photo by: Henry Greenstein/Journal-World

Kansas linebacker Trey Lathan speaks at Big 12 media days on Wednesday, July 8, 2026, in Frisco, Texas.

FRISCO, Texas — Trey Lathan’s role pushed him to his physical limits at times in 2025.

The Kansas linebacker will readily point to the Missouri game, a 42-31 loss in which KU’s defense simply couldn’t get off the field.

“I mean, you feel it toward the end,” he said on Wednesday at Big 12 media days. “I think Missouri, I think I felt it a lot. I think I played like 77 snaps.”

He did indeed play 77 on defense, in fact, to go with seven more on special teams, at least according to Pro Football Focus.

“Some of the times I’m on the ground, like, ‘Damn. I got to get up again,'” he recalled.

KU coach Lance Leipold has spent time digging into why the Jayhawks have lost so many close games in recent seasons. Situations like Lathan’s might have something to do with it.

“When I started looking at some of those losses and I look at the total numbers of snaps played by certain guys on certain sides of the ball, they’ve been on the field a long time,” Leipold said. “And where are we at that time of the game when we need a stop? Do we have a way to rotate more earlier in the game?

“Can we be a fresher football team? Can we be a healthier football team late in the season that’ll allow us to overcome some of these things? And I think we have a chance to do that with this roster.”

They certainly have a chance to do it at linebacker, where help is on the way for Lathan in 2026. The middle linebacker, a fifth-year senior from Goulds, Florida, ended up playing 713 defensive snaps last year to lead all Jayhawk defenders. It’s hard to imagine he’ll have to approach that number again with the arrival and emergence of New Mexico State transfer Quincy Davis, whose skills were apparent to Lathan from the first day of padded practices this spring.

Of course, Lathan has to give him the chance to play.

“It’s kind of funny, because Quincy, he (asks) me all the time, do I need a break?” Lathan said. “I’m like, ‘Nah, bro, I’ll probably get you like 10 snaps a game. This is my senior year.'”

There are options adjacent to Lathan at the weak-side linebacker spot, too, with transfers Bam Crouch (Boston College) and Jibreel Al-Amin (Marshall), among others.

It is worth noting that both positions took a blow earlier in the summer when Kentucky transfer Landyn Watson was ruled ineligible. The former TCU and Marshall player had been seeking a sixth season based on a torn meniscus suffered during his freshman season, he previously told the Journal-World, but his appeal was denied.

That came as a surprise to Lathan, at least, who “thought we had a lot of good conversations with the eligibility centers and whatnot.”

“The guy came in there, he poured everything into the program while he was there, the few months that he was there,” Lathan said. “It was unfortunate for him. We feel for him, but we’re always in communication with him.”

His sudden absence removes one possible option in the middle, but Davis, who is also backed up by walk-on Ezra Vedral, has demonstrated himself to be quite capable during his time in Lawrence thus far.

“His motor, and his knack to find the football, you know, it’s something that we haven’t seen coming out of a guy who just got here and he just learned it on the fly,” Lathan said.

As for Lathan himself, he already established a high level of play in 2025 as the Jayhawks’ leading tackler and an all-conference honorable mention. But perhaps with more support behind him he can accomplish his objective and “just play faster.”

“It was a lot of games I was hesitant a little bit,” Lathan said. “But just being able to play fast and just keep my foot on the pedal and just going off what I learned from last year, it’s going to help me.”

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

Kansas linebacker Trey Lathan tracks a ball carrier during KU Football’s spring practice at Lawrence High School on Saturday, April 11, 2026 in Lawrence.