photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas running back Leshon Williams runs through drills during the first practice of spring on Sunday, March 2, 2025.

Spring football can only be so informative.

Teams are only beginning to take shape, and coaches don’t always want to share the biggest insights they learn about those teams — especially when the rosters are, like this year’s group at Kansas, largely composed of new players overseen by freshly promoted coaches.

That’s not to say that KU’s spring, which wrapped up in April, was totally opaque.

On the offensive side, for example, it became clear that Alabama transfer Emmanuel Henderson Jr. was a name to know at wide receiver, that players like Bryce Foster, DeShawn Hanika and Daniel Hishaw Jr. had grown as leaders, that the Jayhawks continue to view Calvin Clements as their left tackle of the present and future.

A lot more, though, was left unknown — particularly with a new set of players arriving in the summer.

photo by: Columbia Athletics/Stockton Photo

Columbia wide receiver Bryson Canty carries the ball ahead against Georgetown on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022, in Washington, D.C.

How does Bryson Canty fit in?

Wide receivers coach Terrence Samuel has not hesitated to compare the three transfers who joined KU’s receiving corps during the spring to the longtime program fixtures who had immediately preceded them. Levi Wentz’s body is like Lawrence Arnold’s, Cam Pickett provides a similar presence in the slot to Luke Grimm and Henderson is a deep threat in the vein of Quentin Skinner (although Henderson said he thinks he is faster than Skinner, now of the New York Jets).

If those three can so easily slide into those roles — which were large ones that evolved over the course of several seasons — and Doug Emilien and Keaton Kubecka can bring contributions of their own to the passing game, it might be a challenge for Bryson Canty, a Columbia transfer joining the team over the summer, to make his mark.

Canty is actually one of the most accomplished wideout additions as a fifth-year senior and former All-Ivy League player who caught 43 balls for 760 yards and nine touchdowns in 2024. He projects as an outside receiver at 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds.

“Canty just got here,” head coach Lance Leipold said in Topeka on June 2. “We’re excited to get him going. He walked in when he was moving in, I’m like, ‘Dang, he’s a little taller than I remembered on his visit.'”

The question is whether he can gain ground on Wentz, likely his most direct competition, even though the Albany transfer has a several-month head start. At least Canty will have some familiarity with the program after Samuel used FaceTime to bring him into meetings virtually during the spring.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels smiles during the Kansas Football Fan Appreciation Day Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Lawrence.

Is Jalon Daniels going to be rusty again?

After quarterback Jalon Daniels returned from a long-term back injury in 2024 and struggled early last season, only to eventually find his groove around the midway point of the year, Leipold acknowledged at one point that in practices at the start of the year, “we probably thought he was further along in knocking off the rust than he probably truly was.”

Daniels had to take time to reestablish connections with his longtime receivers, but after throwing for five touchdowns and eight interceptions across KU’s first five games, he tallied nine touchdowns and two interceptions in the next six, while also looking more like his old self as a rushing threat.

Daniels sat out nearly all of the spring once again this offseason, this time following a knee procedure. There will be a greater sense of urgency in his final season and the Jayhawks won’t be able to wait until the sixth game of the year for him to find his groove — which could be a more challenging process as he is likely to be one of just three returning offensive starters.

Leipold reiterated on June 2 that Daniels is on schedule, though, and recounted a recent conversation with athletic trainer Trent Carter in which Carter said he had seen Daniels, in a workout with Henderson, throw the ball a greater distance than ever before.

photo by: UCLA Athletics

UCLA offensive lineman Tavake Tuikolovatu prepares to block against USC on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024, in Pasadena, Calif.

Who will play left guard and right tackle?

On that note, KU has rarely had significant questions on the offensive line in recent years, but that will change this fall. Besides a position battle at center in which it looked clearer and clearer as August drew on that Foster would emerge victorious, the biggest topic under discussion last year during fall camp was which side each of the offensive tackles would play on — the KU staff eventually settled on the left for Bryce Cabeldue and the right for Logan Brown, and in the end the line ranked among the best in the conference and both Cabeldue and Brown went to the NFL.

This time around, two spots on the line are essentially wide open.

Little-used veterans James Livingston and Nolan Gorczyca started in the spring at left guard and right tackle, respectively, but then Gorczyca suffered a hand injury and had finger surgery on March 13, with Leipold later saying he wasn’t sure when he might be cleared to participate during the summer. He was replaced by sophomore Tulsa transfer Jack Tanner. Meanwhile, UCLA transfer Tavake Tuikolovatu, who has some experience playing both guard and tackle, had to gradually work his way into action after missing practices early in the spring.

The picture has become even more complicated with the spring additions of transfers Enrique Cruz Jr., a veteran tackle from Syracuse and potential plug-and-play option on the right side, and Antonio Wilson, a JUCO recruit from Garden City Community College who may need more time to develop but still adds depth.

“I think we’re going to have eight-plus that we’re going to be able to rotate and play, and that’s what we’re going to need,” Leipold said.

The battles in fall camp may come down to Livingston and Tuikolovatu at guard and Gorczyca and Cruz at tackle, but the choice to switch sides for Cabeldue and Brown last offseason and the unexpected emergence of Bumgardner as a rotational guard midway through last year suggest it isn’t always that simple with the KU offensive line room.

Kansas running back Daniel Hishaw Jr. (9) looks for an opening during the first quarter on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 at GEHA Field in Kansas City.

Who will receive carries?

Hishaw has waited his turn to serve as KU’s primary running back. He was on campus before Devin Neal even began his career and is still around in the aftermath of Neal’s sixth-round selection by the New Orleans Saints. And by all accounts, Hishaw has improved both mentally, by getting in a better headspace and becoming more of a leader, and physically, by taking ownership of his nutritional process and leaning out somewhat for his final collegiate season.

“Daniel Hishaw’s waited patiently, and I think he’s ready to have a big year for us,” Leipold said. “He’s a powerful back. Before the hip injury a few years back, he was playing every bit as good as Devin — nothing against Devin.”

On the other hand, the Jayhawks also didn’t bring in Leshon Williams, a similarly experienced rusher who once ran for 821 yards in a season at Iowa, just to sit on the bench.

Hishaw takes a pounding as such a powerful runner and has carried the ball 282 times in his career, so it’s hard to imagine him jumping straight to 200-plus in a single season like Neal received each of the last two years. But in a situation when both he and Williams are well rested, it will be interesting to see exactly what sort of balance new offensive coordinator Jim Zebrowski strikes between the two.

Of note, they don’t exactly have contrasting skill sets in the way Hishaw did with Neal. Running backs coach Jonathan Wallace called Williams’ rushing style “violent” (which sounds familiar) and referred to him as “a 2.0 of Daniel.”

If they want to mix in some variety in the backfield, the Jayhawks would need to look further down the depth chart to redshirt sophomore Johnny Thompson Jr., more of an elusive back and possibly a pass-catching threat. That could be useful considering that Hishaw and Williams have combined for 25 catches over the course of their entire careers.

Will Jaden Nickens actually be included on the basketball roster?

This is as much a lingering question for Bill Self’s staff as it is for Leipold’s, but essentially, Nickens’ commitment to KU was by all accounts predicated on his ability to take part in both sports. Leipold called it his “deciding factor.” In fact, although Nickens was a four-star football recruit at the time he pledged to KU (his rating has decreased slightly), it was the basketball staff that led the charge initially, as Self learned about him on a golf outing with former MLB player Joe Carter.

It’s not clear, though, that it would actually make sense for the men’s basketball team to use one of its newly limited roster spots on Nickens.

Leipold has said the plan is for Nickens to join the basketball program when football season is over. The question is whether Self and company will deem it appropriate to use one of their precious roster spots, limited to 14 total for the upcoming season, on a part-time player, especially when they are already adding full-time developmental prospects like Corbin Allen to fill out the end of the roster. They also may not end up needing more walk-on-caliber players, as it is looking increasingly likely that KU’s existing walk-ons with remaining eligibility, players like Justin Cross, Wilder Evers and Will Thengvall, will be grandfathered in to some extent and will be exempt from the roster limit.

It could become problematic for Nickens, given his decision-making process, if he doesn’t actually get the chance to play both sports.