Lance Leipold highlights competition underway in spring football

Once again, Kansas will field a roster with a lot of newcomers in 2026. Lance Leipold and went heavily into the transfer portal, bringing in 31 transfers to complement 17 incoming freshmen.

The influx of new faces has brought a lot of competition to different position groups as spring practice continues. On Thursday, Leipold spoke with the media about the battles in various position groups, including quarterback, offensive line, and tight end.

Overall, Leipold said he’s been pleased with the way the newcomers have adapted to the program. He said the competitiveness in spring football will prepare the Jayhawks well for the 2026 season.

“The more competition, the better you’re going to practice and develop and push each other, and the better chance you have,” Leipold said. “And then when you do end up with an injury or so that are going to happen in the game, your drop-off isn’t there and you can continue to move forward.”

Quarterbacks understanding the position battle

With Jalon Daniels graduating, the Jayhawks will have to determine who will be the signal-caller in 2026. Cole Ballard and Isaiah Marshall return with flashes of game experience. Leipold said the two returners have grasped the competitive nature of the quarterback room.

“Without saying it to them, I think they understand that it is a competitive situation,” Leipold said. “I think they see how we run practices, how we’ve done it before, that they both feel they’ll be given opportunities with different players and different units at times, and that it’ll truly be evaluated like it is in many ways. Everything is graded and charted and all those different things.”

Rice transfer Chase Jenkins also figures to factor into the position battle. Jenkins, who started 12 games for the Owls last season in a spread option offense, tallied over 1,000 passing yards and 500 rushing yards. Leipold said Jenkins has been limited during practice, but his athleticism stands out.

“Chase continues to show flashes,” 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.”

Kansas won’t determine its starting quarterback during spring ball, and the competition may last well into fall camp. However, Leipold said he foresees only one Jayhawk getting the majority of reps during the season.

“Can I see both guys on the field like we did some last year? Sure, I could see us doing things,” Leipold said. “But I do believe, and I’ll say now, unless something would definitely change that, I think you have to give people an opportunity to get into the flow of the game at that position instead of kind of going back and forth.”

Kansas will have more depth one through 10 at offensive line

The Jayhawks brought in five transfers along the offensive line to go along with their returning core. Like most positions, it’s been a competitive group. Leipold said the players brought in during last year’s portal cycle have become more comfortable.

“I’s still a work in progress for competitiveness of where it’s at, because I’ll tell you some of last year’s additions, you can tell that they’ve been in the program,” Leipold said. “Jack Tanner, Tavake [Tuikolovatu], you know, he’s a lot more comfortable. And so it’s going to be competitive.”

Kansas returns two starters on the offensive line, Calvin Clements and Amir Herring, with Tuikolovatu playing rotationally. Leipold believes transfers such as Connor Stroh (Texas), Kasen Carpenter (Oklahoma State), Nick Morrow (Cal), and Brandon Solis (Missouri) will elevate the depth of the room.

“I think probably if I, and I’m using a guesstimate here, of linemen one through 10, meaning a two-deep, so to speak, I think we’ll be a deeper unit than we were a year ago,” Leipold said.

Leipold thinks four tight ends can help the Jayhawks

The return of Andy Kotelnicki to the staff means the Jayhawks’ tight ends will likely play a big role. Kotelnicki likes to use multiple tight ends in different ways.

It seems like Kansas will have four tight ends that can play a role in 2026. The two returners are Carson Bruhn and Leyton Cure. Bruhn looked to be on his way to a productive redshirt freshman season before an injury ended his year early. Cure has seen some playing time over the last two years and continues to be a hard worker.

“We look for Carson to do a lot on this offense and do a lot of things,” Leipold said. “Leyton Cure is a guy that continues to develop confidence, extremely athletic, takes a backseat to no one in work ethic and positive attitude and how he goes about it, made a big catch today.”

The two transfers are Carter Moses from Albany and Jailen Butler from Old Dominion. Both are improving and will likely play roles in Kotelnicki’s offense.

“And then the two [new] guys, JB continues to get better. Carter Moses keeps getting better as well,” Leipold said. “I think again, with the multiple personnel units that Andy really likes to take care of, all those guys are going to help this football team.”