March Fadness - Kansas Position Group Deepdive [Receivers] [2024]

[Bundy]

We will now look at the very storied and very successful receiving room that is the Kansas Jayhawks. The Forward Pass Was a Mistake obviously, so we'll include tight ends as backs in the "passing game" as well. This time we steal from @BabaYaga

 

Returning Players

 

TE Steel Blue - 4* Jr - B+

TE Bryan David - 3* Sr - B

TE Travis Siegrist - 4* (So) - B-

 

RB Cody Casspi - 4* (SR) - A

 

WR Tanner Bradley - 3* (JR) - A-

WR Nate Lucas - 3* (SR) - A-

 

Returning Production

 

TE Steel Blue - 36 receptions (87 targets) 310 yards, 8.61 yards/catch (3.56 yards/tar), 0 TD

TE Bryan David - 2 receptions (5 targets) 23 yards, 11.5 yards/catch (4.60 yards/tar), 0 TD

 

RB Cody Casspi - 34 catches (51 targets) 377 yards, 11.08 yards/catch (7.39 yards/tar), 2 TD

 

WR Tanner Bradley - 10 catches (23 targets) 96 yards, 9.60 yards/catch (4.17 yards/tar), 0 TD

WR Nate Lucas - 3 catches (5 targets) 19 yards, 6.33 yards/catch (3,80 yards/tar), 1 TD

 

 

(*these are career statistics for all returning players 😅)

 

On The Roster

TE Steel Blue - 4* Jr - B+

TE Bryan David - 3* Sr - B

TE Travis Siegrist - 4* (So) - B-

TE Travis Campbell - 4* (Fr) - C

TE Frank Greco - 4* (Fr) - C

TE John Denney - 3* So - C

TE Dylan LaFromboise - 3* (So) - C

 

RB Cody Casspi - 4* (SR) - A

RB Jacob Flores - 4* Sr - B+

RB Kamalei Lowe - 3* (So) - B-

RB Alonzo Wilson - 3* So - C

RB Nathaniel Rudebacher - 4* Fr - C

RB Kevin Force - 3* So - C

 

WR Tanner Bradley - 3* (JR) - A-

WR Nate Lucas - 3* (SR) - A-

WR Eric Zawadski - 2* (Jr) - B

WR Ifeadi Barea - 3* Jr - C+

WR Larry Gaziano - 3* Fr - C

WR Robert Bernal - 3* Fr - C

 

 

Kansas Receiver Room Breakdown

Projected starters: Steel Blue (TE), Cody Casspi (RB), Tanner Bradley (WR), Nate Lucas (WR), Frank Greco (Slot)

Blue has underwhelmed in his two years of action thus far, taking a clear backseat to Alex Atkins. Blue has experience at WR, TE2, and TE1, and is the most "decorated" of the returning players who didn't come out of the backfield. Casspi has been a phenomenol talent on the ground, but not quite as involved in the backfield as one might expect. Tanner Bradley worked his way into the lineup near the end of last season, and it seems like the Jayhawks will be working a traditional "WR-oriented offense" for at least part of the spring season, Nate Lucas saw time in the rotation during 2021, and has all but disappeared since. With lackluster options beyond Bradley and Lucas, Kansas will look to work Greco in early. 

One to Watch: Travis Campbell was a big recruiting grab out of Indiana during the 2022 cycle, and if Blue continues to underwhelm, Campbell could push for the role early.

Darkhorse: Travis Siegrist - a blocking TE by nature, many KU insiders are expecting Siegrist, not Campbell or Bryan David, to rock as TE2, which may come as a surprise. Kansas still wants to run the ball and often, and they lost their vet fullback to graduation, meaning they'll need to look elsewhere for their 6th blocker. 

Redshirt Candidate: It's almost obvious that the freshman Bernal and Gaziano will redshirt in a slim WR room, and Nathaniel Rudebacher likely will as well, but seeing a Sr RB like Jacob Flores take a redshirt year might not be a massive shock as he could immediately become RB1 for 2025 in doing so.

Notes on others:
Ifeadi Barea - Kansas' first (and only through the first couple cycles) WR recruit had high hopes when he committed in 2021, but he has been limited to special teams and hasn't done anything of note in two years on campus. 

Kamalei Lowe/Alonzo Wilson - The Jayhawks missed on 5 star options at both RB and FB during last recruiting cycle, but in 2021 and 2022 they brought in a couple 3 stars who they thought could work into the rotation as potential RB2s. If Jacob Flores takes the redshirt season this year, Kansas will be using one of the two as their RB2 this year. 

Kansas Receiving Room Future Outlook
The TE Room in Lawrence is by far Blue Chip Central, and Kansas will look for every opportunity to get their guys on the field. With the QB room being either really raw (4* (Fr) Joseph Perkins and 4* Fr Jeffrey Eagle) or not very good (4* (Jr) Tyler Summers, 3* (So) Dustin Benintendi), it would make a lot of sense for Kansas to rely on safe, short throws to pick yards up in chunks, which means getting taller, more physical players to run those routes in heavily-stacked boxes. 

Nathaniel Rudebacher is the RB of the future after they missed out on their other guys last cycle, but he is the safest bet on the roster when it comes to predicting redshirts this season. Lowe, Wilson, and Kevin Force do little to move the needle when compared to the top tier Big 12 rushing offenses, but someone from that room is going to have to step up as a contributor to at least spell the lead back.

WR is firmly in the hands of Gaziano and Bernal's development. If they're coming along slowly, Kansas may be married into this "short passing offense" concept for the better part of a decade.

[BabaYaga]

Very nice.