And getting the disclaimer out of the way again - this is just a comparison of the roster from last year with the roster from this year and signing class roster all found on kuathletics.com. Noting that when the roster is changed online (both position switches and additions/subtractions), I will change it here, so it won't be 100% accurate for now.
On to the OL group...
RETURNING
Hakeem Adeniji (JR, 6' 4" 300 lbs)
Andru Tovi (JR, 6' 3" 320 lbs)
Clyde McCauley III (JR, 6' 5" 305 lbs)
Antione Frazier (JR, 6' 4" 300 lbs)
Beau Lawrence (JR, 6' 5" 315 lbs)
Chris Hughes (SO, 6' 3" 310 lbs)
Earl Bostick Jr (SO, 6' 6" 286 lbs)
Malik Clark (SO, 6' 4" 320 lbs)
Cam Durley (SO, 6' 6" 315 lbs)
Joseph Gilbertson (FR, 6' 4 290 lbs)
Jack Williams (FR, 6' 3" 275 lbs)
LOST
Zach Hannon (SR, 6' 4" 315 lbs)
Jayson Rhodes (SR, 6' 4" 307 lbs)
Kyle Pullia (SR, 6' 4" 300 lbs)
Larry Hughes (JR, 6' 7" 310 lbs)
Jacob Bragg (JR, 6' 4" 280 lbs)
Charles Baldwin (JR, 6' 5" 305 lbs)
Mesa Ribordy (SO, 6' 4" 305 lbs)
Hunter Saulsbury (SO, 6' 4" 310 lbs)
Lucas Jacobs (FR, 6' 2" 305 lbs)
ADDED
Alex Fontana (SR, 6' 2" 300 lbs)
Dwayne Wallace (SR, 6' 4" 325 lbs)
Kevin Feder (JR, 6' 9" 300 lbs)
Api Mane (JR, 6' 3" 327 lbs)
Adagio Lopeti (JR, 6' 4" 320 lbs)
Reuben Lewis (JR, 6' 4" 330 lbs)
Nick Williams (FR, 6' 8" 290 lbs)
Jacobi Lott (FR, 6' 4" 309 lbs)
Jalan Robinson (FR, 6' 3" 280 lbs)
Mac Copeland (FR, 6' 4" 245 lbs)
Jack Murphy (FR, 6' 9" 291 lbs)
BREAKDOWN
The discussion starts with Hakeem Adeniji. I might start calling him Paul Bunyan because his story at KU is becoming a tall tale - comes to KU because of a peanut allergy, starts right away and is good at 260 lbs, and played a good chunk of last year with two torn labrums. That's ridiculous. Assuming he is healthy, he is one guy you can count on to be solid for us.
Then we start heading into some unknowns. I thought Chris Hughes showed flashes of being a solid OL for us last year, but he needs to be more consistent. I am not sure if I agree with Tovi moving to center, another guy who showed flashes but needs to be more consistent. Still excited about the potential of Malik Clark and think he will easily figure into the two deep. Saulsbury is another guy that has provided some depth for us in the past.
On the outside, I will take an Adeniji any day, but we really need someone to step up opposite of him. Guys like McCauley and Frazier have the athletic ability to play tackle, but have just needed to become a little bit tougher and stronger to really take a hold of that position. I was excited about Cam Durley coming in and hoping he takes a big step forward this year as well. But I think at the end of the day, a newcomer will have to handle the spot. I include Bostick here because he didn't play much OL for us last year, he might be a year or two away, but think he is a guy that has a lot of potential that can help us out down the road. Nick Williams is similar, love the potential, but he needs time. Reuben Lewis is a guy that when you watch his freshman JUCO stuff, he moved around really well and looked pretty solid at tackle. But his sophomore year he put on some bad weight, moved inside, and looked a little bit more sluggish. I would love to sneak a redshirt year out of him and get him in shape so we can see him more like his JUCO FR year than this past year.
Right now, though, my guess would be Kevin Feder ends up our starting RT. What's kind of funny to me is that Feder is similar to some of the OL we took under Yenser - tall, athletic project. He didn't play much OL in HS, at least his highlight stuff was him playing DT. So he was a guy that had to be completely developed from scratch. That's a little bit hard to do at a place like Ohio State when they bring in all of the talented guys they do, but with Warinner and Studrawa teaching him these past few years, you know he got solid coaching. He is a wild card, I don't think we will know what we have in him until a few games into the season because of him being a project, but I also think he has a chance. Fingers crossed on that one!
Alex Fontana is an interesting late addition. Didn't play last year due to injury and the prior year started five games at guard. So on the surface, needing him badly at center after losing Ribordy, it seems kind of strange. But a little bit deeper look and you see that Ricker spent time with him at Houston, Houston currently has an multi-year starter All-American candidate at center that he would not overtake, and back in his JUCO stuff he played center and looked pretty good at it. While I don't think he is necessarily an all world type player, I do think he can be solid for us, of which we haven't had consistent OL play in a long time at the center spot. This gives Gilbertson another year to develop and hopefully allows us to redshirt Tovi and develop him further (or back to guard, which I think he is better at). I am very excited about the potential of Api Mane, he may need some time to adjust to D1 life, but he has that road grader type of style to his game - he is a guy that might struggle some with side-to-side movement, but he will not be pushed back. I think Lopeti is a guy that can develop into a capable OL, probably on the inside. I think he may need some S&C before he is ready though and hoping we can redshirt him.
Possibly the biggest late addition to this group is Dwayne Wallace. If he has stayed in good shape from when he last played, he will be an instant impact guy that will be an immediate solid presence on this OL. He was a very solid guard at Cal, has the size this staff wants, and is just an overall nasty guy on the OL. While I am a little bit nervous about so many new faces on the OL, I do think guys like Fontana and Wallace are easily improvements at these spots from a year ago, which is much needed.
A lot will go into what makes or breaks the season this year, but I have the OL development being at the top. If we get solid OL play, then we have a chance...if we don't, I don't think this staff will be around next year.
On to the OL group...
RETURNING
Hakeem Adeniji (JR, 6' 4" 300 lbs)
Andru Tovi (JR, 6' 3" 320 lbs)
Clyde McCauley III (JR, 6' 5" 305 lbs)
Antione Frazier (JR, 6' 4" 300 lbs)
Beau Lawrence (JR, 6' 5" 315 lbs)
Chris Hughes (SO, 6' 3" 310 lbs)
Earl Bostick Jr (SO, 6' 6" 286 lbs)
Malik Clark (SO, 6' 4" 320 lbs)
Cam Durley (SO, 6' 6" 315 lbs)
Joseph Gilbertson (FR, 6' 4 290 lbs)
Jack Williams (FR, 6' 3" 275 lbs)
LOST
Zach Hannon (SR, 6' 4" 315 lbs)
Jayson Rhodes (SR, 6' 4" 307 lbs)
Kyle Pullia (SR, 6' 4" 300 lbs)
Larry Hughes (JR, 6' 7" 310 lbs)
Jacob Bragg (JR, 6' 4" 280 lbs)
Charles Baldwin (JR, 6' 5" 305 lbs)
Mesa Ribordy (SO, 6' 4" 305 lbs)
Hunter Saulsbury (SO, 6' 4" 310 lbs)
Lucas Jacobs (FR, 6' 2" 305 lbs)
ADDED
Alex Fontana (SR, 6' 2" 300 lbs)
Dwayne Wallace (SR, 6' 4" 325 lbs)
Kevin Feder (JR, 6' 9" 300 lbs)
Api Mane (JR, 6' 3" 327 lbs)
Adagio Lopeti (JR, 6' 4" 320 lbs)
Reuben Lewis (JR, 6' 4" 330 lbs)
Nick Williams (FR, 6' 8" 290 lbs)
Jacobi Lott (FR, 6' 4" 309 lbs)
Jalan Robinson (FR, 6' 3" 280 lbs)
Mac Copeland (FR, 6' 4" 245 lbs)
Jack Murphy (FR, 6' 9" 291 lbs)
BREAKDOWN
The discussion starts with Hakeem Adeniji. I might start calling him Paul Bunyan because his story at KU is becoming a tall tale - comes to KU because of a peanut allergy, starts right away and is good at 260 lbs, and played a good chunk of last year with two torn labrums. That's ridiculous. Assuming he is healthy, he is one guy you can count on to be solid for us.
Then we start heading into some unknowns. I thought Chris Hughes showed flashes of being a solid OL for us last year, but he needs to be more consistent. I am not sure if I agree with Tovi moving to center, another guy who showed flashes but needs to be more consistent. Still excited about the potential of Malik Clark and think he will easily figure into the two deep. Saulsbury is another guy that has provided some depth for us in the past.
On the outside, I will take an Adeniji any day, but we really need someone to step up opposite of him. Guys like McCauley and Frazier have the athletic ability to play tackle, but have just needed to become a little bit tougher and stronger to really take a hold of that position. I was excited about Cam Durley coming in and hoping he takes a big step forward this year as well. But I think at the end of the day, a newcomer will have to handle the spot. I include Bostick here because he didn't play much OL for us last year, he might be a year or two away, but think he is a guy that has a lot of potential that can help us out down the road. Nick Williams is similar, love the potential, but he needs time. Reuben Lewis is a guy that when you watch his freshman JUCO stuff, he moved around really well and looked pretty solid at tackle. But his sophomore year he put on some bad weight, moved inside, and looked a little bit more sluggish. I would love to sneak a redshirt year out of him and get him in shape so we can see him more like his JUCO FR year than this past year.
Right now, though, my guess would be Kevin Feder ends up our starting RT. What's kind of funny to me is that Feder is similar to some of the OL we took under Yenser - tall, athletic project. He didn't play much OL in HS, at least his highlight stuff was him playing DT. So he was a guy that had to be completely developed from scratch. That's a little bit hard to do at a place like Ohio State when they bring in all of the talented guys they do, but with Warinner and Studrawa teaching him these past few years, you know he got solid coaching. He is a wild card, I don't think we will know what we have in him until a few games into the season because of him being a project, but I also think he has a chance. Fingers crossed on that one!
Alex Fontana is an interesting late addition. Didn't play last year due to injury and the prior year started five games at guard. So on the surface, needing him badly at center after losing Ribordy, it seems kind of strange. But a little bit deeper look and you see that Ricker spent time with him at Houston, Houston currently has an multi-year starter All-American candidate at center that he would not overtake, and back in his JUCO stuff he played center and looked pretty good at it. While I don't think he is necessarily an all world type player, I do think he can be solid for us, of which we haven't had consistent OL play in a long time at the center spot. This gives Gilbertson another year to develop and hopefully allows us to redshirt Tovi and develop him further (or back to guard, which I think he is better at). I am very excited about the potential of Api Mane, he may need some time to adjust to D1 life, but he has that road grader type of style to his game - he is a guy that might struggle some with side-to-side movement, but he will not be pushed back. I think Lopeti is a guy that can develop into a capable OL, probably on the inside. I think he may need some S&C before he is ready though and hoping we can redshirt him.
Possibly the biggest late addition to this group is Dwayne Wallace. If he has stayed in good shape from when he last played, he will be an instant impact guy that will be an immediate solid presence on this OL. He was a very solid guard at Cal, has the size this staff wants, and is just an overall nasty guy on the OL. While I am a little bit nervous about so many new faces on the OL, I do think guys like Fontana and Wallace are easily improvements at these spots from a year ago, which is much needed.
A lot will go into what makes or breaks the season this year, but I have the OL development being at the top. If we get solid OL play, then we have a chance...if we don't, I don't think this staff will be around next year.
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