Aqib Talib’s goal coming into the season was to intercept 10 passes.

But two games into Kansas’ 2007 schedule the junior cornerback is on pace to reach the milestone in a different statistical category. Talib, a team captain, has already caught two touchdown passes as a wide receiver.

“He’s such a talented guy and you’ve got to get your best guy on the field,” Kansas coach Mark Mangino said. “There’s no question about his ability and you can’t help but use him on offense.”

Switching sides

Talib has lined up on offensive for less than five plays on the season, but every time he’s made an impact. Talib has three catches for 88 yards and two touchdowns, placing him as the Jayhawks fourth leading receiver.

Mangino said if it were up to Talib, he would never come off of the field. His attitude and playmaking ability put Mangino in a tough situation because he has to balance Talib’s playing time between both sides of the ball.

“We’ve got to be smart and pick and choose our battles because he’s a key guy on defense,” Mangino said. “Every once in a while, I get the urge to pull him back up and I’ve just got to fight it.”

One Jayhawk who certainly wouldn’t mind seeing Talib on offense more often is sophomore quarterback Todd Reesing. Although Reesing is already blessed with one of the Big 12’s deepest receiving corps, no one on the roster is quite like Talib.

After all, none of the other receivers score 75 percent of the time they catch a pass. That’s exactly what Talib has done between last season and now. Reesing thinks it’s more than Talib’s magnetic-like attraction to the end zone that makes him a valuable asset to the Kansas offense.

Reesing said that Talib helps the offense even when he’s not catching the ball. He also works as a great decoy to draw defenders away from other receivers.

“His presence on the field really gets people alerted,” Reesing said.

The opposing defensive players aren’t the only ones noticing when the Richardson, Texas native trots out to his position at slot receiver. It also grabs the attention of all the Jayhawks.

“We usually don’t pay that much attention to the offense because we are trying to figure out what we need to do, but when Aqib goes in we all look up and say ‘Alright, we’ve got Aqib in, we’ve got to watch,’” senior linebacker Joe Mortensen said. “I’m excited for him.”

The Catches

This season isn’t the first time Kansas has used Talib as a receiver. The Jayhawks began tinkering with the idea at the end of last season. Talib recorded his first career reception in the final game against Missouri. It was a 42-yard touchdown catch on a screen pass. It didn’t resemble the two touchdowns from this season because instead of catching a deep pass in stride, Talib juked his way through the Missouri defense.

Against Central Michigan, Todd Reesing launched a 49-yard pass that Talib caught on a seam route in perfect stride for a touchdown. In the second quarter Saturday, Talib similarly took off toward the end zone, caught the Reesing pass around the five yard line then ran it in for another touchdown.

“I think it was the exact same play we called last week and it was the same result,” Talib said. “Todd threw a nice ball and I made a play on it.”

As the year goes on

This has been established: Aqib Talib knows how to find the end zone and knows how to provide a spark for his team. The only question now is how often he’ll be used as the season progresses.

Fans who are worried that Talib on offense may be some sort of non-conference schedule experiment can rest easy, because Mangino has no plans to stop now.

“Aqib’s number one priority is defense but there are some appropriate times that we think he could be helpful,” Mangino said. “There will be days where we will need him for a few more snaps on offense. No question.”

— Edited by Luke Morris