Yes, Leo Bookman is fast.

Yes, he’s an All-America sprinter for the Kansas University track team, and yes, he did win the Big 12 Conference Outdoor 200-meter title.

But this is football season. Every team has somebody who can flat-out move.

So in a sport where you can never have enough speed, just how fast in the sophomore from Dickinson, Texas?

“Leo’s as fast as it gets,” KU safety Jake Letourneau said. “I think he’s a legitimate 4.3 man.”

That’s 4.3 seconds in 40 yards, or, what just about every NFL team wants to see come draft day. Still, Bookman’s speed hasn’t guaranteed him a starting spot just yet, nor has it made all his teammates awestruck.

Red-shirt freshmen Donnie and Ronnie Amadi also run for the KU track team, though their careers aren’t as storied as Bookman’s. That doesn’t mean they won’t talk some trash.

“Donnie Amadi,” Bookman said about those who would raise claim to his throne. “We raced three times last year in spring practice and he beat me twice. But we ran the 40s again, and I gained my title back.”

Other guys, such as senior wide receiver Derick Mills, no tortoise at 4.4, are shifty and quick. But when it gets down to it, Bookman knows he’s the fastest guy on the field.

“Oh yeah. I mean, there’s plenty of fast players out there,” he said. “But I think I’m the fastest.”

Even with all that speed, KU coach Mark Mangino wasn’t sold on Bookman as a cornerback before two-a-day practices started Aug. 10.

“He’s one of a couple of people that are competing for that position,” Mangino said. “We’re not sure whether Leo’s a corner or not.”

The trickiest parts of learning the cornerback position, like coverage zones, reading receiver’s routes and picking up quick hits, are the only area where Bookman has been slow.

Still, with all that speed he’s tough to pass up as the probable starting left cornerback. His size 6-foot-1, 205 pounds would make him large for a position dominated by guys under 6-feet.

For a secondary that lost three starters Andrew Davison and Jamerei Bryant are on NFL rosters, while cornerback Carl Ivey transferred to Stephen F. Austin University depending on Bookman will be critical to the Jayhawks’ success.

Bookman knows this.

In track, he could focus on what he needed to do, and even that was just for a short while. It’s different when he’s on the football field.

“It’s a lot more mentally draining,” he said. “You have all these responsibilities and coverages. In track, you’ve got a few races, maybe one race that day, and then it’s all done,” he said. “You have to remember your teammates are counting on you, and everybody else is too.”