Most Crucial Jayhawks 2016: No. 1 – DE Dorance Armstrong
Kansas defensive end Dorance Armstrong Jr. (46) runs through drills during practice on Tuesday, April 11, 2016 at Memorial Stadium.
With August right around the corner and another football season quickly coming, we’ve reached the top spot in our summer series of the most crucial Jayhawks for the 2016 season.
In all, the series featured 13 offensive players and 12 defensive players, lending support to the idea that the Jayhawks have work to do on both sides of the line of scrimmage if they want to become more competitive in the Big 12 and erase the memories of last year’s winless season.
The No. 1 player on our list represents exactly what second-year coach David Beaty and company are going for — overlooked talent with a ton of potential and extreme dedication to getting better and elevating the program to better days.
One final reminder: This was not a list of the 25 best players on this year’s team. That would have been much easier to pinpoint and, although still key, would not exactly have demonstrated the full value that each player has in regard to the 2016 season.
This is a list of the 25 players who need to have strong seasons in order for the Jayhawks to have a chance to compete.
Matt Tait and I came up with the list by each making our own list of 25 and then combining the results.
We did the same thing for the last two years, but the amount of fresh faces made this list much tougher to put together.
In case you missed some, be sure to check the links at the bottom of each entry for a complete look at the list of 25.
1. Dorance Armstrong, Soph. Defensive End
From the moment Kansas football defensive coordinator Clint Bowen stalled during a home visit with defensive end recruit Dorance Armstrong so that the Missouri football coaches would have to wait outside, Bowen was convinced that this was a player the Jayhawks needed to land.
When Armstrong committed, Bowen was more excited about landing him than any other member of the Class of 2015.
Nothing about the way Armstrong competed as a part-time, undersized true freshman changed Bowen’s mind.
Armstrong added 17 pounds and didn’t lose a step during a committed offseason and in so doing kept the coaching staff’s excitement about his potential on an upward trend.
Armstrong, talented enough to post the first double-digit, single-season sack total since James Holt had 10 in 2008 before his four years are up, shapes up as the team’s most crucial player.
If he can harass quarterbacks on a consistent basis and can shed blockers quickly enough to keep ballcarriers from running wild on the outside, that can go a long way toward Kansas significantly improving a defense that statistically was the worst in the Football Bowl Subdivision in 2015.
Armstrong started the final five games of his true freshman season and ranked second to Ben Goodman with 3.5 sacks. Using his quickness to get around Oklahoma’s massive blockers, Armstrong totaled six tackles and two sacks against the mighty Sooners.
An active, 6-foot-4, 241-pound NFL prospect, Armstrong batted three passes against Texas.
It’s easy to see why Michigan State, Cal and several other schools from big conferences offered him a scholarship. He chose Kansas, a nice morale boost for the coaching staff. A big sophomore season from Armstrong would spread feel-good vibes throughout the program.
Top 25 Most Crucial Jayhawks of 2016: