Kansas Jayhawks Spring Football Notes

Not to turn B/R into my personal blog, but for the devoted few of you who follow my KU football articles, thank you very much.

I wanted to take the opportunity to compile some news from around the web for you, as well as correct some mistakes I've made in my player profiles and hopefully have you all shed some light on the positional situations for me.

Spring Football

Spring football practices will begin Saturday, Mar. 27 and run through the annual spring game on Saturday, Apr. 24.  

These practices are not open to the public, but keep watching the news for some initial, minor positional translations (particularly along the offensive and defensive lines) to get set in motion.

The spring game will kick off at 1 p.m. It won't be elaborate, but we'll get a small taste of scheme changes, particularly spending some time under center on offense, and potentially interesting personnel decisions.

KUAthletics.com has released its entire Spring Football Prospectus , which contains absolutely everything someone could ever possibly need to know about the pre-practice status of the 2010 Jayhawks.

Personnel and Positioning

Here is a list of the players that switched positions one or more times under Mark Mangino and are returning to their original positions in accordance with the prospectus roster, with the position they have returned to listed first.

Isaiah Barfield: cornerback from wide receiver

D.J. Beshears: wide receiver from cornerback

Steven Foster: fullback from linebacker

Chase Knighton: wide receiver from quarterback

Darius Parish: defensive tackle from offensive tackle

Daymond Patterson: wide receiver from cornerback

Angus Quigley: running back from linebacker

Ian Wolfe: tight end from offensive tackle

Duane Zlatnik: offensive line from defensive tackle

These positions aren't set in stone, and Turner Gill has a lot of evaluating to do in the coming weeks before he makes any major decisions, but I like that he's giving his kids a chance to play where they want.

Just for fun, I'd also like to list a group of what I call 'tweener' Jayhawks. These are guys with a fairly certain position, but I think their talent and versatility may have them contributing situationally at multiple positions in 2010.

An asterisk will be placed next to these players' listed position, and other possible positions will follow.

Randall Dent (defensive tackle*, defensive end): Size and strength make Dent a tackle, but he is athletic enough to be outside on short-yardage downs.

Chris Harris (cornerback*, safety): Harris played well as a safety in game one of 2009 before helping out a needier cornerback group.

Ryan Murphy (safety*, cornerback): Murphy, a nickel safety, lacks starting-caliber abilities but has a decent football I.Q. and experience at both positions.

Josh Richardson (linebacker*, defensive end): With a little more size, Richardson could be a decent pass-rush end. 

Travis Stephens (defensive end*, defensive tackle): Stephens came to Kansas as an undersized pass-rushing tackle.

A.J. Steward (wide receiver*, quarterback, tight end): He's given Kansas a backup all over the offense for several years now.

Phillip Strozier (safety*, cornerback): He's played cornerback before, and there seems to be more (young) talent available at safety.

Jacoby Thomas (linebacker*, defensive end): Thomas came to Kansas as a touted strong-side defensive end.

John Williams (defensive tackle*, offensive guard): He would be more than capable of returning to offense in an emergency.

Sal Capra, Jeff Spikes, Brad Thorson, Michael Martinovich, Carl Wilson (offensive line): The first three are interchangeable starting-caliber players, though Spikes needs to live up to his size and abilities. Wilson and Martinovich are lesser-known, but have been around for awhile and can each play nearly anywhere on the line.

Newcomer Notes

Look out for true freshmen Pat Lewandowski (defensive end) and Jeremiah Edwards (defensive tackle). Both have the talent to contribute right away on a defensive line that was sporadic at best in 2009.

Despite being touted as a safety, Dexter McDonald could find himself playing cornerback if, as expected, it is the position of greater need.

Jake Farley was an All-State safety in Iowa last season, and looks to be a speedy linebacker of the Huldon Tharp mold, but taller and with room to add more weight.

Jimmay Mundine was recruited as a linebacker but has switched back to his favored tight end position.

Keba Agostinho is currently listed as a defensive end but has the frame to potentially grow into a defensive tackle someday.

See my Top Freshman Contributors article for a more thorough outlook on the class of 2010.

Also, be sure to keep up with my player profile articles! Look for an outlook on the linebackers to come soon!