photo by: Nick Krug/Journal-World

Kansas players signal the ball going their way after a fumble by TCU during the first quarter on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 at GEHA Field in Kansas City.

During the first few weeks of the college football season, the popular narrative about Kansas and its early-season struggles was that new coordinator Jeff Grimes, Jalon Daniels and the offense were letting down a resurgent, high-intensity, physical KU defense.

That storyline got twisted on Sept. 21 in Morgantown, West Virginia, after a lengthy lightning delay, when the Jayhawks’ defense needed just one stop and instead gave up back-to-back touchdown drives late in the fourth quarter.

Since then, what initially appeared to be KU’s stronger unit has shouldered its own significant share of the blame for the Jayhawks’ 1-5 start. It certainly didn’t help that while the offense was able to respond twice for go-ahead touchdown drives last week at Arizona State, the defense gave the lead right back on multiple occasions. In fact, even in the earlier weeks when its performance had appeared a bright spot for KU, the defense struggled to get off the field in the fourth quarter, giving up long, pivotal drives to Illinois and UNLV.

Injuries have in recent weeks debilitated coordinator Brian Borland’s unit at linebacker, safety and now cornerback. As Borland, head coach Lance Leipold or anyone else would tell you, though, that’s how it goes in college football.

Here’s more on how the defense has operated under those challenging circumstances.

photo by: AP Photo/Charlie Riedel

Kansas defensive end Dean Miller (45) and defensive tackle D.J. Withers (52) celebrate after Lindenwood quarterback Nate Glantz was sacked during the first half of an NCAA college football game Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kan.

Defensive line

Last year, most of the preseason concerns about the KU pass rush got dispelled quite quickly in the early stages of the year due to the emergence of Austin Booker, an eventual NFL Draft selection.

There was always some sense that it would be tough for players like unproven former JUCO transfer Dean Miller and true freshman DJ Warner to match that level of production at weak-side defensive end, as much glowing praise as they got from their coaches during fall camp. But even then, the inability to generate much pressure at all has been startling. Miller and Warner’s pass-rush win rates are 5.4% and 5.7%, respectively, according to Pro Football Focus. The two have combined for 1.5 sacks, and in fact Warner has just one tackle on the season. Booker’s win rate during the 2023 season was 14.8%.

It hasn’t helped that Michigan State transfer Bai Jobe got slowed down in fall camp by a hand injury and has only played 33 snaps this season as a result, though he’s occasionally flashed significant promise.

There’s some reason to believe that this trio will settle in as the year goes on, but they are running out of time to make a significant impact on the season. Miller has vowed that he will always provide maximum effort, and coaches have praised both him and Jobe as relentless, high-motor players. That showed up a bit for Miller against the run — where he hadn’t put much on tape — in the form of two big solo tackles for loss at Arizona State.

The opposite end spot has been a lot better, with the ever-consistent, if not flashy, Jereme Robinson leading the team in tackles for loss (5.5) and sacks (3.5); he also has a forced fumble and fumble recovery on the year. He and Dylan Wudke have formed a fearsome duo that if KU were having a better season might well be one of the stories of the team, with Wudke making big plays, like stopping a red-zone reverse for a loss against UNLV or nearly forcing a game-changing fumble against TCU, that have largely been forgotten due to the team’s overall struggles.

On the interior of the line, Jim Panagos’ group of defensive tackles has probably been the best unit on its side of the ball, though the way it got pushed back by ASU’s offensive line and gashed by running back Cam Skattebo (25 carries, 186 yards) takes a bit of the shine off its overall performance.

Even so, Tommy Dunn Jr. has become vastly more consistent and has KU’s fourth-best grade among frequently used defenders, redshirt freshman Blake Herold has been exceptional in limited action, Caleb Taylor leads the team on and off the field and D.J. Withers has improved over the course of the season. There really hasn’t been a significant drop-off when KU rotates at these spots, even to lesser-used players like Kenean Caldwell and Javier Derritt.

photo by: AP Photo/Colin E. Braley

Kansas linebacker Taiwan Berryhill Jr. (6) during an NCAA football game on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo.

Linebackers

The idea that the linebacker group’s cross-training and versatility would prevent any significant drop-off in case of an injury has been swiftly proven false over the last three weeks. Middle linebacker Cornell Wheeler was not only so effective in his first few games as a starter but so essential as a defensive captain and communicator that KU’s defense has been in many ways a shadow of itself in his absence.

When Wheeler went down with an apparent leg injury at West Virginia, cornerback Cobee Bryant said the defense became “lackadaisical.” Since then, in two games serving as Wheeler’s replacement (one played on minimal sleep after a whirlwind trip home for his mother’s wedding), Taiwan Berryhill Jr. has posted PFF grades of 33.6 and 34.3 while playing 144 combined snaps. Those are the fifth- and sixth-worst single-game grades for any Jayhawk in any game this season, and among the four technically worse performances only one has originated from a player seeing significant action (safety O.J. Burroughs, 30.1 in 65 snaps at WVU).

While Wheeler’s absence has been extremely impactful, and it’s not immediately clear when he will return, the Jayhawks have dealt with injuries elsewhere in this group as well. At Hawk linebacker, Jayson Gilliom and Logan Brantley have missed time at various points, and the playing time for Hawks has varied quite widely depending on opposing personnel groupings, as when opponents spread the field Marvin Grant takes over at the so-called Cinco spot.

The one constant in this group has been JB Brown, one of KU’s best players this year and a steady presence at weak-side linebacker. Brown has a team-high 33 tackles on the year and, as a blitzer, has provided one of the Jayhawks’ only consistent means of generating pressure, though as Borland points out they can’t rely on that too often.

photo by: AP Photo/Charlie Riedel

Kansas cornerback Mello Dotson (3) runs for a touchdown after intercepting a pass during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Lindenwood Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kan.

Cornerbacks

It’s been a boom-or-bust kind of season thus far for KU’s all-conference cornerback duo of Cobee Bryant and Mello Dotson. Neither has played up to his full potential and both have given up explosive plays, particularly in recent weeks. But they still rank among the top corners in the Big 12 and have at least continued to demonstrate the sorts of ball-hawking tendencies that the Jayhawks need in order to get opposing offenses off the field.

Dotson already has three interceptions on the year, and at ASU he forced and recovered a key fumble by wideout Jordyn Tyson that, if KU’s offense had executed better, might have changed the game. Bryant has a pick of his own and a forced fumble. Both are among the Jayhawks’ leading tacklers.

The question of the Jayhawks’ depth behind its top two was always a more forward-looking query — as in, how would KU replace Bryant and Dotson after the 2024 season? But a late development at ASU has placed it firmly in the present. Bryant got hurt against the Sun Devils and had to be helped off the field by a pair of staffers without putting any weight on his right leg.

Needless to say, the prospect of KU spending any significant time without Bryant on the field is a dire one.

Fifty-nine snaps as the Jayhawks’ outside corner when Bryant moves inside to nickel back have not necessarily flattered former LSU transfer Damarius McGhee, who missed most of last season due to injury. True freshman Jalen Todd has surged up the depth chart and acquitted himself reasonably well in his first extended defensive action in the second half at ASU. But in the weeks ahead, if Bryant isn’t immediately able to return, any cornerback on the field with Dotson on the opposite side is going to get targeted relentlessly, especially against formidable receiving corps like those of Iowa State and Colorado.

Kansas safety O.J. Burroughs (5) intercepts a pass intended for TCU wide receiver JP Richardson (7) during the first half of an NCAA football game on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Colin E. Braley)

Safeties

Grant is, for all intents and purposes, a linebacker at this point. PFF credits him with just 23 snaps at free safety compared to 270 in other positions on defense. That means Burroughs has been KU’s only consistent true safety throughout the season.

He has been assessed 12 missed tackles on the year, double the next closest Jayhawk and No. 2 overall in the Big 12 conference. He is still, though, one of the Jayhawks’ leading tacklers and has four pass breakups, plus an interception against TCU that — again, if the offense had held up its end of the bargain — could have changed the course of the game.

Beside Burroughs in the back of the secondary has been a rotating cast of characters, with little continuity from one week to the next.

Devin Dye, Jalen Dye and Mason Ellis have all missed games at various points during the year. Devin Dye went from 13 combined snaps in the first two weeks to 100 in a pair of starts over the next two. Jalen Dye started and played 72 downs against TCU and has only played 59 throughout the remainder of the season. Ellis hasn’t appeared in a game since getting injured at West Virginia.

The latest spin of the roulette wheel has landed on the previously unused redshirt freshman safety Taylor Davis, who did rather well in spot duty at ASU.

It’s a close battle with linebacker, but of all KU’s positions on either side of the ball, this might be the one in the most dire need of a bye week.