photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas offensive lineman Jacob Bragg (55) watches over practice on Tuesday, April 11, 2016 at Memorial Stadium.

The freshman quarterback became the school’s first to throw an accurate deep ball in several years. He showed promise, even in an 0-12 season, and needed the spring to smooth out the rough edges.

And then Ryan Willis played in a pickup basketball game and broke his wrist. Not great optics for a football program toiling in the shadows of not only several Big 12 football giants, but the basketball program across campus as well.

Willis didn’t throw anything firmer than a Nerf football during spring workouts, which created another opportunity for junior (again) Montell Cozart. The coaches loved the way Cozart ran the offense in closed practices. And then the curtain dropped for the spring exhibition, and Cozart threw three interceptions and two others were dropped. Again, rough optics.

Neither Willis’ basketball blunder nor Cozart’s rough final Saturday of spring football will determine the starting quarterback. Second-year Kansas University coach David Beaty will base his call on what happens in the next 10 weeks. Ditto for every other position.

A stab at where the two-deep stands at this moment for the Kansas football program, listed first string/second string:

QB: Willis, 6-foot-4, 211 pounds, So., Overland Park/Cozart, 6-2, 196, Jr., Kansas City, Mo.

Willis completed 52 percent of his passes, threw nine touchdowns and 10 interceptions and averaged 5.5 yards per pass attempt. With a little better blocking and a little more speed at receiver, those numbers will improve. If they don’t, he won’t be the quarterback for long, if, that is, he wins the job in fall camp.

Cozart, the running threat that Willis is not, completed 63 percent of his passes in his four-game, injury-shortened season, averaged 7.2 yards per pass and threw two touchdowns and one interception.

RB: Ke’aun Kinner, 5-9, 191, Sr., Little Elm, Texas/Taylor Martin, 5-10, 200, Fort Worth, Texas.

Martin is one of the few fast runners on the roster, but needs to learn how to use blockers, see holes and hit them quickly or he won’t get many carries, especially with graduate transfer Denzel Evans on the way from Arkansas.

TE: Ben Johnson, 6-5, 245, Jr., Basehor/Jace Sternberger, 6-4, 236, Fr., Kingfisher, Okla.

Johnson played in all 12 games and started nine, but caught just 13 passes for 115 yards. That’s as much a function of not being targeted often as it is anything he did or didn’t do.

LT: Clyde McCauley, 6-5, 307, So., Arlington, Texas/Jordan Shelley-Smith, 6-5, 302, Sr., Waco, Texas.

This shapes up as one of the most heated battles for a starting assignment, one that could carry all the way into the final week of fall camp. The coaching staff is high on McCaulley’s future, but in just his second year out of high school, has he gained enough strength to hold off Shelley-Smith?

LG: Jayson Rhodes, 6-4, 311, Jr., Deer Park, Texas, Jr./Will Smith, 6-3, 307, Sr., Shawnee.

Rhodes worked hard at reshaping his body after seeing limited action last season as a sophomore, his first at KU after a year in junior college.

C: Joe Gibson, 6-3, 310, Jr., Prairie Village/Mesa Ribordy, 6-4, 290, Fr., Louisburg.

Both players came to Kansas as walk-ons. Gibson quickly earned a scholarship. Ribordy red-shirted last season and likely will receive a scholarship after this season. Walk-ons confident enough in their ability to earn a spot on the depth chart very often do just that, and after they have been at a school for two seasons and earn a scholarship, it only counts against the overall limit of 85, not against the limit of 25 per class.

RG: Jacob Bragg, 6-4, 291, So., Nacogdoches, Texas/Hunter Saulsbury, 6-4, 305, Fr., Stillwell.

Bragg started five games last season and at first looked overmatched. His work in the weight room has made him stronger. He also can play center if the need arises. Saulsbury has a strong chance to earn a scholarship after this season.

RT: D’Andre Banks, 6-3, 310, Sr., Killeen, Texas/Larry Hughes, 6-7, 309, So., Carrolltown, Texas.

Looking more sculpted after his lone season of Div. I conditioning, Banks moves to the outside from right guard, where he started nine games. If he makes a smooth transition, that will translate to more time for the quarterback.

The stronger Hughes becomes in the weight room the closer he’ll come to reaching his considerable potential.

WR: LaQuvionte Gonzalez, 5-10, 176, Jr., Cedar Hill, Texas/Bobby Hartzog, 5-11, 195, Jr., Houston.

Gonzalez is preseason favorite to lead the team in touchdowns. Beaty, who will call the plays this season, will find as many ways as possible to get the football into the hands of his best playmaker.

WR: Jeremiah Booker, 6-2, 202, So., College Station, Texas/Emmanuel Moore, 6-0, 190, So., Haslet, Texas.

Booker was encouraged to bulk up last season, but new receivers coach Jason Phillips puts a premium on speed, so if Booker looks leaner, don’t be alarmed. That’s the plan.

WR: Steven Sims, 5-10, 176, So., Houston/Tyler Patrick, 6-0, 177, So., The Woodlands, Texas.

Sims had 30 receptions for 349 yards as a true freshman, ranking second to Tre’ Parmalee in both categories.