Chase Jenkins ready to compete for starting quarterback at Kansas
Kansas decided to pursue a transfer quarterback after David McComb entered the transfer portal. The Jayhawks settled on Rice transfer Chase Jenkins, who comes with a year of starting experience for the Owls.
Jenkins is set to be part of a three-horse race for the Jayhawks’ starting quarterback in 2026. When Kansas recruited him, the staff told Jenkins he’d have the opportunity to earn his role.
“Coming in and competing, utilizing what they said is a unique skillset,” Jenkins said of his conversations with the coaching staff. “So the ability to come in here and compete.”
Despite being in the midst of a quarterback battle, Jenkins said he’s developed good relationships with Cole Ballard and Isaiah Marshall. The trio constantly get feedback from each other and share perspectives.
“They’ve been in the program for a few years now, so it’s great to have somebody you can ask, especially someone in the same room. It’s good to see somebody else’s perspective,” Jenkins said. “Even though it’s competition, everybody is real cool with each other. We have a group chat and we’re always picking each other’s brain.”
From the first conversation with the coaches, Jenkins said he felt Kansas was the right fit. The dual-threat, athletic quarterback rushed for over 500 yards in Rice’s spread option offense. Kansas offers Jenkins a similar opportunity to showcase his athleticism.
“Everybody [in the quarterback room] has a great unique skillset in their own right,” Jenkins said. “But for me, I’d say just my ability to improvise, my speed, obviously. I played multiple positions beforehand. So my speed is probably what jumps off the tape. And just the ability to improvise, make plays off platform and when everything breaks down.”
Jenkins brings elite speed to the quarterback room
Jenkins, also a high school track athlete, didn’t start playing quarterback until 10th grade. His speed led to a change to wide receiver at Rice in 2024, before switching back to quarterback the next season.
“In college, I had the opportunity to get the ball in my hands at a young age. I played as a true freshman a little bit, even though I redshirted,” Jenkins said. “Then the next year I was going to play slot and stuff like that, but I was hurt and missed that season. Then when the new staff came in, they asked me to come back and play quarterback, which all made sense.”
Since arriving at Kansas, Jenkins has gained 10 pounds of muscle during offseason workouts. He got clocked at 22.2 or 22.3 miles per hour during winter conditioning. Jenkins said he’s heard comparisons to former Jayhawk speedster quarterback Jason Bean.
“I have heard that before, yes,” Jenkins said.
However, as spring practice continues, an injury has limited Jenkins. He’s had to rely on mental reps to help him grasp a hold of Kansas’ offense.
“Chase continues to show flashes,” Lance Leipold said. “Again, he’s been a little limited yet in what he’s doing in some of our 11-on-11 stuff and that, but hoping that he can come around and do things well because he’s extremely athletic and shows flashes as well. So we’ll see.”
