Greatest Kansas Football Players of All-Time Bracket: David Jaynes vs Mark Williams

(5) David Jaynes

Jaynes quarterbacked the Jayhawks from 1971-73. He sits fourth in the Kansas career record books in passing yards and second in career touchdown passes (a mere 55 TDs behind Todd Reesing). However, at the time he left KU, he was tops in both categories.

A Bonner Springs native, Jaynes turned down scholarship offers from Stanford, Miami, and Alabama, among others, to stay close to home at Kansas, and what a career he had. He led KU in passing for three consecutive seasons, culminating in his senior year of 1973 that saw Jaynes earn first team All-Big 8, first team All-American, and finish fourth in the Heisman balloting. He is still the only Jayhawk to be a Heisman finalist.

He was drafted 66th overall by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 1974 NFL Draft and first overall by the Houston Texans of the World Football League, but once again elected to stay close to home. His professional career only lasted three years, cut short by injuries.

(12) Mark Williams

When Williams came to Kansas from junior college in 1994, the plan was to redshirt as senior Asheiki Preston played out his final year of eligibility. However, after Preston went down with what was thought to be a season-ending injury, coach Glen Mason promptly chucked Williams’ redshirt - only to see Preston return quickly from afore-mentioned injury. But it was already too late; Williams had a firm hold on the QB job that he wouldn’t relinquish.

Following KU’s 6-5 1994 campaign, Williams would lead KU to a 10-2 record and a big Aloha Bowl victory over UCLA in the 1995 season. In the 18 games that Williams played in his KU career, he moved into the top-15 in school history for both passing yards and passing TDs, and is second only to Todd Reesing in career completion percentage (minimum 200 attempts) at 62.5% (Reesing was 63.8%).

—-

Who was the greater Jayhawk? Register your vote in the comments below. Other matchups can be found here.