Saturday, July 5th, 2008

Next season’s team provides depth across positions

Last season’s experience prepares team for new season without Talib

Variety of experience, talent eases anxiety about losing Talib.

By Asher Fusco (Contact)

Thursday, April 24th, 2008

In the days leading up to the 2007 football season, the Kansas secondary looked like a weak spot – starting cornerback Kendrick Harper sat out with a broken wrist, forcing freshman Chris Harris into service.

What seemed a devastating blow last fall looks like a convenient twist of fate these days.

Harris stepped into the starting role and earned All-Big 12 Freshman Team recognition. That extra experience could pay dividends this season as Kansas attempts to fill the void left by NFL-bound first team All-America cornerback Aqib Talib.

“We know we have big roles to fill, so we just want to come out and show everybody we’re ready to play,” Harris said. “We won’t be hurting.”

Harris, who started 10 games last season, played much bigger than his 6-foot, 180-pound frame would suggest as a freshman, making two interceptions and 65 tackles. Harris stepped into the starting spot because of injury and held onto the job for most of the season once Harper returned.

Harper, now a senior, returned from his preseason arm injury to play in seven games. A junior college transfer, Harper started three games and filled in as a nickel back in the other four contests. At 5-foot-9 and 190 pounds, Harper doesn’t have the size or speed of Talib, but is a sure tackler who is quick to the ball in run defense.

Should Harris or Harper suffer an injury, Kansas holds several talented cornerback reserves. Junior cornerback Anthony Webb is the Jayhawks’ lone four-star recruit and has played in 22 college games. Freshmen Anthony Davis and Isiah Barfield should battle for the second backup spot. Barfield made four tackles in the spring scrimmage.

“From Webb, to Barfield, to Anthony Davis, we’re just real deep,” Harris said. “Everybody somewhere has had a little bit of experience, so those guys could easily play with the ones.”

The Jayhawk depth chart is also brimming with talent at the safety position. Junior safety Darrell Stuckey, one of Kansas’ most consistent players last season, will shift to strong safety to make room for junior Justin Thornton at free safety. Thornton emerged late last season as a starter and made five interceptions.

Though sophomore safeties Olaitan Oguntodu and Phillip Strozier both lined up on the white team, usually meant for backups, during the spring game, each could see time in Kansas’ pass-defense package. The Jayhawks often use three safeties in third-and-long situations, and Oguntodu is the sort of 220-pound bruiser who could help the team’s pass rush.

“There are various packages,” Kansas coach Mark Mangino said. “So a lot of those kids in the white are going to play a lot and have big roles in the defense, and that’s good — it means we have depth. We need to have depth so we can play well for four quarters.”

—Edited by Madeline Hyden

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