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On February 7th, David Beaty signed what most experts regard as the best Kansas football recruiting class since ranking classes became a thing - i.e., since the days of Gale Sayers or Nolan Cromwell.
Per 247Sports, KU’s class ranked #60, and ahead of K-State and Texas Tech in the Big 12. Meanwhile, Rivals had an even more rosy opinion of the Kansas class, ranking it #48, and ahead of Iowa State, K-State, and Texas Tech in the conference.
Once again, the class was heavy on Juco recruits. Once again, there were few Kansas kids signed (two). And once again, the class was light on Texas recruits (two), David Beaty’s alleged specialty. For reference, KU signed three Texas high schoolers in 2017 along with four Kansas high schoolers.
But before this turns into another full fledged article pointing out the differences between David Beaty’s words and David Beaty’s actions, there are a few prospects to be excited about.
CB Corione Harris is the first consensus top-300 player that the Jayhawks have ever signed. He and Mike Lee were teammates at Landry-Walker High in New Orleans, and if he’s not a starter this fall, then all of the recruitniks will have missed on this kid.
RB Anthony Williams was the Louisiana player of year in 2017. He joins a crowded backfield that includes Khalil Herbert, Taylor Martin, and Dom Williams, but regardless, “Pooka” is expected to compete for playing time and help electrify and open up the Kansas offense.
DE Azur Kamara had a solid offer list, and should at the very least be able to provide the Jayhawks some depth with the departure of Dorance Armstrong.
Some sleepers in the class include OL Jacobi Lott, who had an offer from Texas, LB Kenny Bastida, who had multiple P5 offers, and QB Miles Kendrick, who is getting a lot of press from the local beat writers. You could see these guys on the field in 2018, but in my totally non-expert opinion, it’s probably a long shot.
Kansas does return 18 starters, 9 each on offense and defense. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing remains to be seen, but regardless, it would be impressive for anyone in the 2018 class to see significant playing time, and even moreso if any of them take a starting job.