Kansas football has spent the last few years trying to squeeze every bit of value out of its recruiting wins, and that makes the program’s biggest surprises since 2020 stand out even more. When a team is still fighting for attention in a basketball-first state, landing the right player can change everything.
Three names rise above the rest: Dominick Puni, Jalon Daniels and Cobee Bryant.
Puni is the easiest one to put at the top. An unranked player coming out of Central Missouri, he arrived at Kansas after four seasons there, where he earned conference Honorable Mention recognition in 2019 and moved all over the offensive line.
Once he got to KU, the leap was immediate. He was named All-Big 12 Honorable Mention in his first season under Lance Leipold, then took another step forward in 2024.
That year, Puni did not allow a sack in 745 snaps and earned All-Big 12 First Team honors. He has since carved out a starting job with the San Francisco 49ers.
Daniels comes next, and his rise is the kind that would have sounded far-fetched when he arrived as the No. 61 dual-threat quarterback in the class of 2020 and the 98th-ranked player from California. Instead, he became one of the defining figures of Kansas football’s best stretch since the days of Mark Mangino.
Daniels was not flawless, and there were moments when it looked like he could have taken more control, but his place in program history is clear. He ranks only behind Todd Reesing in quarterback legacy at Kansas.
Daniels finished with 9,282 passing yards, 67 passing touchdowns and 31 interceptions, and he added 23 rushing touchdowns. He went undrafted in the 2026 NFL Draft before signing a free agent deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Bryant rounds out the list after arriving as a three-star safety and turning into an immediate difference-maker. Even as a true freshman, he was part of the Lance Leipold era’s early rise and became a key contributor right away.
Bryant left Kansas with 128 tackles, 13 interceptions, 3 forced fumbles and 10 tackles for loss. His career is also marked by a unique distinction: he is the only Jayhawk in Big 12 history to be named Big 12 All-First Team in three straight seasons.
Bryant is now in the NFL and will soon be entering his second season with the Atlanta Falcons.
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