photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas quarterback Isaiah Marshall fires off a pass during the Kansas Football Fan Appreciation Day Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Lawrence.

Coming up on Aug. 23 is the start of Jalon Daniels’ final season.

Coming later on is another season just over a year away in which KU no longer has Daniels as its starting quarterback — something it hasn’t experienced since 2021.

The rest of the Jayhawks’ quarterback room, headlined by redshirt sophomore Cole Ballard, redshirt freshman Isaiah Marshall and early-enrolling true freshman David McComb, will all contend for post-Daniels positioning — even if, as Marshall says, “At the end of the day I’m just worried about myself and just trying to get 1% better each day.”

Whatever the case, the measurable results attest to a highly motivated group of backup quarterbacks.

“What I’ve seen is an unbelievable offseason of work ethic by those guys,” offensive coordinator Jim Zebrowski said. “They’ve always been good, but some of the numbers those dudes put up in terms of speed-wise, strength-wise … that’s where I saw it most. I think it’s the inner drive of guys all knowing that it’s coming sometime that want to be prepared for it.”

Marshall is one example. A former three-star prospect out of Southfield, Michigan, he enrolled early in the spring of 2024 and spent much of his freshman season as the third-stringer, before he briefly rose to second-string following an injury to Ballard (who remains essentially the incumbent backup).

When he arrived as a true freshman, Marshall was reaching peak speeds of 21.01 mph and had a vertical leap of 34 feet.

“The vertical increases, speed increases, holy mackerel,” Zebrowski said.

A year and a half later, by the conclusion of KU’s summer training regimen, he had received “speed king” and “jump king” plaques for his marks of 21.8 mph and 39.9 feet, respectively. He’s also lost body fat and eaten better, he said.

“Shoutout to Coach (Matt Gildersleeve) and his whole strength staff and also the nutritionists and everybody else,” Marshall said. “It’s been pretty good. I feel like I improved a lot since I first got here. Jumping 39.9 — I wish I got that 40 — and then just little stuff like that. It’s been good and I feel like it’s definitely helped me translate that on the field too.”

The physical growth provides a foundation as Marshall continues to hone his fundamentals. He said he’s working during this fall camp on staying balanced in his dropbacks and learning more about protection schemes.

Beyond Marshall, any of KU’s quarterbacks could figure into the Jayhawks’ future plans. McComb discusses the future sometimes with his roommates, a trio of fellow early enrollees at wide receiver in Jackson Cook, Bryson Hayes and Tate Nagy: “We talk about that stuff, we talk about keeping the culture going, keeping the dynamic.”

“We don’t want it to just stop after Jalon leaves and after Cole leaves,” he added. “We want to keep this going. There’s something special here and I think everybody sees it inside and outside the program.”

The present, however, is still important for KU’s non-Daniels quarterbacks. Daniels made it through all of 2024, but as Zebrowski points out, KU got down to Nos. 2 and 3 at times in the years prior (including Ballard as a true freshman former walk-on in 2023). He said he thinks his group understands that.

“Unlike any other position, the No. 2 guy is one snap away from playing,” Zebrowski said. “In our case it wasn’t even a snap when Jason (Bean) had to play the one game a couple years (ago), right?”

That’s an apparent reference to the 2023 game at Texas, prior to which Daniels suffered a flare-up of his recurring back tightness during a pregame walkthrough, thrusting Bean into action.

“You’re one moment away from playing,” Zebrowski said. “Now here’s the crazy part, No. 3 guy: You’re a whopping two snaps away from playing. Now here’s the crazier part, No. 4 guy: You’re three snaps away from playing.

“We can’t put a left tackle in to play quarterback. It wouldn’t be a great offensive scheme for us.”

His quarterbacks may not have the bodies of left tackles, but they’re building up quite nicely.

“That group of young men are in as good a physical shape as any quarterback room I’ve ever had,” Zebrowski said. “Especially in this day and age, it’s really unique to have five young men who are really good players and really want and understand what is around the corner.”