Kansas Football: Daniel Hishaw Jr. Prepares to Replace Devin Neal for Jayhawks

Devin Neal is a legend for the Kansas Jayhawks. And  there’s no ifs, ands, or buts about it. The Lawrence native is the school’s all-time leading rusher and touchdown scorer, as well as being a vital piece of one of the biggest turnarounds in modern college football history. In Neal’s four years at Kansas, the team won more games than they had in the previous 11 seasons combined, including the most in a single season (9) since the magical Orange Bowl run in 2007. He will go down as one of the best players in the school’s history. Replacing him will be no easy feat, but Daniel Hishaw Jr. is ready to take on the task for Kansas.

Kansas Football: Who is Daniel Hishaw Jr.?

Hishaw was a three-star recruit and top-30 player in Oklahoma coming out of high school. However, his offers didn’t reflect that pedigree. The Jayhawks were the only power conference school to offer him a scholarship, and he committed in the summer of 2019. That offseason saw Khalil Herbert transfer to Virginia Tech, leaving the backup running back position up for grabs.

Roller Coaster Career

Hishaw has shown a ton of flashes during the first four years of his college career. On limited carries, he has topped 50 rushing yards in 15 of his 34 career games. Hishaw also has had a yards per carry north of 5.0 in 16 games.

Last year, Hishaw saw double digits touches in just four games and less than four touches in a pair of games. Yet, he still managed to average 58 scrimmage yards. His highlight game came in 2023 against UCF, when he took 19 carries for 134 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He is a bottle of energy that has shown plenty of times that he can be a game-changing type of player.

Unfortunately, injuries have kept Hishaw off the field for extended periods of time on more than one occasion. In fact, 2023 was the only season that he played every game. That year, he saw just 25-percent of the carries and still put up more than 600 yards and eight touchdowns.

Prior to that, he missed the entire 2021 season and played just five games in 2022. Those three years were bookended by eight game seasons in 2020 and 2024. If he can stay healthy, he will likely be one of the best running backs in the Big 12. History, however, isn’t necessarily in his favor in the health department.

Competition for Touches

Daniel Hishaw will likely see solid competition for backfield seniority in the Kansas offense, and possibly from multiple players.

Leshon Williams is a transfer from Iowa who has also had his fair share of success at the collegiate level. In 2023, he led a Hawkeye backfield that featured future All-American and third round draft pick Kaleb Johnson. Williams collected nearly 900 total yards that season, earning him a Big Ten Honorable Mention, but is coming off a leg injury that cost him most of the 2024 season.

If there is going to be a third running back in the mix, it will likely be Harry Stewart. Stewart impressed coaches during fall camp last offseason, but ultimately ended up redshirting due to the talent at the position (Neal, Hishaw, and Sevion Morrison). The redshirt season allowed Stewart to focus on getting stronger and faster, while also learning the complex offensive system the Jayhawks run. If he continues to impress the coaching staff, he could eat into the workload of either of the older players.

Given the injuries that Hishaw has dealt with throughout his career, the Kansas coaching staff could look to lighten his workload a bit. That would likely lead to both Williams and Stewart to make some sort of impact in 2025.

What Hishaw Brings to the Table

Daniel Hishaw is an interesting blend of power and athleticism for Kansas. He may have even been a better player than Neal early on in their careers, but fell behind after the injuries. Now, Hishaw is in the driver’s seat and will let his skills do the talking.

Hishaw has never had a problem with running over defenders, as that was his calling card early in his career. That led to some fumble issues and may very well have played a role in his injury problems. While he still runs through defenders when he needs to, he also utilizes his athleticism and speed more than he used to.

Coming out of high school, he ran an impressive 4.65 40-yard dash, showing that he has some burst and speed to go along with the power. Turning him into a multi-faceted running back should help both him and the Jayhawks in 2025.