The 2022 KU football season was a massive step in the right direction for a program that had one of the worst decades in college football history.

Head coach Lance Leipold is hoping to continue to make progress and get KU out from the basement of the Big 12 and become an annual contender.

The Jayhawks still have a long way to go to get there, though, as their season finished with a below .500 record of 6-7, they lost their bowl game (Liberty Bowl vs. Arkansas) and they lost twice as many conference games as they won (3-6).

KU hopes that the offense will run through senior quarterback Jalon Daniels for all 12 regular season games after missing time due to an injury suffered at the hands of TCU. In his shortened nine-game season, he threw for 2,014 yards, 18 touchdowns and four interceptions with a stellar 66.1% completion percentage. Daniels also ran for 425 yards and had seven rushing touchdowns. He was considered by many to be a Heisman contender heading into October, and he was named the Preseason Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year this summer.

Even though he is a tremendous running threat, expect for his rushing attempts to regress a bit with the coaching staff wanting to keep him healthy the entire season.

It’s difficult to believe that KU won’t use redshirt senior Jason Bean in some capacity. With all he has contributed to this team over the years, it would be foolish to let him sit on the bench all season. Bean threw 14 touchdowns and just four interceptions with a completion percentage of 64% during Daniels’ absence.

Junior Devin Neal is primed for a breakout season in 2023 after getting his first 1,000-yard season last year. He had ten touchdowns from scrimmage and averaged an insane 6.1 yards per carry. He made the Preseason All-Big 12 team after being an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention last year.

Redshirt junior Daniel Hishaw Jr. was a great backup for Neal in his five games when he was healthy. He was also able to average six yards per carry and averaged a touchdown in every game. Hishaw left the game versus Iowa State with a season-ending injury.

KU returns their three leading wideouts. Redshirt junior Lawrence Arnold returns after leading the Jayhawks in receiving with 716 yards and four touchdowns. Senior Luke Grimm tied for the team-high in receiving touchdowns with six and had 623 yards. Quentin Skinner, another redshirt junior, had 440 receiving yards and five touchdowns.

Senior tight end Mason Fairchild also gives Daniels another solid set of hands to work with. He came close to the 500-yard mark in 2022 and was on the Second Team All-Big 12. He tied with Grimm with six receiving touchdowns.

Redshirt junior Jared Casey, most well-known for his game-winning two-point conversion catch against Texas in 2021, is also back after reaching paydirt four times in 2022.

Fifth-year center Mike Novitsky decided to return to Lawrence after a terrific 2022 season which landed him on the All-Big 12 Second Team and finds himself on the Preseason All-Big 12 Team as well. He is the unquestioned leader of this offensive line.

Senior Dominick Puni is coming off a solid 2022 season as well ending with him being an Honorable Mention All-Big 12. Also in the interior of the line, they get Cal senior redshirt transfer Spencer Lovell. Other guys that could see some time at guard are redshirt juniors Michael Ford Jr. and Ar’maj Reed-Adams.

At tackle, the Jayhawks are excited about their addition of Wisconsin junior transfer and former 5-star recruit Logan Brown. However, he might not be a starter right away. There is a possibility that Puni moves to left tackle with redshirt junior Bryce Cabeldue most likely starting at right tackle. Either way, KU fans should be excited about the depth in the trenches.

The defensive line is a bit of a mystery for the Jayhawks in 2023 with all four spots needing to be replaced.

Returning in the middle are redshirt sophomores Tommy Dunn Jr. and DJ Withers. They didn’t do a ton last season, but they will both be asked to be big pieces to the puzzle this fall.

During the offseason they added Colorado State graduate transfer Devin Phillips. He played at Colorado State for 40 games before leaving the team four games into the 2022 season. KU hopes he can improve as his career stats don’t exactly jump off the page.

They also added Minnesota redshirt sophomore transfer Gage Keys, who played just eight total games with the Gophers.

The surest starter on the defensive line is senior defensive end Jereme Robinson. He showed flashes of being a fantastic end after playing the interior his previous two seasons at KU. Last season, he had 8.5 tackles for loss with three sacks and a pair of forced fumbles.

Fifth-year senior Hayden Hatcher has a high likelihood of starting on the other side with his first full season under his belt last fall. The Iowa-native has a chance to have a breakout in his final season with the Jayhawks.

Other players that you might see at defensive end include Utah State redshirt senior transfer Patrick Joyner Jr., Auburn redshirt sophomore transfer Dylan Brooks and Minnesota redshirt sophomore transfer Austin Booker.

At linebacker, KU boasts a slew of upperclassmen. Senior Rich Miller enters his third full season with the Jayhawks and fifth total season playing collegiate football. In 2022, he was second on the team in total tackles with 94. He also added three tackles for loss, a sack and an interception.

Redshirt senior Craig Young played well in his first season with KU after transferring from Ohio State last offseason. He was third on the team in total tackles with 60. Young also had 5.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, an interception and a forced fumble.

Senior Taiwan Berryhill Jr. could be the final starter at linebacker for KU after playing all 13 games last year and racking up 46 tackles.

Others that could see some action include Bowling Green junior transfer JB Brown, redshirt junior Cornell Wheeler, junior Jayson Gillion, redshirt senior Dylan Downing and redshirt junior Donovan Gaines.

Unquestionably KU’s best overall defender is junior Cobee Bryant. The stud cornerback had nine pass deflections and three interceptions, including a game-sealing pick six at West Virginia in overtime. Bryant was named to the First Team All-Big 12 and was on the Preseason All-Big 12 Team.

Senior Ra’Mello Dotson stepped up his game in 2022 after getting six pass deflections and a pair of interceptions. He also had 54 tackles, which is 30 more than he had in 2021. Another step up like that will have KU’s secondary looking very scary.

They also add LSU redshirt sophomore transfer Damarius McGhee to their cornerback room. McGhee was a four-star prospect coming out of high school and was the eighth-best cornerback in the Class of 2021, according to 247 Sports.

Redshirt senior Kalon Gervin also played in every game last year for KU after transferring from Michigan State. He provides the Jayhawks’ secondary with some much-needed depth and experience.

At safety, fifth-year Kenny Logan Jr. returns after already playing in 34 games for the Jayhawks so far. He has back-to-back seasons with 100+ tackles and was named an Honorable Mention All-Big 12. KU will get to enjoy him for one more season before he inevitably starts playing on Sundays.

Another key returner to the secondary is junior OJ Burroughs. He also played in all 13 games in 2022 and will likely start alongside Logan Jr.

From the transfer portal, they secured California JUCO product Akili Hubbard, who had four interceptions at Golden West College. Other guys they might turn to include redshirt senior Marvin Grant and redshirt sophomore Jalen Dye.

Unlike last season, expectations will be high from the Jayhawks’ faithful in 2023. Daniels being fully healthy helps, but the problem wasn’t the offense. It was KU’s defense that allowed over 35 points per game, which was 124th in the country (out of 131 FBS teams) that kept them from a winning season in 2022.

So, the biggest question will once again be, “did KU do enough to their defense in the offseason to provide much positive change?” They retained most of their pieces from last year, and they added some guys for depth with a few that might start day one.

The Jayhawks’ schedule isn’t easy with only one game that you can probably chalk up as an automatic win (vs. Missouri State). They have two tough non-conference games vs. Illinois and a game at Nevada with a kickoff time set for 9:30 p.m. CT which will be out of their element.

If everything goes right with the defense making major adjustments from last year and everyone on offense staying healthy, I would say their ceiling is an 8-4 record with a conference record of 5-4. However, their floor is pretty low. I would think that if everything went wrong, they’d end up being a 3-9 with two conference wins at worst.

In my opinion, I think it’s more likely that they get to that ceiling than their floor. Head coach Lance Leipold has proven that he’s great at adjusting, so it wouldn’t be shocking if the defense made some big improvements during the offseason. Will it be a top-tier defense in the Big 12? Probably not. However, I don’t think that’s what’s needed for them to get their first winning season since 2008.