Will the Kansas Jayhawks have the best secondary in college football in 2024?
The buzz out of Lawrence, Kansas will be about the return of a healthy Jalon Daniels (QB) & RB Devin Neal‘s decision to return to the Kansas Jayhawks instead of entering the 2024 NFL Draft. This is rightfully deserved, as both players are electric to watch and can put points on the board in bunches. However, they will not be the only players rocking David Booth Stadium in 2024!
The Kansas Jayhawks Dynamic Duo
Cobee Bryant
In 2024 the Jayhawks’ defense will get as much excitement out of the crowd as the offense. The dynamic DB duo of Ra’Mello Dotson & Cobee Bryant are bone-crushing, in-your-face, electric, highlight reel players that could be the best in the Big 12! Dotson & Bryant are the perfect combo for the Jayhawks secondary. Both players are extremely influential to the success of that defense.
Cobee Bryant (6-foot, 170 pounds) brings that physical, junkyard dog, bloody-your-mouth style of football to the field. His swagger once that blue and crimson jersey is put on is a, ‘in your face, I’m better than you now try to prove me wrong’, mantra. And, nine times out 10 he is right – and let’s you know about it.
Cobee Bryant got Kansas going with this hit and score 😯
(via @Big12Conference) pic.twitter.com/j4pmZCbXBC
— SI College Football (@si_ncaafb) September 23, 2023
Cobee Bryant is a spark plug to the Kansas Jayhawks secondary and a leader on the defense. His field awareness and timing are elite. It gives me strong Devon Witherspoon vibes. If you aren’t paying attention you could be looking out of the earhole of your helmet quickly. This style of play will wear a wide receiver down – both mentally and physically.
Being physical is a natural part of Bryant’s game. Lining up in the box and attacking the run game should come to no surprise. He had 12 run stops for the Jayhawks in 2023 (26 career) and lined up in the box 31 times! Bryant can flash off the edge similar to JL Skinner from Boise State a few years ago. He is also a proud member of Lockdown University: 14 PBUs and 7 INTs over the past two seasons. Bryant has quarterbacks and the competition know he isn’t just a hard-hitting DB!
Ra’Mello Dotson
In comes Mello; not Carmello Anthony or LaMello Ball, but Ra’Mello Dotson. Dotson is a 6’1″, 185 pound defensive back that uses angles better than your local geometry teacher. Running backs will think that they have the edge before Mello comes in slicing through traffic, taking down running backs or blowing up that WR screen by taking the lower half away!
Mello’s football IQ is very high. You can tell when watching his game that he studies film and can remember tendencies. Against Oklahoma this past season, Sooners’ QB Dillon Gabriel gave a tell away on a comeback route. Mello instantly saw it and jumped it for the interception.
PICK SIX KANSAS ! 🔥
QB Dillon Gabriel intercepté par DB Mello Dotson pour un TD défensif des Jayhawks.
Kansas 7, Oklahoma 0
📺 @BigTenNetwork via @CFBONFOXpic.twitter.com/UKaAE7kkZv
— TBP College Football (@thebluepennant) October 28, 2023
Mello has good speed, which helps him play off the ball a lot. He will give WRs space because his recovery speed is great. He gets in and out of breaks well, causing havoc for opposing players!
At 6’1 he does well with contested catches. With his athleticism, he is never out of any play. If a quarterback is trying to throw it away or in the dirt need to think twice. Mello is like Magneto with the football. His ball tracking skills are top notch. I haven’t figured out why opposing teams continue to challenge him with 17 PBUs over the last two seasons (11 in ‘23) & 6 INTs. Seatbelt Gang!
I’m Lovin’ It
The Kansas Jayhawks defense allowed 216.7 passing yards per game & 1.2 TDs & 378.2 total yards of offense under DC Brian Borland. Borland has now been replaced with a 22-year coaching veteran with NFL experience, D.K. McDonald.
McDonald comes over from the Philadelphia Eagles where he served as the defensive backs coach for the past three seasons. During that time, McDonald coached Darius Slay to 9 PBUs, 5 INTs, & 3 TD and a Pro Bowl season. He was also able to bring out the best in CJ Gardner-Johnson (6 INTs), who had been known as a locker problem.
Adding McDonald to the Kansas Jayhawks coaching staff is like unlocking the raccoon suit in Super Mario Bros 3. His secondaries get better with every team he has coached. I’d expect that same thing to happen in Lawrence. In both the ‘21 & ‘22 seasons for the Eagles, McDonalds’ secondary allowed 20 or fewer TDs. Last season saw an increase to 35 due to injuries and playing two rookies on increased snaps. Expect McDonald’s secondary for Kansas to be locked and loaded in 2024!
The Wrap Up
As stated earlier, Cobee Bryant and Ra’Mello Dotson could be the best DB combination in the Big 12 – let alone the country – but it won’t be an easy task. Big 12 loses Oklahoma & Texas to the SEC in 2024, but will see Colorado join the conference. That will bring in a DB combination of Travis Hunter and Cormani McClain, and they are no joke. Hunter is what many are calling a ‘generational talent’ and McClain was a former 5-star recruit and the top in his class.
The Kansas Jayhawks were ranked 4th in the Big 12 last season behind only OU, Iowa State, & Texas. The Longhorns & Sooners are gone but we also can’t rule out the Iowa State Cyclones DBs package of Myles Purchase (14 PBUs) & Jeremiah Cooper (10 PBUs, 5 INTs) who are very similar to the style of Dotson and Bryant. The addition of McDonald plus another year together in Lawrence will see the Jayhawks’ secondary rise to the top!!!
When the Jayhawks take the field Week 1 versus the Linwood Lions be prepared for the hard-hitting, high-flying, rock ’em sock’ em, DB duo of Ra’Mello Dotson & Cobee Bryant to be leading Kansas’ defense all night long! #RockChalk
