Kansas City, Mo. ? Knots in the stomach start forming when you sit back and take an objective look at just how much blocking the Kansas University football team lost from last season.

Left tackle Anthony Collins was selected in the fourth round of the NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. Starting right tackle Cesar Rodriguez is gone. Triple-threat tight end Derek Fine, an excellent blocker, receiver and special teams player, went to the Buffalo Bills in the fourth round of the draft. Brandon McAnderson, an excellent pass-blocker, used up his eligibility.

Plus, Marcus Henry’s 1,014 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns and McAnderson’s 1,125 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns must be replaced.

By now, the knots in the stomach are dancing all over the place.

Then Todd Reesing walks into the room, takes his seat on a makeshift stage, starts answering questions, and everything seems as if it’s going to be just fine. If his confidence can spread to a bunch of outsiders with nothing more than words, surely his actions will have a positive impact on young teammates finding their way.

To hear Reesing talk is to be reminded of just how smart he is, how much confidence he has in his ability. To hear him respond so swiftly to questions thrown at him from every direction, anticipated ones and surprises alike, is to be reminded of how efficiently he ran an offense that required perfect timing, and how cleverly he adapted when the offense broke down.

The Kansas offense lost a lot, but it didn’t lose its quarterback or its offensive coordinator, Ed Warinner. In head coach Mark Mangino, Warinner and Reesing, Kansas has three brilliant thinkers who spend much of their days and nights thinking about how to keep defenses playing defensively, instead of attacking. Mangino knew what he wanted in an offense and after interviewing Warinner at length, figured out that Warinner knew what he wanted. The coordinator put his own touches on it and in Reesing found a quick enough thinker to make it all work.

Now, with so many key players gone from last season’s record-setting offense, part of Reesing’s challenge lies in not trying to compensate by trying to do more than he did in his first season as a starter. Reesing is mindful of that.

“I think the one thing that allowed me to be successful last year was just playing within the system,” he said Tuesday at Big 12 Media Days. “I didn’t try to force too many things. I tried to limit turnovers and mistakes, keep us in a position that if a play wasn’t going to be good, don’t make it really bad. I think this year the same thing is going to go. I really have to manage not trying to do too much because I think some guys do feel that if they have success they want to do it all, they want to make every play, and the reality is you just can’t do that. I have to know when to make a big play and when to accept the fact it wasn’t a good one. It’s tough to do sometimes because when you’re a competitive person, you want to make every single play. That’s going to be big for me this year.”

Reesing amassed outrageous numbers as a sophomore. In 13 games, he threw for 3,486 yards, 33 touchdowns and just seven interceptions. Crazy numbers.

“I guess the only number I’m really worried about is that number of W’s in the win column,” Reesing said. “If I have to throw for 1,200 yards or 4,200 yards, whatever helps us win the most games is what I’m going to do. The statistics don’t really mean anything unless that’s all you care about and if you do then something’s wrong.”

Kansas might be able to replace Fine with a tight end who can match either his blocking or receiving, but doing both at Fine’s level of competence won’t likely happen right away. The tackles will grow into their jobs. Meanwhile, Reesing will have to figure out a way to get it done on the run more often. Reesing makes good things happen on the run, especially when he runs toward responsibility. He embraces it.

“The key for us to help the young guys (is) we have to keep their confidence high, especially on the offensive line,” Reesing said. “For young guys coming in, it’s easy to lose confidence and lose focus. If we help those guys and guide them along, they have the ability and potential to be just as good as the guys we’ve lost. But you know it’s going to take time and it’s going to take a lot of help for them and I think that’s kind of my job and the coaches’ jobs to get them where they need to be.”

The inexperienced players on the roster can take comfort in knowing Reesing was there once himself, a year before leading KU to a 12-1 record and an Orange Bowl victory. He ripped the redshirt off his back at halftime and led the Jayhawks to victory against Colorado as a freshman.

“I kind of got thrown into the wildfire not knowing what to expect that second half and really not even being prepared for that, just had to rely on what I knew and play football,” Reesing said. “After the game was over I realized, wow, even though these guys are bigger and faster and stronger, apparently I can play with them. So I guess after you play a few plays and you don’t get killed and you realize you’re going to be all right, that confidence really shoots high.”

Don’t look for it to come down any time soon.