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

Kansas offensive lineman Kaden Snyder (left) and defensive lineman Alex Bray participate in Kansas football's spring practice on Thursday, March 26, 2026, in Lawrence.

When Leroy Harris III arrived at Kansas — not all that long ago, considering he was a springtime addition during the 2025 offseason — he was listed at 230 pounds.

Fellow defensive end Alex Bray, who joined the Jayhawks during the same transfer window, played at 270 pounds when he was at Illinois.

The two now weigh about the same. In fact, if anything Harris might be heavier given that defensive coordinator D.K. McDonald recently cited him at 274 pounds — meanwhile he’s still running 21.57 mph — and Bray said he hovers between 265 and 270.

“Yeah, he put on size pretty quick,” Bray said of his teammate. “He’s a monster now.”

In terms of a pair of bookends, the pair forms quite the contrast with last year, when, as McDonald recently referenced in a not-so-subtle allusion to Dean Miller, “our defensive end last year was 225 pounds, so him being on the edge was probably the best thing for him and not being down there trying to fight tackles all the time.”

Strength coach Matt Gildersleeve has noted that the defensive line is 11 pounds heavier on average than it was last season.

“I think to stop the run — outside zone’s a big one — you got to create knockback on the front side, you got to squeeze things down on the back side, and having two guys that are 270 that are hard to move, that creates knockback on the front side of these runs,” defensive ends coach Joe Dineen said. “And if we can do that consistently, big people beat up little people … Shoot, that’s like Darwinism or something. That’s like evolution, right? So we got to keep them big.”

Bray is used to playing big, something he’s done early and often during his collegiate career ever since he went to Illinois, out of Marquette High School in Chesterfield, Missouri. In fact, he transferred to KU in the first place in part because he wanted to play on the edge more than he was with the Illini.

Last season he played in all 12 games as a backup to Justice Finkley and recorded 21 tackles. This year his most significant growth has been off the field.

“I’d say I have the strength and stuff,” Bray said. “It’s been there for me. I’ve been in college football for a while. So just taking what I learned from the classroom, because you know, D-end, you have a lot going on, especially at our ‘stud’ (strong-side) position, where you can be from a 3-tech to a 5 out in coverage, so taking what I learned from the classroom and applying that to the field has helped me more so mentally.”

The offseason has also provided opportunities for him to step up as a leader. Bray is going to be the only senior playing on the defensive line this year. (In fact, he recently gained another year due to the NCAA’s new eligibility model, but said he’ll still play like 2026 is his last.)

“During spring ball, they kind of pushed — I wouldn’t say pushed, but they wanted a couple guys to step up, and I felt like I took that role, commanding the defense sometimes when it comes to walkthroughs, making sure that we’re all there,” Bray said. “When it’s the D-ends, making sure the younger guys are getting extra work, helping them out, so I feel like that’s kind of a step I’ve taken through this past year, so yeah, that’s kind of big.”

For Harris, at least to hear Dineen tell it, the primary area of focus has been technique: “With that size, with that athletic ability,” he said, “if you can match that and pair that with great technique and great violence, then the sky’s going to be the limit.”

Harris said he’s working on “just my all-around game, whether it be the pass rush, setting the edge, sparking gaps. Just trying to be a master of my craft, work on my details.”

Between the 270-pound pair, Michigan State transfer David Santiago, promising redshirt sophomore Dakyus Brinkley and a handful of others, KU should be able to stack up well against opposing tackles.

“You can’t be too small,” Bray said. “I would say last year we had some D-ends that were smaller, but I would say our lightest D-end’s probably 245 … Sleeve’s done a good job of putting size on, emphasizing the nutrition. I remember last year we didn’t have this, but this year we drink protein shakes right in the weight room when we’re done with the workout to make sure that we’re putting on size, we take creatine right after, all that good stuff.”

It’s part of a broader trend toward getting bigger that the KU staff attempted to enact throughout the offseason at a whole host of positions, both through transfer-portal acquisition and internal player development.

“I remember Sleeve put on the board of the weights from last year to this year,” Bray said. “… It’s crazy to see how far we’ve come, how much we’ve emphasized it.”

Kansas defensive end Alex Bray (91) celebrates a defensive stop against Fresno State during the second quarter on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025 at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. Photo by Nick Krug