photo by: Chance Parker/Journal-World

Kansas safety Mason Ellis (23) runs through drills during practice on Friday, Aug. 12, 2022.

Kansas safety Mason Ellis has all the measurables.

The redshirt sophomore from Mulvane said on Thursday that he has run as fast as 22.01 mph, after beginning his career at KU in the low 20s. In the spring, strength coach Matt Gildersleeve, distributor of faux “speeding tickets” for KU’s best runners, said of Ellis, “He wasn’t two, three or even four this time last year, but he’s been our fastest guy.”

Ellis, for his part, rather sheepishly described the competition as “day to day,” with wide receiver Quentin Skinner and “a lot of guys” vying for the title of fastest Jayhawk.

That’s not where his positive traits end: Defensive coordinator and safeties coach Brian Borland also said, “He’s the strongest defensive back by a long shot.”

The question now is whether Ellis can find a way to see the field in one of KU’s deepest position groups.

KU lost its longtime defensive stalwart Kenny Logan Jr. to graduation, but O.J. Burroughs and Marvin Grant have become leaders and fixtures in the secondary, and the Dye brothers, Jalen and new addition Devin, aren’t far behind. The Jayhawks only regularly give snaps to three safeties each year — in recent seasons those were Logan, Burroughs and Grant — although there may be a tiny window available for playing time given that, as Borland said yesterday, Grant and the Dyes are working at the nickel position when KU is in its 4-2-5 package.

“At this point I guess he’s probably a little bit more in a backup capacity,” Borland said of Ellis, “but he’s got to be a guy that when he gets in the game, we’re not seeing a big drop-off.”

A 2022 recruit, part of head coach Lance Leipold’s first real cycle after taking the KU job, Ellis redshirted his first year. He then only played four defensive snaps in 2023 but 135 on special teams across all four units — kick coverage, kick return, punt coverage and punt return.

“That’s the way for those guys to really get on the field, maybe even first, sometimes,” Borland said. “We do have a lot of guys, in terms of just being an athlete and being physically minded … I do think that breeds confidence in them and sometimes that’s first before the actual defense.”

For Ellis, who describes the well-regarded speed and physicality as his greatest strengths, making a leap from special teams to defense comes down to making himself a more prominent presence.

“Just becoming more vocal, more confident in what I’m doing, stepping into that leadership role,” he said.

Grant, a sixth-year senior who came to KU at the same time as Ellis (in his case as a transfer from Purdue), said the younger safety surprised him upon his arrival. He turned out to be, as Grant put it, so athletic as to be “a freak, for real.”

Grant said he believes Ellis can be a big piece of KU’s future at the safety spot. (The Dyes do have one year of eligibility remaining each after this season.)

“Just from the mental aspect of football, he took a lot of big steps,” Grant said. “The physical, that (has) really never been no problem for him.”

One obstacle out of the way: Ellis had surgery on his wrist over the summer — Borland mentioned it “kind of held him back a little bit” — but says he’s good to go now.

photo by: Chance Parker/Journal-World

Kansas safety Mason Ellis (23) runs through drills during practice on Friday, Aug. 12, 2022.