Kansas football recruiting

The youth movement along the Kansas offensive line continued on Tuesday night with the addition of Tyler Mercer.

Mercer, who spent his freshman season playing center for North Texas with six starts in eight games, is the third lineman with three years of eligibility remaining to join KU in recent days, following in the footsteps of DeAndre Harper (Northwest Missouri State) and Jack Tanner (Tulsa).

Mercer is listed at 6-foot-4 and 295 pounds and hails from Prosper, Texas. In the near term, he will provide another source of interior line depth for the Jayhawks; in the longer term, he gives KU a potential successor for its current center Bryce Foster in 2026 and beyond.

The Jayhawks recently lost another player in the same class with a potential future at center, Harrison Utley, to the transfer portal, although they do have an incoming freshman in Anderson Kopp who could play there as well.

Mercer finished his year with a strong Pro Football Focus grade of 68.5, largely due to his 80.0 pass-blocking performance. Along with Foster, KU has Kobe Baynes as a returning starter at guard and Calvin Clements with some significant experience at tackle, but is pretty open otherwise in Daryl Agpalsa’s position group.

The Jayhawks may not be done along the line even with three transfers already in the fold. Outstanding offers in recent days have gone to players like Melvin Siani (Temple), Kahlee Tafai (Washington) and Keagan Trost (Wake Forest), among others.