The Big 12 schedule has a way of handing out little storylines before the season even starts, and Kansas State’s trip to Kansas on Saturday, Oct. 17, at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan is one of the cleanest ones on the board.
That date already carries some bite, but the Dylan Edwards angle gives it extra juice. The former Wildcats running back is now at Kansas after a rough finish to his second season in Manhattan, and he’ll be back in the same stadium wearing the other sideline’s colors.
At Big 12 Football Media Days earlier this week in Frisco, Texas, Kansas State quarterback Avery Johnson and running back Joe Jackson were asked about Edwards, one of those awkward questions that usually gets pushed aside once camp starts rolling. They kept their answer brief on Wednesday.
Edwards’ path has been anything but straightforward. The Derby, Kansas, native came out of Derby High School as a four-star recruit and the No. 12 running back in the country, then flipped his commitment three times - from Kansas State to Notre Dame and then to Colorado. He eventually landed with the Wildcats in 2024, but his second season never really got off the ground.
An ankle injury early in the Dublin, Ireland, game against Iowa State derailed things, and Edwards never fully recovered. He showed up just four more times last season before entering the transfer portal again.
Now he’s at Kansas, where he joins a backfield that looks very different from the one he left behind. The Jayhawks also brought in 225-pound Syracuse transfer Yasin Willis, and Jalen Dupree arrives after leading Colorado State with 508 yards on 102 touches last year in the program’s final Mountain West season.
Edwards gives Kansas something the offense can use right away: speed. At minimum, he’s a threat to break one open. At best, he becomes a difference-maker for a Jayhawk offense that still has plenty to sort out, including a quarterback battle that is still taking shape with eight weeks to go before Week 1.
And when Kansas comes to Manhattan in Week 7, Edwards will be walking into a familiar, loud setting in the least familiar look possible. Kansas enters the season having lost 17 straight contests since 2009, which only adds another layer to a game that already had a built-in edge.
In Other News...
Cam Pickett Just Sent A Strong Message About Kansas Footballs Future
Cam Pickett has been around long enough to know that optimism in college football has to be backed up by something real, and the Kansas wide receiver sounds convinced there is more coming in Lawrence. The redshirt senior spoke with confidence about the coaching staff and the direction of the offense, pointing to a group that already has some playmakers in place and, in his view, enough talent to keep building on what the Jayhawks have started.
Pickett also made clear that last seasons close losses still linger, which is part of why he sounds so invested in what comes next. He singled out Dylan Edwards as a versatile threat and suggested Tate Nagy could become more than just a special teams piece, while also sounding genuinely fired up about the trip to Wembley Stadium for Kansas game in London. For a program trying to turn promise into something sturdier, that kind of buy-in from an experienced receiver matters. [Read more 🡒]
Lance Leipold Just Raised More Questions About Kansas At Quarterback
Kansas is heading into camp with a very different feel at quarterback after moving on from the Jalon Daniels era, and Lance Leipold made it clear the next starter will have to earn the job the hard way. The Jayhawks are sorting through redshirt junior Cole Ballard and redshirt sophomore Isaiah Marshall, two young passers who both got limited chances last season but flashed enough in brief action to keep the competition open. Leipolds message was straightforward: the winner will be the one who is most consistent and gives the offense the best chance to win.
Ballard and Marshall each bring a different look to the race, which is part of what makes this one worth watching through camp. Marshall showed more as a runner, while Ballards cameo included a touchdown pass and some mobility of his own, but neither has separated from the other yet. With Kansas trying to settle the position before the season turns serious, the next few weeks will be about whether one of them can turn those scattered reps into something more convincing. [Read more 🡒]
Former Jayhawks Shared A Summer League Stage And One Stole It
Melvin Council Jr. got his first taste of NBA Summer League with New Orleans and held his own in a crowded Pelicans backcourt, finishing with six points in 20 minutes while adding a couple of assists and a steal. For Kansas fans, though, the bigger storyline in Vegas came from an old familiar face in the frontcourt, as former Jayhawks center Hunter Dickinson gave the Pelicans a major lift in a comeback win over Charlotte.
Dickinson paced New Orleans with 21 points and knocked down three shots from deep, the kind of outing that stood out even on a night when the Pelicans had to dig out of an early hole. Kansas presence in Summer League stretched beyond that matchup, too, with Tre White and Zeko Mayo also getting their own run with different teams, keeping the Jayhawks well represented on the July circuit. [Read more 🡒]