Malachi Curvey has quietly become one of the more interesting names in Kansas’ linebacker battle, and the Jayhawks are making sure he stays in the conversation.
Entering his second year in the program, Curvey sits in a tricky but promising spot. He’s one of the few returning linebackers around starting middle linebacker Trey Lathan, but he’s also still early in his own development after a redshirt year. That combination has put him right in the mix at weak-side linebacker, where Kansas is sorting through options for the open job next to Lathan.
Bam Crouch, the Boston College transfer, may have the edge there for now. Position coach Chris Simpson said Crouch has been the most consistent player in the room. Even so, head coach Lance Leipold made a point of highlighting Curvey’s progress.
“Year two in the program, he’s taken that step that you’d want in the second year, and physically looks excellent, moves well, plays with twitch and does the things that you want,” Leipold said. “I know we talk a lot about the transfers sometimes in these things, but don’t leave Malachi out of this thing either.”
That kind of praise has become a familiar theme for Curvey. It’s the second straight offseason he’s drawn positive attention after arriving at Kansas as a class of 2025 three-star recruit from Waukee, Iowa.
The transition wasn’t simple, either. In high school, he played defensive end, and moving to linebacker forced him to see the game in a completely different way.
“D-end, I feel like you’re more straight up,” Curvey said. “You have less time to see things and plays develop. But linebacker, now I see everything, I got to know what’s going on behind me, what’s going on next to me and what’s going on in front of me.”
His first year showed flashes, but not much volume. Pro Football Focus credited him with 12 snaps as a true freshman while Kansas was trying to preserve his redshirt, though the NCAA’s new eligibility rules mean the Jayhawks won’t have to approach things that way anymore. Curvey did make a notable special teams tackle in the season finale against Utah, and by his own account, the year came with adversity and lessons.
Some of that carried into spring, when he was limited to a yellow non-contact jersey as he recovered from shoulder surgery. Now in fall camp, he sounds like a player eager to finally go full speed.
“Getting a body on a body, it’s really good to get back out there,” Curvey said of KU’s ongoing fall camp.
Simpson sees the same thing. The coach said Curvey is still building confidence in the shoulder, but the physical tools are obvious.
“It’s exciting now to see him just be able to cut it loose,” Simpson said. “Still working on just making sure that he has the confidence in his shoulder and knowing that he’s OK.
So there’s times when I’m like, ‘You can rip it now. You can cut it loose.’
But yeah - big, long, tall and can run.”
Curvey has also changed physically since the end of the 2025 season. He’s up to 6-foot-4 and 245 pounds, giving him a frame that stands out even in a linebacker room full of competition.
“I think it’s a lot easier to move people and not be moved by people now,” he said.
That size matters, but so does where he came from. Because he played defensive end before switching over, Simpson said Curvey’s ability to come off the edge “fits him naturally.” Curvey feels that too.
“I think I show my rush when I get those one-on-one looks,” Curvey added.
And he’ll need all of that as Kansas sorts through a deeper group than it had in 2025. Curvey said the linebacker room is more talented now, especially with additions like Crouch and Marshall transfer Jibreel Al-Amin. That means nothing is guaranteed, and every rep matters.
“I think that everybody’s making a case and I think that the coaches are going to put who’s best out there,” Curvey said.
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