The amount of turnover across the Kansas Jayhawks‘ football roster from last season to this season cannot be ignored. Eight starters on both sides of the ball are no longer on the roster. While replacing some positions are easier than others, the toughest may very well be the offensive line. The requirement for that unit to have camaraderie and teamwork is more important than any other position group. This year, Bryce Foster will be tasked with working alongside three new starters while keeping up the trend of exceptional offensive line play for Kansas.
Kansas Football: Who is Bryce Foster?
Bryce Foster has his collegiate career got off to a hot start, earning SEC All-Freshman honors at Texas A&M. However, a knee injury ended his sophomore season after just four games. After a healthy season in 2023, he chose to enter his name into the transfer portal.
The former four-star recruit had a ton of interest coming out of high school (offers from schools like Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Texas), and his time in the transfer portal was no different. When all was said and done, Foster decided to spend the rest of his career as a Jayhawk.
Year One & The Return
Foster’s decision to come to Kansas paid off immediately, as he earned Second Team All-Big 12 honors last season. PFF also graded him as the fourth-best center among all power conference teams.
His decision to return to Kansas in 2025 was a bit of a shock to most people, as he would have likely been one of the top centers in this year’s NFL Draft. Nevertheless, Foster is back in Lawrence and looking to cement his status ahead of next year’s draft.
New Running Mates in the Trenches
The Kansas offensive line was full of talent in 2024. Three starters from that unit found their way to NFL rosters this offseason.
Bryce Cabeldue was a sixth-round pick by the Seattle Seahawks. Logan Brown and Michael Ford, while not being taken in the draft, were both signed as undrafted free agents (Brown to the Colts and Ford to the Vikings). Coincidentally enough, Brown and Ford were the two named to a Big 12 All-Conference team, earning Second Team honors. Cabeldue was named an Honorable Mention, while Brown was also a finalist for the conference’s offensive lineman of the year award.
Foster joined the trio of award winners, being named to the Second Team as well. That means the Jayhawks made up 60-percent of the Big 12 Second Team offensive line. No other team had more than two offensive linemen across the First and Second Teams. Needless to say, it was a really good unit.
Now, Foster returns with only one member from last season’s group beside him. Kobe Baynes will flank to Foster’s right, just as he did last season. Everyone else will be a new face.
The current depth chart according to Ourlads (which does not include incoming transfers) shows the three other starters to be a trio of former three-star recruits: Calvin Clements, Tavake Tuikolovatu, and Nolan Gorczyca.
Clements originally committed to Baylor before flipping to Kansas late in 2022. Meanwhile, Gorczyca had committed to Buffalo before following Coach Leipold to Kansas. Both got some good learning experiences under Cabeldue and Brown last season.
Tuikolovatu is a fresh face on campus who spent his first two years at UCLA. It’s far too early to cement these guys as starters or to speculate on how successful the group will be, but Foster and Baynes will certainly be leaned on early to help the unit mesh.
What Foster Brings to the Table
If you look up the word “anchor” in the dictionary, you’ll find a picture of Foster (or at least, you should). He is the prototypical size for an interior offensive lineman, standing 6-foot-5 and weighing in at 310 pounds. Foster is also extremely intelligent and has a ton of experience, both of which are massive advantages for a team’s center to have. There isn’t much that he can’t do on the field.
For a team that is replacing three All-Conference caliber players, having someone like Foster is crucial to the success of the new-look unit. When that team also runs the ball and utilizes slow developing pass plays at an extremely high rate, having someone like Bryce Foster becomes almost a necessity for success.
Luckily for Kansas, they have someone like Bryce Foster.
Discover more from The League Winners
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Kyle Jones
Kyle joined The League Winners in May of 2024 and is currently covering the Kansas Jayhawks, while also dabbling in the Kansas City Chiefs. He is a born and raised Chiefs and Jayhawks fan, as well as the Royals. When he's not watching and writing about sports, Kyle enjoys reading, playing video games, and spending time with his wife and dog.