photo by: Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas offensive linemen compete in spring practice on Thursday, March 6, 2025, in Lawrence.

A recurring theme of spring football for Kansas has been that the Jayhawks’ returning players need to step up — and may be more motivated to do so — given KU’s influx of nearly two dozen transfers during the offseason.

That may be most important along the offensive line, where the offseason departures of longtime starters Logan Brown, Bryce Cabeldue and Michael Ford Jr. have opened three potential spots for the taking.

Redshirt sophomore Calvin Clements is a logical fit at left tackle, but Brown and Ford’s spots are up for grabs: During early spring practices, the likes of Nolan Gorczyca, a redshirt senior with 82 career offensive snaps and the final Buffalo transfer still on the roster, and James Livingston, a redshirt junior with 11 career snaps, have received significant time with the top unit.

However, two key injury-related absences have distorted the picture somewhat. Head coach Lance Leipold said Gorczyca had finger surgery on March 13 and will miss the rest of the spring.

“We had Nolan really for the first five practices,” second-year offensive line coach Daryl Agpalsa said on Tuesday. “He was doing great. He did a lot of great things and is showing us that we can count on him on his last season. He’s down right now but we’ll get him back.”

Meanwhile, UCLA transfer Tavake Tuikolovatu, who played both guard and tackle in limited action with the Bruins, sat out some of the Jayhawks’ early practices and is now getting up to speed, participating in footwork drills upon KU’s return to practice on Tuesday following spring break, Agpalsa said.

“As we finish here the last three weeks of the spring, we’re going to find out what he can do for our team,” he added.

Leipold praised Tuikolovatu’s athleticism and potential but added, “in these situations, when you come in (and) you don’t get on the field right away, it’s hard to get in the conversation. We’re going to have to find a way to catch him up on reps and opportunities.”

With Gorczyca out, the primary beneficiary in terms of reps at right tackle has been Tulsa transfer Jack Tanner.

“He’s very smart, he works hard,” right guard Kobe Baynes said. “His work ethic is second to none, and I think he’s going to make some big strides. I’m very pleased from what I’ve seen from him.”

Along with DeAndre Harper (Northwest Missouri State) and Tyler Mercer (North Texas), Tanner forms part of a trio of transfers who are true sophomores by eligibility but played extensively at their previous schools.

“We took younger offensive linemen,” Agpalsa said, “and what’s super interesting about that (is) it’s true, but we also added 2,000 live snaps to the offensive line room of live games reps, and I think that’s, like, doubled our room.”

Agpalsa said that “there was some strategy” when it came to emphasizing this mixture of youth and experience, given that it benefits an offensive line when it can avoid cycling through new players every year.

“It’s hard to develop continuity in our room doing that,” he said.

The future may yield more consistency with these players in the fold, but the 2025 offseason is not necessarily characterized by continuity for KU. Here are some additional notes on the continued evolution of the Jayhawks’ offensive line.

Unexpected source

The KU coaching staff directed Baynes and center Bryce Foster to embrace leadership roles during the 2025 offseason, as the only true holdovers from the previous year’s starting O-line, and as redshirt seniors concluding their college careers.

Agpalsa and company didn’t quite anticipate that they would have a third leadership option in the redshirt sophomore Clements. The Lawrence native has clearly benefited from a pair of starts and consistent rotational action over the course of his two seasons in the program.

“Calvin’s been a pleasant surprise for us at the end of the day, and that’s really exciting for us,” Agpalsa said.

He added that Clements, now firmly ensconced as KU’s left tackle, does some of his best work with small groups of teammates.

“He does a great job taking guys in one on one and then kind of getting them through the ropes,” Agpalsa said. “No different than, honestly, Bryce Cabeldue did with him a year ago.”

The next step for Clements personally, his coach added, “really comes down to how many plays can he stack in a row, how many days can he stack in a row.

“When he becomes highly consistent, that’s when he becomes a great player,” Agpalsa said.

Firmly fixed

Both under Agpalsa and his predecessor Scott Fuchs — and throughout the team, not just along the offensive line — KU has emphasized versatility in recent years and the ability to play multiple positions. Certainly longtime reserves like Gorczyca and Livingston have worked over the years at both guard and tackle.

That particular focus of the Jayhawks’ staff has taken a bit of a backseat this spring with so many new, young players entering Jim Zebrowski’s system.

“With a younger group right now, the most important thing I believe as coaches we have to do a great job of is get them to feel comfortable in their skin somewhere,” Agpalsa said. “If you watch practice we’re probably not moving people as much as we have in the past.”

Outlier

One of KU’s young players who has flown somewhat under the radar over the last year and is now going through his first spring in the program is Greydon Grimes.

The redshirt freshman, now listed at 6-foot-6 and 285 pounds, moved from the defensive line to offensive tackle during his first season with the Jayhawks, after he had played tight end and defensive end in high school.

Then, Grimes stayed with KU during the offseason even as his father, Jeff Grimes, left the Jayhawks after one year as their offensive coordinator to take the same position at Wisconsin — much the same way that Greydon’s older brother Garrison remained as the long snapper at Baylor when Grimes joined KU. (Garrison has since transferred to BYU.)

Greydon Grimes was a three-star prospect out of China Spring High School and had committed to Baylor before his father made the move to Lawrence in December 2023.

Agpalsa outlined on Tuesday some of the qualities that made Grimes a good fit for the offensive line.

“He’s a really good athlete,” Agpalsa said. “He has good length, good speed, really athletic, can bend and can move. It’s just new to him. It’s fun, though. He’s getting a lot of reps right now, and that’s all you can ask for.”