Most Crucial Jayhawks: No. 19 – K John Duvic
Here’s the latest installment in our series that examines the Jayhawks who stand to have the biggest impact for KU football this fall.
No. 19: John Duvic, Freshman, K
It’s a lot to ask of an offense that has trouble passing and blocking to take a touchdown-or-bust approach to scoring, but that’s what Kansas did too often during the first two years of Charlie Weis’ tenure as head coach.
There is reason to believe that could change now that Duvic is on board as a walk-on kicker. Duvic, from Benet Academy in suburban Chicago, broke his namesake father’s school record by a yard with a 54-yard field goal. He also had a two-week midseason stretch in which he made 9 of 10 field goals.
The younger Duvic has put a lot of time into his leg and has developed a reputation as one of the top kickers his age in the country.
“I travel all over working with some of the most talented kids and (John’s) someone you’ll see playing on Saturdays,” said national kicking guru Chris Sailer during an October interview with the Chicago-based Post-Tribune. “As far as field goals, he’s one of the top 15 kickers nationally, and I’ve trained 3,000 kids.”
If Duvic can bring the sort of consistency he showed in high school into college, the days of KU field goal kickers repeatedly missing chip shots that render meaningless long, productive drives could be over and that could inject the offense with the confidence it has lacked in recent seasons.
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