The NFL preseason is about to get rolling, and former Kansas players will start showing up in exhibition action soon enough. The first preseason game comes Thursday in the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio, where the Arizona Cardinals and Carolina Panthers meet, but no Jayhawks are involved in that one. Their debuts should come a week later.
This year’s group of former KU players in the league is shaped almost entirely by the Lance Leipold era. That changed Sunday when the Baltimore Ravens put offensive lineman Hakeem Adeniji on the reserve/retired list, only a little more than a week after he signed with what would have been his fifth NFL team in seven seasons.
There is still one player left from the earlier era. Dorance Armstrong remains with the Washington Commanders, though he is also on their physically unable to perform list after tearing his ACL in the early stages of the 2025 season.
Most of the former Jayhawks in camp are younger names trying to carve out roles. Seattle has three of them, including offensive linemen Logan Brown and Bryce Cabeldue, the pair who bookended KU’s 2024 offensive line and earned Super Bowl rings with the Seahawks last season. The Seahawks’ other Jayhawk is rookie receiver Emmanuel Henderson Jr., a sixth-round pick with speed to burn.
The NFC West has two more KU offensive linemen in the mix with the San Francisco 49ers. Enrique Cruz Jr. is there, along with Dominick Puni, who has started every game for the team in each of his first two seasons.
Across the division, Chicago Bears defensive end Austin Booker is coming off a rookie year that included a preseason injury, 10 regular-season games, 35 tackles and 4.5 sacks. He also started both of Chicago’s playoff games and added nine tackles and another sack.
A few other former Jayhawks are trying to build on their first NFL season. Cobee Bryant, an undrafted rookie pressed into action by the Atlanta Falcons, played in seven games with one start and finished with 10 tackles and one pass deflection.
Luke Grimm was in and out of the Los Angeles Chargers’ roster last season and is back with the team again. Devin Neal got late-season work for the New Orleans Saints when Alvin Kamara was hurt and ended up with 310 total yards and two rushing touchdowns, though the Saints’ backfield is crowded heading into this preseason.
Quentin Skinner is now with his second NFL team. He caught his first NFL pass for the New York Jets and also hauled in a two-point conversion against the Buffalo Bills, but he joined the Bills in July.
There are also several KU rookies and first-year players spread around the league. Tommy Dunn Jr. and D.J.
Withers, longtime interior defensive line teammates, are together again with the Dallas Cowboys. Wide receiver Levi Wentz started with the Seahawks before being released in June and then landed with his hometown Pittsburgh Steelers.
Pittsburgh already has Laith Marjan at kicker, though he may still be looking around this preseason after Chris Boswell recently signed a lucrative extension.
That leaves two more former Jayhawks currently on rosters. Jalon Daniels is battling for a spot with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he may need to beat out former Missouri, Indiana and Bowling Green quarterback Connor Bazelak. Bangally Kamara, meanwhile, earned a chance with the Minnesota Vikings after a minicamp tryout.
In Other News...
Former Jayhawk Brett Ballard Seriously Hurt In Crash
Brett Ballard, a former Kansas guard who has spent the past few seasons leading the Washburn mens basketball program, was seriously injured in a car accident on Interstate 470 near Topeka. Ballard was driving a Ford F-150 when his vehicle left the roadway and struck several objects before coming to a stop, turning an otherwise ordinary drive into a frightening situation for a well-known figure around the Kansas basketball community.
Washburn University President JuliAnn Mazachek said the school is concerned for Ballard and asked for privacy as he recovers. The university said it will share additional information when appropriate, leaving the focus now on Ballards condition and the support around him as one of the areas most familiar basketball voices begins a difficult recovery. [Read more 🡒]
KU Camp Roster Offers An Early Hint At Rising Young Talent
Kansas wrapped up its summer conditioning program at the end of July, and the camp roster offers a first look at how much some of the Jayhawks youngest players have changed since arriving on campus. The updated measurements show noticeable weight shifts among high school newcomers and early enrollees, the kind of progress that often tells a bigger story about offseason development than any quote can.
The roster notes include gains and losses across several players, with spring and high school baselines giving the staff and fans a cleaner read on who has added size and who has trimmed down in advance of camp. For a program trying to build depth with younger talent, those physical changes are an encouraging checkpoint, even if the real test still comes once pads go on and the competition starts sorting out who is ready to contribute. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas May Have Found A Faster Way To Rebuild Its Roster
Kansas has spent the offseason trying to make the transfer window feel less like a reset and more like a head start, and strength coach Matt Gildersleeve has been at the center of that effort. The Jayhawks built a more detailed onboarding process for newcomers, starting with early screenings and individual meetings before players ever got into full training, then following up with communication from previous coaches so the staff could better understand each players background.
The point, Gildersleeve said, was to get to the right training plan faster and avoid the kinds of setbacks that can slow a new group down. He credited the approach with helping Kansas recover several weeks of productivity and said it showed up in the teams overall speed, size and athleticism, while also underscoring how important honest medical information is when a roster is being rebuilt on the fly. [Read more 🡒]