Offensive Line taking shape for the Kansas Jayhawks Football Program

There is just great competition and those guys can feel it. They know they have to bring their ‘A’ game every time they step foot on that field. The greatest thing about their room is the competition. I don’t give a crap if you started 12 games last year. If you get beat out, you get beat out.

Zach Yenser per JayhawkSlant.com

So goes life at KU’s 2016 fall camp for the offensive linemen.

Offensive line coach Zach Yenser began fall camp with 14 offensive linemen vying for 5 starting spots. His stated goal at the beginning of camp was to find a rotation of eight players and then start the five best against Rhode Island.

You might be listed as a right tackle but you are going to play where we need you to play. We’re going to play the best five. If that means (D’Andre) Banks bumping over to left tackle then he’s going to bump over to left. Those guys made a promise to me just like I made a promise to them that they will do whatever this team needs.

Zach Yenser per JayhawkSlant.com

Well folks, fall camp technically ends on Monday when classes begin and the team begins making specific preparations for their Week 1 opponent. This means that regardless of whether or not Beaty releases an official depth chart, the coaching staff should know who their five starters are by Monday.

Based on reports coming out of the LJW and JayhawkSlant, the top-8 offensive lineman so far in camp appear to be:

LT - SR D’Andre Banks

LG - JR Jayson Rhodes

C - JR Joe Gibson / FR Mesa Ribordy

RG - SO Jacob Bragg

RT - FR Hakeen Adeniji

T - SR Jordan Shelley-Smith

G - SO Larry Hughes

Nobody can get complacent in that room. I don’t care if you played last year or not. I don’t care if you started 12 games, eight, six, whatever. You can’t get complacent in that room. And that’s what you’re trying to build — that culture in there.

Zach Yenser per KUSports.com

I don’t know if it’s the kool-aid or what, but I’m really excited to see what Yenser can do for the offensive line this year. At their last stop at Cal, Yenser and offensive coordinator Rob Likens moved the Bears from the bottom-third of FBS to the top-third of FBS from year one to year two. That kind of incredible success is unlikely to duplicate itself here, but improvement should still be expected.

Last year, there weren’t many offenses in the country worse than Kansas. Depending on whether you prefer OFEI or S&P+, there were either three worse offenses (OFEI) or twelve (S&P+).

That means regardless of how you look at it, the Jayhawks were in the bottom 10 percent (128 teams). Kansas has added some offensive weapons for Beaty and Likens to work with, including WR Quiv Gonzalez (former 4-star recruit and Texas A&M transfer) and a fully healthy Ke’aun Kinner (341 yards on 70 carries in the first four games of 2015).

Significant improvement from the offense overall could put Kansas in the top half of college football (top 64).

I’ll settle for getting out of the bottom-third (top 85).