Kansas Jayhawks Football: End of Year Grades – Offense

The Kansas Jayhawks football team likely wished they had a better 2024 season. After winning their first game, KU dropped five-straight before playing spoiler to multiple teams on the edge of a playoff berth. Yet with their season over, it’s time to look at the offensive side of the football and give our grades.

Where does the Jayhawks’ offense stand? Let’s find out.

Kansas Jayhawks Football Team Offensive Grades

Quarterback

Jalon Daniels: C+

Oh, what could have been. If Jalon Daniels had a full offseason with new offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes, this season may have looked much different for the Jayhawks. That is apparent when you look at how the team looked during the first half of the season compared to the second half. A lot of the early struggles were due to Daniels’ turnover issues.

When the Jayhawks went 1-5 in the first six games of the season, Daniels totaled 10 turnovers. Four of those five losses were by one score, and Daniels had seven turnovers in those specific contests. You have to imagine they would have pulled out a couple more wins if the defense hadn’t been put into so many tough situations. Daniels was also averaging less than 200 total yards per game during those first six games.

And then something clicked.

Over the final six games, his yardage average jumped to 284 yards per game. Daniels also cut his turnovers in half, collecting just five in that stretch. The offense also scored almost a touchdown more per game (if you exclude the season opener against Lindenwood). More importantly, though, it kept the defense off the field.

While facing much better teams in the back half of the season, the defense allowed basically the same amount of points that they did during the losing streak (again, excluding the Lindenwood game). To say Daniels’ season was a tale of two halves would be an understatement. He was a major reason they started 1-5, but he was also a major reason they won four of their last six games and knocked off three consecutive ranked teams.

The announcement that he is returning for another season should be exciting for fans. It allows them to see what he can do with a full offseason and another year of experience under his belt. Still, it was a pretty disappointing season for someone who was getting some Heisman buzz in the offseason.

Love Me Or Hate Me, I’m Finishing Where I Started… pic.twitter.com/dKlDQ69HCi

— 𝕁𝔻𝟞💫 (@JalonDaniels6) December 7, 2024

Running Back

Devin Neal: A+

While the other half of the backfield firepower struggled, Devin Neal picked up right where he left off last season. In fact, he nearly had an identical season to what he did last year. Neal’s total yardage was just 23 yards higher and his touchdowns were identical, but that is by no means a bad thing.

Neal was fifth in the Big 12 and 18th in the country in rushing yards, while being fourth and 12th in rushing touchdowns, respectively. Even though the Jayhawks didn’t win those early football games, Kansas had a chance to win largely because of what Neal was able to do when Daniels was struggling.

The running back had eight games with at least 100 rushing yards and scored at least once in 11 of the 12 games. While he didn’t see a lot more volume in the passing game, he did deliver a little more explosiveness (10.6 yards per reception compared to 8.7 the last two seasons). He also didn’t lose a single fumble all season.

The highlight of his season (and career) came on Senior Day against the Colorado Buffaloes. Neal carved up the Colorado defense to the tune of 287 total yards and four touchdowns.

https://twitter.com/PFF_College/status/1860473546461368806

Those numbers were both the second-most in his career. However, doing it on Senior Day makes it that much more special. Neal will go down as one of the best Jayhawks to ever grace the field, having set school records for both rushing yards and total touchdowns. While the season didn’t go as planned, Neal left an unforgettable mark on Kansas Jayhawk football.

Daniel Hishaw: B-

Daniel Hishaw was supposed to be the thunder to Devin Neal’s lightning. While he was still the team’s second leading rusher, it was a pretty underwhelming season overall. After collecting over 600 rushing yards last season, he failed to reach 400 this year. Injuries were the main story for Hishaw, as multiple ailments caused him to miss four games and be a non-factor in two others.

When Hishaw was healthy, though, he was very efficient. In the six games where he had more than three carries, Hishaw averaged 61 rushing yards. For a player that is playing behind one of the best running backs in the country, that is a very respectable average. If he had stayed healthy, Hishaw would have definitely surpassed his numbers from last season. Unfortunately, his inability to stay on the field this season hurt his overall performance.

Wide Receiver

Luke Grimm: A-

Luke Grimm was far and away Daniels’ top target this season. His 51 receptions were as much as the next highest receivers on the team – combined. While his yardage wasn’t anything to write home about, Grimm was easily the most consistent pass-catcher on the Jayhawks.

The wide receiver had less than three catches in just two games and eclipsed 40 yards eight times. He also showed some flashes on the ground, averaging over 12 yards on his 11 carries. It wasn’t flashy, it wasn’t exciting (for the most part), but it was productive. Grimm has been a very productive part of the Kansas offense for the past three seasons, and he went out with his most productive year.

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Quentin Skinner: C+

I didn’t do grades for the Kansas Jayhawks football team last season. If I had, Quentin Skinner‘s grade would be almost the exact same this year as it was in 2023. His receptions and yardage dropped slightly, but his yards per reception and touchdowns went up. Skinner had three carries for 22 yards this season compared to two carries for eight yards last season. Both seasons saw him miss time, but it was one more game in 2024 compared to 2023.

Skinner had a couple massive outbursts that propped up his numbers, as 265 of his 557 yards and three of his four touchdowns came in two games. That means he totaled just 292 yards and a single touchdown in his other seven games. The receiver had some exciting plays, but he wasn’t anywhere near as consistent as the offense wanted him to be.

Lawrence Arnold: D+

Lawrence Arnold was expected to be the leading receiver and potentially have an All-Big 12 caliber season in 2024. After compiling nearly 1,500 hundred yards over the previous two seasons, he was in line for a big time breakout. However, that didn’t happen. In fact, he took a massive step back during his final season.

After a 782 yard, six touchdown season, Arnold failed to come even remotely close to those numbers. He had just 360 yards and a single touchdown in 2024. He surpassed 50 yards in just two games and never had more than four receptions. Over the final three games of the season, Arnold had just three total catches for 42 yards.

Arnold was getting some NFL Draft hype coming into the season. However, one can only assume that has gone by the wayside in a major way. Had he even repeated his 2023 season, he would have finished as the second-leading receiver in Kansas Jayhawks football history. While he still finished sixth, which is nothing to scoff at, he could have been remembered even more generously.

Tight End

Jared Casey: C+

Jared Casey was expected to be a contributor in 2024, but I don’t think the plan was for him to be the team’s starting tight end. Iowa State transfer DeShawn Hanika was the likely incumbent after Mason Fairchild graduated, but a torn Achilles ended his season before it even started. That forced Casey into a role he was never really meant for.

Used mostly as a fullback during his career (and the famous two-point conversion catch to beat Texas), Casey did his best to contribute more than as a blocker. Unfortunately, he just wasn’t much of a threat.

Casey had just 18 catches on the season and never had more than two in a game. Both of his touchdowns came in one game and he eclipsed 30 yards just twice. It’s unfair to judge him based on a role that he wasn’t expecting to be pushed into, but that’s just the way it has to be. He does get a slight boost for the everlasting memory of that catch against Texas.

Trevor Kardell: C

Trevor Kardell suffered a bit of the same fate as Casey, as he was expected to be at least somewhat of a contributor after the injury to the aforementioned Hanika. Like Casey, he was underwhelming in his role. Granted, a backup college tight end likely isn’t going to put up crazy numbers, but even the low expectations weren’t meant for most of the season.

Through the first six games of the season, he had just four receptions. Kardell did have a nice little spurt towards the end of the season, collecting seven catches for 101 yards over a three game stretch. If you extrapolate that out to a full season, he would have had 28 catches for 404 yards. That would have been a phenomenal season for Kardell. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen.

Offensive Line

Bryce Cabeldue: B+

Bryce Cabeldue had a few dominant performances throughout the season, which helped boost him up to a 79.9 PFF blocking grade. He was a bit of a roller coaster of production, with multiple games of 80-plus grades and multiple games of sub-60.

The highlight of his season was a monster game against TCU. He manhandled the Horned Frogs en route to a 93.1 PFF grade. His lowlight of the season was 53.9 PFF grade against UNLV. Those two games just go to show how much fluctuation there was in Cabeldue’s season. While a 79.9 season grade is very good, the inconsistency from the left tackle position is a tough thing for an offense to gameplan for.

Logan Brown: A

Brown was one a steady force at right tackle for the Kansas Jayhawks football team in 2024. His tremendous 82.9 PFF grade was inflated a bit by an absolutely dominant game against Lindenwood, but he was still a plus-piece for the offense.

He was a force in the run game (83.5 PFF grade) and very good in the pass game as well (77.5 PFF grade). PFF considers a 60 grade to be “average”, and Brown fell below that number just once this season. He was graded at a 73 or higher in over half of his games. The only thing keeping his grade from being an A+ is him missing the season finale against Baylor.

Michael Ford: B

While the tackles were the PFF darlings on the Jayhawk offensive line, the interior unit was also quite effective this season. Michael Ford led that group, earning a 75.8 PFF grade. The four-year starter had the best season of his career in 2024 and helped lead the way for Devin Neal to break Kansas rushing records.

Ford didn’t have many standout performances, with the Lindenwood game being his highest graded contest. However, he only had a couple low-graded games as well. He was just a steady presence in the middle of the offense that did what was asked of him.

Kobe Baynes: C+

Kobe Baynes received the lowest grade on the offensive line, but even he had a nearly above average season according to PFF. Often overshadowed by the other four beside him, he did his job more often than not throughout the year. However, he didn’t stand out in any games either.

Baynes only had two games with a grade higher than 70. However, he only had two games with a grade lower than 60. That means he was about as consistent as you can be for an offensive lineman. For a team that leaned on its run game, that is a good thing to have.

Bryce Foster: B

Bryce Foster was one of just two new faces (Logan Brown) on the offensive line, and he found his place very quickly. Like the rest of the unit, he looked very good in the season opener against Lindenwood. After that, he settled in and put together a very solid year.

With just two sub-60 graded games, he was a positive piece of the Jayhawk offense much more often than not. Replacing an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention, especially at such an important position, can’t be easy. However, the transfer from Texas A&M more than held his own with the Jayhawks.

Overall Grade: B-

Compared to the rest of the country, the Jayhawks offense was pretty good. Compared to the expectations of this offense before the season started, they well underperformed.

Kansas was 17th in points scored in 2023. From that 2023 Kansas football team, the Jayhawks brought back their top two leading rushers, top three leading receivers, and three starting linemen. They were also supposed to get an upgrade at quarterback. It was lining up to be a firework show every time they stepped on the field.

There were certainly moments like that (35-plus points in four games), but it was an underwhelming offensive season as a whole. The 2023 team scored at least 27 points 11 times. They hit that number just eight times in 2024. Again, that is pretty good for a lot of teams. However, this group was expected to be much better than a lot of teams. They weren’t, but they get a passing grade nonetheless.