dropbacks, and has helped Kansas rush for 791 yards on 160 carries, a 4.94 team average.

 

Grade: B+

 

While Kansas hasn't been able to throw the football effectively at all, the line has held up their end of the job. They've been tasked with lots of rushing reps, and every day in practice has been a competition for a starting spot. The team graduates Shaw and first year starter RG Ben Gohara this season, so big push is needed to send them out with some flair.

 

Defensive Line

Kansas' defensive line hasn't been thought of as a wrecking force on the national scale, and an underperforming 2021 certainly didn't help their reputation. But coach @Bundy made a massive switch, removing young and rising DE Eli Reyes (2021 true freshman stats: 31 tackles, 5 TFL, 4.0 sacks) from the starting lineup in favor of 2021 special teams captain and current senior, Zack Luke. Luke has absolutely dominated the edge position this year, putting up 14 tackles, 2 asst., 5.5 TFLs, and 3.0 sacks. Reyes will certainly get the chance to play more in 2023, but so far the change to Luke has paid off on the stat sheet. On the opposite side is Randal Holmes, replacing 2022 Draft Selection Marvin Machado. Holmes, a true junior, beat out Reyes and redshirt junior Chris Barreto for the chance to start. He's only managed 8 tackles and 2 TFL in 3 contests, opening up the door for Barreto and Reyes so see future playing time.

 

On the interior, Kansas lost Daniel Dekker to graduation, but senior defensive tackle Mike Brantly made a massive leap from his junior season to fill that space. Brantly, who registered just 10 tackles with a TFL and a FF in 2021, recorded 10 tackles, an asst. tackle, 1.5 TFL and a FF in the 2022 opener alone, and is up to 19 tackles, 1 asst., 4 TFL, 0.5 sacks, and a FF to date. Junior Dante Gates has a big year last year, and has been drawing a lot of focus from opposing OL, but has still made his presence known, with 9 tackles, 2.5 TFL and 1.5 sacks.

 

Grade: B

 

The defensive line as a unit has produced, and is a big reason why Kansas opponents are scoring just 18 PPG. But unless they get more consistency out of their other edge position, they can't be regarded as an upper Big 12 unit.

 

Linebackers

Ziggy Sands co-captains the Jayhawk defense alongside CB Chaz Tuivailala, and its no surprise as to why. Sands has a nose for the football, always found near the top of the list when it comes to KU tacklers. Last year he had 54 tackles, 3 asst., and 7 TFL. This year, he's off to a more impressive start, 21 tackles, 1 asst., 7.5 TFL. To his left, Aaron Freeman started the year before swapping sides with Cooper Morrison. Freeman is off to a 10 tackle, 1 asst. start, which is rather underwhelming. Morrison had a big Michigan game with 5 tackles, an asst., 0.5 TFL, and a FR and INT, but has added just 1 tackle since.

 

Grade: C

 

Sands has been eating A LOT of the ball carrier traffic, limiting opportunities for the others at the second level. But outside of the Michigan game, neither Freeman nor Morrison has shown anything special, which has been an issue.

 

 

DBs

Chaz Tuivailala was one of the nation's most impressive freshmen a season ago, and was honored with captaincy for his ability to lead the backfield. Unfortunately, the unit hasn't created any turnovers of their own in the passing game, with Kansas' lone interception coming from a linebacker. KU hasn't been torched by any singular receiver to date, but their bend-don't-break philosophy reminds one more of early 00s football than 2020s.

 

Grade: C

 

Kansas needs to generate turnovers of their own to match those that their offense coughs up. The defense does a solid job as a whole in not allowing other teams to find the end zone more than a couple times per game, but a run at a conference championship would require them to be lights out and score points of their own, and the secondary was constructed on getting flashy turnovers to give them those chances. Redshirt junior Ryan Gilliam will replace junior Tim Keller at NB for the foreseeable future, while senior SS Larshard Jones is likely to take over for redshirt sophomore Chance Johnson.

 

Specialists

Victor Weigel was an afterthought in 2021 recruiting, with the ⭐⭐⭐ freshman only receiving offers from Kansas and junior colleges Iowa Western and Coffeyville (KS). Instead, he came into KU camp and took the job after the first positional practice of the spring, beating junior Ivan Robinson and sophomore Juante Green. Weigel has punted 16 times for 840 yards, a 52.50 punt average with 7 punts downed inside the 20.

 

Kansas overhyped 2021 freshman kicker George Jones early in the year, and he struggled to close the season, finishing just 14/29 on FG with a long of 46. Jones remains on the Kansas roster this season, but is a prime transfer portal candidate, particularly to a team on the east coast as he hails from the nation's capitol. Jones has been replaced by 2021 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Jake Ramirez, a top 4 kicker recruit of last cycle and he's not #4 ? Ramirez is 6/6 on XP, 5/8 on FG, and his misses have come from 51, 51, and 54. He's 2/2 between 40 and 50 yards, and 2/5 from 50+ with a long make of 52.

 

Grade: B

 

Ramirez has been the star of Kansas' 2021 class, effectively putting the team on the board if they can reach an opposing 30 yard line. Coming into Week 5, he was the only kicker in the entire country to have connected from 50+. Weigel is largely a run of the mill punter, but his added value comes from being able to outperform expectations from day one. Kansas realistically doesn't have to land a replacement for either until the 2024 or 2025 recruit classes, and that's a big thing to be able to say 3 games into their careers.