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As we’ve counted down the days to this alleged 2020 college football season, we’ve looked at the position groups on an individual basis on both sides of the ball. Today, we’ll look at the offense in general, and select three individual players that you might want to keep a lookout for this fall.
1. Pooka Williams, JR RB
Duh.
Perhaps most obviously, Pooka Williams is THE player to keep an eye on for Jayhawk fans. Pooka no doubt will be the focus of opposing defensive coordinators this fall, and his talent is being written about all across the internet. He’s already a dark-horse Heisman candidate at 66/1 (+6600), tied with several players for the 11th-best odds. A huge season from Pooka means he may find himself in the NFL draft next spring.
2. Andrew Parchment, SR WR
Kansas looks to be pretty loaded at wide receiver this fall, and Andrew Parchment is the best of the bunch. Last season, Parchment’s 831 receiving yards was the third highest single-season mark at KU since Dezmon Briscoe’s 1337 in 2009 - and that includes just half a season with Brent Dearmon as his OC. (Steven Sims had 859 and 833 yards in 2016 and 2017, respectively.)
With defenses focused on stopping the afore-mentioned Pooka Williams, look for the Jayhawks to try and get Parchment in some one-on-one situations and exploit space in the secondary.
3. Nick Williams, SO OL
I’m going out on a bit of a limb with this pick. One could make a solid argument for several different choices here - perhaps WR Stephon Robinson, or whoever ends up at QB - but I don’t want to highlight another receiver, and I think whoever settles in at QB will be successful under Dearmon. So here we are.
Williams is the top O-line commit from the class of 2018, with multiple P5 offers. At 6’8” 290 lbs, he has ideal size for an offensive lineman, and his basketball background tells us he has some agility so go along with that size. After a redshirt season his freshman year, he did not play last year, but he still has three years of eligibility remaining. If he can beat out some of the upperclassmen in front of him in fall camp, he could be a starter along the line for those next three seasons.