Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2015
FOOTBALL PREVIEW
SPORTS | KANSAN.COM
Predicting the Big 12 rankings for football
The Kansas football beat writers ranked every team in the Big 12. The Kansan writers have TCU and Baylor finishing one-two again. Oklahoma comes in at three, despite some offensive uncertainty. Oklahoma State rose to four after the program's first sub...500 season in conference play since 2006. Kansas State dropped to five after last season's third place finish in the Big 12. Texas was the most controversial, with
each writer ranking it differently. Kansas dropped to the bottom of the rankings after finishing ninth in 2014. Shane, Riggs and Peterson predict the Jayhawks at 1-11, while Hardy had them finish winless.
| | Christian Hardy | Evan Riggs | Shane Jackson | Kirsten Peterson | Average rank |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| TCU | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1.3 |
| Baylor | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1.8 |
| Oklahoma | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Oklahoma State | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Kansas State | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5.8 |
| West Virginia | 5 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 6 |
| Texas | 8 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6.5 |
| Texas Tech | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7.8 |
| Iowa State | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Kansas | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
Introducing the 2015 Kansas recruiting class
SHANE JACKSON @jacksonshane3
Football coach David Beaty watches his team practice on Aug. 13. The coaching staff visited nearly 500 schools across the state in preparation for the season.
David Beaty isn't the only thing new about Kansas football this year. Because over 20 seniors graduated from last year's roster and a handful of players left the program for a variety of reasons, this year's roster is full of fresh new faces.
Beaty has been on the recruiting trail from the moment he stepped on campus. His Texas roots as a former high school football coach, plus a recruiter and receivers coach at Texas A&M, have led to an abundance of Texas recruits — 18 to be exact.
AMIE JUST/KANSAN
Beaty stressed the importance of getting homegrown talent. More often than not the Jayhawks have fell short in acquiring DI talent from their home state. The Kansas State Wildcats have been winning that battle here recently.
Ryan Willis — 6-foot-4.
Bishop Miege High School.
Willis was the highest ranked
recruit from the freshman class.
But under Beaty's orders, "Kansas Blast" was in full force this offseason. The coaching staff visited nearly 500 schools in the state, some of which didn't even have a high school football team. Beaty wanted to lay down a foundation for what he hopes to be a very profitable investment down the road.
QUARTERBACK
No position receives as much attention as the quarterback position, and that's even the case for Kansas. Beaty brought in two highly-touted freshmen in this year's class.
Taylor Martin — 5-foot-10. Dunbar (Texas) High School. Martin ran the ball 170 times for 1,543 yards and 25 touchdowns and ran the 100-meter in track.
Carter Stanley — 6-foot-2.
Vero Beach (Fla.) High School.
Stanley ran the air raid offense
where he threw for 3,070 yards
and 40 touchdowns.
RUNNING BACK
WIDE RECIEVERS
When an offense is tabbed "air raid," it implies that the running game will be a non-factor. However, that's not the case at Kansas. In fact, running backs coach Reggie Mitchell believes the running game will be even better as Kansas spreads it out and opens the running lanes even more.
Keaun Kinner — 5-foot-9.
Little Elm (Texas) High School and a transfer from Navarro Junior College. He was the NJ-CAA Offensive Player of the Year in 2014 and finished third all-time in rushing yards with 1,918 yards.
The Javhawks must replace 93 percent of last year's production from the receiving unit — which means the wide receivers will feature a vast majority of new faces.
Jeremiah Booker — 6-foot-
2. College Station (Texas) High
School. Booker will be out a
few weeks due to a shoulder
injury he sustained at the
beginning of fall camp.
Chase Harrell — 6-foot-4. Harrell was rated three-stars out of Hargrave High School in Huffman, Texas. He enrolled a semester early to compete in spring and is a favorite to see some immediate playing time as a freshman.
Emmanuel Moore — 6-foot. Northwest (Texas) High School. His speed and agility give him a chance to see some snaps out of the slot immediately.
Steven Sims, Jr. — 5-foot-10.
Travis (Texas) High School.
Jace Sternberger (tight end)
— 6-foot-4. Kingfisher (Okla.)
High School. Two-way player in high school who could play early on.
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The offensive line has been shaky for Kansas in the past few years. Beaty is hoping to patch up the issue with several new bodies to compete in camp.
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D'Andre Banks — 6-foot-4. Killeen (Texas) High School and Trinity Valley Community College. He should start at guard to begin the season.
Terman (Texas) High School.
Clyde McCauley II -->
6-foot-5. Bowie (Texas) High School. He was first-train all-district in 2014 as a senior.
Aaron Garza — 6-foot-3
Sherman (Texas) High School
Jayson Rhodes — 6-foot-4. Deer Park (Texas) High School and Blinn College. He started at defensive lineman before moving to the offensive side of the ball.
Will Smith 6-foot-3. Shawnee Mission Northwest High School and Butler Community College. Smith is a converted offensive lineman after starting on the defensive line in high school.
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN
The defensive line is considered the deepest position on the defense. Stacked with veterans and younger guys with
Dorance Armstrong — Defensive end. 6-foot-4. North Shore (Texas) High School. Armstrong had plenty of offers from other DI programs including Iowa State because of his ability to get after the quarterback.
untapped potential. Kansas will have no problem getting to the quarterback.
Jacky Dezir 6-foot-1.
Bowen (Ill.) High School and
College of Dupree.
LINEBACKERS
Gone is arguably the best linebacker to ever put on a Kansas uniform — Ben Heeney. Wearing Heeney's historic number is the lone linebacker recruit, freshman Osase Oggebor.
Osaze Ogbebor — 6-foot-1.
Heritage (Texas) High School.
Ogbebor is more suited for an outside linebacker spot based off size and experience.
DEFENSIVE BACKS
Beaty and Bowen netted six defensive backs from the class:
Last year's secondary was very good, which has become almost a tradition with Kansas football. But like other positions, the team's talented secondary from last year is now depleted, and because of that, the secondary was the most recruited in the offseason.
Bazie Bates IV, Denzel Feaster, Tyrone Miller Jr., Marnez Ogletree, Shaquille Richmond and Brandon Stewart.
Bazie Bates IV — 6-foot-
1. Allen (Texas) High School
and Trinity Valley Community
College. Bates is expected to
start right off the bat next to
Fish Smithson.
Brandon Stewart 6-foot Cedar Hill (Texas) High School and Trinity Valley Community College. Stewart is an athletic corner who is expected to be a key piece in the secondary in 2015. He will start right off the bat.
Tyrone Miller — 6-foot. Saline (Mich.) High School. What he lacks in size, he makes up for his quickness and the important specific ability to rotate his hips at the break of a route.
Denzel Feaster 6-foot-3. Manor (Texas) High School. Feaster is another all-around athlete with experience on the offensive side of the ball.
Marnez Ogletree — 5-foot-10. Shiloh (Ga.) High School and Fullerton College.
Shaquille Richmond — 6-foot. Mansfield (Texas) Timberview High School. Richmond is another athletic corner that can keep up with quick receivers.
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