photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas linebacker Ben Heeney runs back an interception just shy of a touchdown against West Virginia during the fourth quarter on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2013 at Memorial Stadium.

The Big 12 blogging crew over at ESPN.com has been awfully busy lately wrapping up its spring football coverage with a bunch of different looks at each of the 10 teams in the Big 12 Conference.

They’ve done everything from a quick look at each team’s most indispensable players to a full-on, 22-round draft of the top football players in the Big 12 and everything in between.

Although the Jayhawks have not been regarded in the exercises as a sleeper team for the upcoming season or anything like that, they have been given a little bit of love.

Here’s a quick look at just how much.

Most Indispensable Player

First, we’ll start with the most recent entry, which identified KU’s most indispensable player. Not surprisingly, they picked senior linebacker Ben Heeney and it’s hard to argue with that pick.

When Heeney was out last season, the KU defense was not quite the same. Not only is he the most accomplished and decorated player on KU’s ever-improving defense, but Heeney also sets the tone for the way the entire unit plays. Rough, tough and relentless, Heeney has never shied away from contact or throwing himself in harm’s way to make a play. Slowly but surely during the past couple of seasons, that mentality has rubbed off on those around him and toughened up KU’s defense as a whole.

Of Heeney, ESPN.com’s Brandon Chatmon wrote:

Heeney is the best and most productive
player on the team and provides peace
of mind for the coaching staff….
Without Heeney, the Jayhawks would
have to replace a major hole in the
middle of their defense. His
experience, consistent play and
attacking style make him one of the
Big 12’s top linebackers. And his
leadership is evolving heading into
his final season with the Jayhawks.

Imaginary Big 12 Draft

Last week, the ESPN.com trio of Chatmon, Jake Trotter and Max Olson, ripped off a 22-round draft of the Big 12’s top talent designed to fill out a starting 11 on both offense and defense.

In all, just three Jayhawks were picked in the 66-man draft, and, somewhat surprisingly, senior cornerback JaCorey Shepherd was the first KU player taken. Chatmon took Shepherd in the 13th round.

A couple of rounds later, Trotter snatched up senior linebacker Ben Heeney. And in the 19th round Chatmon swiped senior wide receiver Tony Pierson.

In a league with as much talent as the Big 12, it’s not all that surprising that only a few Jayhawks were chosen. However, I was a little surprised that both cornerback Dexter McDonald and safety Isaiah Johnson went undrafted. Most within the KU program thought that McDonald was the better of KU’s two cornerbacks last season and Johnson is the reigning Big 12 defensive newcomer of the year.

It would be interesting to see these guys do this draft again at the end of next season, or perhaps midway through, as newcomers like Kevin Short and Nick Harwell, along with a couple of other returning talents might be able to crack the draft with strong seasons.

Here’s a link to the results of the complete imaginary player draft.

Strong and Weak

Finally, Chatmon was charged with taking a quick look at the Jayhawks’ strongest and weakest positions.

To almost no one’s surprise, his take was right in line with what most people believe to be true about the Jayhawks heading into 2014.

Strongest position: Secondary.

The Jayhawks have arguably the best
returning cornerback duo in the Big 12
with JaCorey Shepherd and Dexter
McDonald…. KU’s safeties (Isaiah
Johnson and Cassius Sendish) are just
as productive… Add cornerbacks Kevin
Short and Greg Allen, who looked ready
to contribute during the spring, and
the Jayhawks secondary brings
experience, production and depth to
the field, three traits several other
Big 12 teams wish they had on their
rosters.

Weakest position: Offensive line.

The Jayhawks return a league-worst 34
career starts along the offensive
line, with All-Big 12 honorable
mention guard Ngalu Fusimalohi as the
lone returnee with double-digit starts
(12)…. If KU has any hope of John
Reagan’s offense taking off during his
first season as offensive coordinator,
the offensive line will have to reach
new heights.