Jalon Daniels Leads New-Look Kansas Offense Into Big 12 Play

The Kansas Jayhawks offense is hoping to balance things out after an uneven offensive performance during the 2024 season.  

Here was how the Kansas offense ranked last season in FBS:

Points per game: 29.7 (No. 52)

Rushing yards per game: 211.4 (No. 13)

Passing yards per game: 208.8 (No. 90)

Total yards per game: 420.2 (No. 37).

With just three starters back on the offensive side of the ball, the Jayhawks will rely on fresh blood to try and contend in the Big 12.

Here are three offensive players to keep an eye on for the Kansas Jayhawks.

QB Jalon Daniels

Daniels says he’s healthy and ready. This is his last chance to take Kansas to new heights and to impress NFL scouts.

He threw for 2,454 yards and 14 touchdowns last season, along with 439 yards rushing with six touchdowns. His passing yards was the seventh-most in a single season in team history. He also threw a career-high 12 interceptions.

Going back to his 2022 season, he showed great progress in nine games, as he threw for 2,014 yards and threw 18 touchdowns against four interceptions.

Now, he needs to put it all together in his sixth season. Career yardage output and career-low interception output, and Daniels might not only get drafted, but the Jayhawks might be contenders in the Big 12.

RB Leshon Williams

No more Devin Neal. What will the Jayhawks do now?

They’ll turn to Williams, who will get first crack at trying to fill Neal’s sizeable shoes. He was at Iowa for five years, including a redshirt, before he decided to transfer this offseason.

He only played in three games last year due to injury, so a better barometer for what he can do is in 2023, when he was named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten and Iowa’s most valuable player on offense.

He led the team with 170 rushes for 821 yards (4.8 yards per carry avg., 58.6 yards per game avg.) and one touchdown, with a long rush of 82 yards on the season.

He’s not in Neal’s class, but he doesn’t have to be. He just needs to be productive.

WR Emmanuel Henderson Jr.

Kansas was more than happy to take Henderson off Alabama’s hands in the transfer portal. The thing is, he was never really that productive with the Crimson Tide.

Last season he caught four passes for 82 yards and added five kick returns for 107 yards and four tackles on special teams. The year before that he several games due to injury and in 2022 he was primarily a special teams performer.

So, where does he fit in? Right now, he’s a projected starter for a wide receiver corps that isn’t returning a starter. Hopefully, Henderson got in some serious work with Daniels out in California and can carry that over into fall workouts.