Kansas Bets on Kotelnicki's Return to Settle Its Quarterback Question
Kansas went 5-7 (3-6 Big 12) in 2025, a second straight seven-loss finish that followed the 9-4 breakthrough of 2023 and has left Lance Leipold in unfamiliar discomfort entering his sixth season. The defining move of the offseason is the return of Andy Kotelnicki as play-caller after two years at Penn State. The offense ranked inside the national top 25 in scoring in both seasons he ran it and slid outside the top 50 in each year he was gone. He inherits a roster that must replace six-year starter Jalon Daniels and settle a quarterback race that produced no separation through the spring.
Offense
The competition to succeed Daniels, who threw for 2,531 yards with 22 touchdowns and seven interceptions last fall, comes down to three candidates who bring little proven production. Redshirt junior Cole Ballard, Daniels' longtime backup, has completed 35 of 64 passes for 445 yards over three years and is known for not rattling. Redshirt sophomore Isaiah Marshall offers a dual-threat skill set, having run for 160 yards on just 15 carries while hitting all three of his throws. Rice transfer Chase Jenkins carries the most game experience, with 12 starts running an option attack that netted 1,025 yards passing and 531 on the ground. National outlets have been unkind, ranking Marshall the worst quarterback in the Big 12 and slotting Ballard near the bottom of the power-conference field, so someone has to prove them wrong.
Cam Pickett anchors the group after tying for the team lead with 45 catches for 476 yards. Kansas surrounded him with proven portal help: Nik McMillan arrives from Buffalo as a first-team all-conference pick who went for 981 yards at 15.8 per grab, and Nahzae Cox brings 473 yards from Middle Tennessee. Tate Nagy and Keaton Kubecka add depth. At tight end, sophomore Carson Bruhn returns after a modest 55-yard debut and pairs with Old Dominion transfer Jailen Butler, an 11-game starter. The room has fewer marquee names than a year ago but more productive bodies.
The backfield is the strength, and Dylan Edwards is the headliner. A former top-150 recruit and Derby, Kansas, native, Edwards comes home to his third program after stops at Colorado and Kansas State, where he totaled 751 yards at 6.9 per carry over the last two years despite an ankle injury that cost him time. When healthy he has averaged better than seven yards a touch and doubled as a return man, and Leipold has promised Kotelnicki will find creative ways to use him. He shares carries with two more transfers: Yasin Willis, who led Syracuse in rushing with 558 yards, and Jalen Dupree, Colorado State's leading runner at 5.0 a carry. True freshman Kory Amachree deepens the room further.
The line returns its left side in tackle Calvin Clements and guard Amir Herring, both full-time starters a year ago, with Clements carrying legitimate next-level buzz. Kansas must replace three starters and did so through the portal, importing center Kasen Carpenter from Oklahoma State, guard Connor Stroh from Texas and tackle Nick Morrow from Cal, each with starting experience. If the newcomers jell quickly, it would be a major lift for a first-year starter at quarterback.
Defense
Leipold likes the depth on the edge, led by top pass-rusher Leroy Harris III, who logged 4.5 sacks and eight pass breakups while starting just once and profiles as an all-conference candidate. Alex Bray, Dakyus Brinkley and Michigan State transfer David Santiago round out the rotation. Inside, Blake Herold returns as the team's sixth-leading tackler with five tackles for loss, and Kansas added Tulane's Tre'von McAlpine, a second-team all-AAC pick, and UAB's Eamon Smalls to a front that should hold up better against the run.
The unit has a centerpiece in Trey Lathan, whose team-high 86 tackles came with seven for loss, an interception, a forced fumble and two recoveries, and he too rates as an all-Big 12 candidate. Boston College transfer Bam Crouch, a 17-game starter, and Marshall's Jibreel Al-Amin join on the outside, and the group carries more size and depth than in recent years, which should keep it fresh late in games.
The secondary that surrendered too many chunk plays in 2025 is a year older and deeper. Corners Austin Alexander and Jalen Todd both return after starting double-digit games, and safety Taylor Davis is a 15-game starter across the last two seasons. The concern is at rover, where Lyrik Rawls left for Arizona State after 73 tackles and seven breakups; Louisville transfer Corey Gordon was brought in to fill the void. Ball State's Roman Pearson, Iowa State's Khijohnn Cummings-Coleman and Georgia's Jaden Harris deepen a group that must generate more takeaways.
Placekicker Martin Connington transfers in from Michigan State having converted 12 of 16 field goals with a long of 50. He is reliable inside 40 but unproven beyond it. Freshman punter Matthew Gill arrives out of an Australian Rules Football background, having taken up the position only recently. Edwards and Nagy give Kansas genuine juice in the return game.
Overview and Prediction
The schedule opens with three straight home games, including Missouri and a neutral-site meeting with Arizona State in London, and delivers only five Big 12 home dates in all. The preseason consensus pegs Kansas in the lower third of the league, somewhere between 11th and 14th, though most power ratings still see a bowl within reach given Kotelnicki's return and a defense that brings back much of its production.
Everything hinges on the quarterback. If Kotelnicki can coax steady play from Ballard, Marshall or Jenkins, the surrounding pieces are good enough to push Kansas back to the postseason. If no one seizes the job, a third straight losing season is the likelier result, and the early stretch against Missouri and Arizona State will tell the story quickly.