Kansas entered fall camp with a lot of moving parts, but Lance Leipold says one group has separated itself from the pack: the defensive ends.
That’s notable for a team that spent the offseason remaking itself from top to bottom. Kansas brought back associate head coach Andy Kotelnicki, cycled through a wave of transfers, and added several new assistants and analysts. The overhaul was so complete that the Jayhawks did not announce their starting quarterback, Isaiah Marshall, until Thursday afternoon.
Even with all that turnover, Leipold pointed to the edge rushers as the unit that has impressed him most as the Jayhawks close out camp.
“I would say our defensive end position, one that's really kind of stood out to me in the depth that we have there, the play that we're getting. That one's really been one I've really been pleased with,” quoted Leipold at Hawk Talk earlier this month.
On paper, Kansas looks loaded there. According to Ourlads, the projected starters are Alex Bray at left defensive end and Leroy Harris III at right defensive end, with Dakyus Brinkley behind Harris and David Santiago backing up Bray.
Bray arrived from Illinois ahead of the 2025 season after two years there, and last year he put up 21 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss.
Harris, meanwhile, quickly turned into one of the Big 12’s better defensive ends in his first season with the Jayhawks. He earned Big 12 Honorable Mention after posting 31 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks. Before Kansas, he spent one strong season at Chattanooga.
Brinkley is one of the program’s highest-rated recruits to come through David Booth Kansas Memorial. After redshirting as a freshman, he finished with 15 tackles, 5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. If Kansas can unlock more from him, he has the kind of upside that could make that ranking look justified.
Santiago also brings production to the mix. He started at Air Force, then moved to Michigan State after a strong 2024 season, and last year he logged 24 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble.
This might not be a group loaded with obvious AP All-American names, but it gives Kansas a deep and productive edge rotation. Each player has already shown flashes in previous stops, and that depth gives Leipold a reason to feel good about the position.
Kansas’ first chance to test that group against an opponent comes September 4 against the LIU Sharks.
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The caution flag is the same one that tends to shadow young, talent-heavy rosters: experience. Kansas has only three true upperclassmen on the roster, which leaves a lot of the burden on freshmen to settle in fast and carry meaningful minutes in a demanding Big 12 grind. ESPNs projection range makes the point clearly enough, with a path that looks solid if the newcomers are merely good and another that gets much more ambitious if they become something closer to immediate difference-makers. [Read more 🡒]