After tossing touchdowns for most of his recent life, Kansas red-shirt freshman A.J. Steward will be charged with catching them this year.

In the Jayhawks’ 2008 media guide, released earlier this week, Steward is listed as a tight end, and on Tuesday, KU coach Mark Mangino said he expected the former all-metro quarterback out of Riverview Gardens (Mo.) High School to play a notable role this season.

“He’s an outstanding athlete,” Mangino said. “He’s a big, strong guy. He has good hands. He will not be in the three-deep at quarterback, and we don’t have a veteran tight end returning. We’re not going to just throw him in there, but I think he’ll end up playing significantly once the season starts.”

Sophomore Bradley Dedeaux and red-shirt freshman Nick Plato are listed as the top two tight ends on the KU preseason depth chart.