Travis Watkins played with a nagging foot injury during his sophomore year and missed most of his junior year.

Kansas University defensive coordinator Bill Young would like to see the tackle spend more time on the field, and less on the sideline, this fall.

“He’s a critical piece of the puzzle,” Young said of Watkins, who suffered a broken foot in the preseason and missed 11 of 13 games in 2003. “He’s a veteran guy, and he was one of our captains. We were looking for him to have a big season. He was in excellent shape, and it was really disappointing to lose him.”

Watkins figures to play a key role on a defensive line that lost three of four starters to graduation and had four reserves leave the program.

Senior end David McMillan started all 13 games last season. The Texan had his share of highlights, returning an interception for a touchdown against Northwestern and returning a fumble for a TD at Wyoming.

Young is counting on McMillan to make big plays more often in 2004.

“I expect him to be one of the better defensive ends in the conference,” Young said. “If he’s not, I’m going to be disappointed. He’s played very well at times in his career. We just need him to be more consistent.”

Senior Greg Tyree, who moved from linebacker during spring drills, was expected to back up McMillan.

At the other end, converted linebacker John McCoy was at the top of the depth chart at the conclusion of spring drills, but the Army Reservist was called to duty in July. Transfer Jermail Ashley could emerge as the starter.

“He’s going to be a good addition,” Young said of Ashley. “He’s real eager to learn the position. He was just in here asking me questions.”

Sophomore Chris Brant and junior Tim Allen battled for the other tackle spot during spring drills, but freshmen Todd Haselhorst and James McClinton are expected to challenge for playing time this fall. Another freshman, Anthony Collins, could see time at end.

Though he led Kansas in receiving yards and receptions last fall, Charles Gordon, above, might concentrate on defense this fall.

“I’d like to see Todd come in here and be a starter,” Young said. “That’s why we put him on defense. We need depth there, and he’s a big, athletic body. You just don’t know until we get out there and practice.”

Secondary

While revamping the defensive line will be vital for a unit trying to improve on averages of 30.5 points and 412.6 yards allowed, the same holds true for the secondary.

Sophomore Charles Gordon, who led the team in receptions (57) and receiving yards (769) might focus on defense this year after splitting time between receiver and cornerback late in the 2003 season.

“He’s going to make all the difference in the world,” Young said. “He’s an awfully good player.”

KU played Gordon and running back John Randle at corner for the final four games of last season to boost a defense that allowed 196 passing yards per game. Gordon had 13 tackles and made his share of highlight plays, but he also struggled at times. He looked sharp, however, in the spring game when he made three interceptions.

“It’s tough to play a position part-time, especially when you have no foundation at that position,” Young said. “We put him at a real disadvantage putting him out there last fall, but we didn’t have much choice. In the spring, he showed a lot of improvement.”

Transfer Theo Baines is the leading candidate to start at the other corner, but senior Shelton Simmons and junior Donnie Amadi both have starting experience. Junior Ronnie Amadi, senior Marcus Hicks and sophomore Kenneth Thompson all could factor as well.

When healthy, Travis Watkins (67) was a force on the defensive line. He missed 11 of 13 games last fall, but heads into 2004 healthy.

“We have more depth at corner than we’ve had in the three years I’ve been here,” Young said.

Free safety might be the most interesting preseason battle on defense. Sophomore Jonathan Lamb started all 12 regular-season games in 2003, but he likely will move to receiver this fall.

Junior Rodney Fowler made two critical interceptions in the regular-season finale against Iowa State to help KU clinch its first postseason berth since 1995. He was No. 1 on the depth chart in the spring, but transfer Rodney Harris was expected to challenge for the starting role.

“There will be a tremendous amount of competition there,” Young said.

Senior starter Tony Stubbs, KU’s third-leading tackler with 98, returns at strong safety. He should be pushed by sophomore Jerome Kemp, who could see time in the nickel package along with Thompson.

Linebacker

While Young and the defensive staff have plenty of tough decisions to make on the line and in the secondary, KU’s linebacking corps returns intact. Junior starters Nick Reid (133), Gabriel Toomey (121) and Banks Floodman (93) ranked first, second and fourth in tackles and are virtual locks to start this fall.

Junior backups Brandon Perkins, Zach Mims, Darren Rus and Kevin Kane also return. Perkins was a standout in KU’s nickel package and led the team with seven sacks and tied Toomey for the team lead with 10 tackles for loss. He could see time at end if KU struggles to replace McCoy.

Rus has emerged as one of KU’s most dependable special-teams players, and Kane impressed coaches during spring drills while filling in for an injured Toomey.

“We’re in really good shape with our linebackers,” Young said. “We’ve got everybody back. We really feel good about our depth at linebacker.”

So deep, in fact, that heralded freshmen Mike Rivera and Joe Mortensen will have to work hard to crack the two-deep.

“It would be tough to step in an play at that position as a freshman,” Young said. “Hopefully, we can get to a point with our program that we can red-shirt all our freshmen.”

Young wasn’t ready to put a red-shirt label on anybody just yet. It was just two years ago that Reid, who was a defensive back, was forced into action at linebacker because of injuries and lack of depth.

“We should be a much-improved defensive football team,” Young said. “We made a lot of progress in the spring, and we should be even better in the fall.”