Jordan Webb, David Beaty and Offseason Thoughts on Kansas Jayhawk Football

Football season is barely over, yet I feel lost without it. 

It can be difficult after such a tough football season, but that should logically leave devoted fans a plethora of pressing dilemmas to talk about.

Regardless of circumstance, I'm itching to generate some good Kansas Jayhawk football conversation because I'm wasting away without it.

Let's see if we can bring up some noteworthy topics.

So Darrell Wyatt left for Texas, and who can blame him? 

That state is a football coach's dream, not to mention several other attractions far beyond the importance of just football inspired Wyatt's departure.

The returning David Beaty was nearly retained through Turner Gill's hiring, anyway. 

He was renowned for being one of Kansas' best individual recruiters.  He is also the man who coached receivers Dezmon Briscoe and Kerry Meier, the most successful receivers in KU history. 

Frankly, we've seen him recruit and we've seen him produce talent before. 

If he can recruit to suit Turner Gill's style and develop his quality young potential at receiver, Beaty could become a staple of this coaching staff for a very long time.

Last year's recruiting class, however small, produced a few bright spots amid an otherwise sad season. 

James Sims and Keeston Terry should be relevant for quite some time.

Always be wary of too much excitement over glossy recruiting classes. 

Recruiting ratings and stars have their basis, but there is no good way to accurately predict how such a young person will adapt to an entirely new, unpredictable atmosphere and stage of life.

However, I'm all in favor of cautious optimism.

If last year's little class (18, not counting Jeremiah Edwards) can produce some talent, this year's should produce a bit more.

Twenty-five recruits, Julius Green (a newcomer at semester), and Tunde Bakare potentially arriving as a walk-on equal 27 newcomers and 27 opportunities for coaches to find the team's next big contributors.

Julius Green, Brock Berglund, Dylan Admire and Darrian Miller already being on campus can only be beneficial.

Make sure that optimism is cautious, though.  Nothing is set in stone (or on paper) until National Signing Day on February 2, 2011.

It's not to say that guys like Ryan Murphy and Steven Foster aren't good players, but one has to feel like Turner Gill is doing a great job of instilling a great culture at the University of Kansas.

Vernon Brooks, Travis Stephens, Jamal Greene, Jacoby Thomas, Ian Wolfe, Nick Plato, Ryan Murphy, Steven Foster, Darius Parish and probably a few other guys I'm forgetting are solid proof that Gill will neither tolerate disciplinary problems on his football team.

Nor will he waste his players' time if he doesn't believe the relationship between the team and the individual will be mutually beneficial.

He's instilled his culture, and now we can only hope he's bringing in the right guys to be successful within it.

James Sims is the starter in 2011, right?

What about Rell Lewis?  The guy that burst onto the scene in Border Showdown 2009 in a contest that could possibly have saved Mark Mangino's job. 

He got hurt early on in 2010 and has slipped from most peoples' minds.

And what about Deshaun Sands, the Scout Team Offensive Player of the Year in 2009? 

The son of KU great Tony Sands sparked a touchdown drive that helped inspire Kansas' miracle comeback over Colorado earlier this season.

Does anyone remember Brandon Bourbon?  The Missouri intellectual decided against the academic pressures of Notre Dame and Stanford in favor of Kansas as a late, heralded addition to the class of 2010.

Heck, even wide receiver D.J. Beshears had some time in Kansas' backfield.

And these are just the guys already on the roster.

Darrian Miller is the most statistically proficient runner in Missouri's history. 

Dreamius Smith is an touted, intriguing Wichita prospect with good size and speed. 

Anthony Pierson's all-purpose talents could push Beshears outside to a full-time receiver position.

I'm all for talent, but something has got to give here.  Hopefully good uses are found for so much potential, or we could see some upset football players, and upset football players rarely help their teams.

Tanner Hawkinson didn't take as many steps forward as expected last season. 

Duane Zlatnik is still on a learning curve. 

Trevor Marrongelli struggled transitioning to a run-first offense. 

Jeremiah Hatch couldn't stay healthy. 

Brad Thorson is finally gone (and taking his sporadic, injury-plagued play with him).

Jeff Spikes should return at 100 percent next season, and a good ground game probably better suits his style of play than the spread offense.  Maybe he'll live up to his big potential.

Any of the six incoming freshman could challenge for time, too, but it's difficult to place true freshmen on the offensive line. 

If it's not big guys who need to develop their technique, it's little guys need to add bulk.  I do believe we could see as many as three of these youngsters earn significant minutes in 2011, though.

All in all, this offensive line will be much better by the end of next season.

Richard Johnson, Patrick Dorsey, John Williams and Kevin Young aren't going to make many all-league lists any time soon, but there's good experience on top of that list.

The real question is at defensive end. 

Toben Opurum has one side latched down, but will anyone seize a great opportunity to shore up the other half of the field?

Tyrone Sellers would leave the Hawks awfully small on the edges, while last year's true freshman sleeper Keba Agostinho looks to be transitioning to tackle. 

Jaqwaylin Arps and Pat Lewandowski will have a year of the scout team under their belts, but not a lot of noise surrounds those names. 

Julius Green's size and athleticism make him the highest-ceiling player of the group, but will it show through?

If none of those guys pan out, Ben Goodman may be the most college-ready of the true freshmen.

Look out for Carl Torbush to feature more of those Richard Johnson, Patrick Dorsey, Toben Opurum fronts with a rush linebacker playing the opposite side of Opurum.

Quinn Mecham is smart but accidentally had his arm surgically replaced by a noodle. 

Michael Cummings isn't moving too much these days and won't get to practice much in the early stages of the season.

Most of us have narrowed it down to Jordan Webb versus Brock Berglund. 

The rest of us are ready to hand Berglund the keys to the car.

That might be a good idea, but don't give up on Jordan Webb.  It's awfully tough for a 20-year-old to start his college career behind a terrible offensive line in a system he's not used to. 

The kid's got talent, but lacks accuracy.  He's young, but didn't have time to develop.

Life's not fair; I'm not throwing him an unearned treat here.  I'm all for changing things up.

However, don't forget what one player can learn in a season, i.e., former JuCo transfer Bill Whittemore going from his junior to his senior season at KU (that being said, we probably can't forget Mecham, either). 

The tools around him have gotten better, and I guarantee you that Webb has a much better feel for the college game than Berglund right now. 

If Berglund has enough talent to overcome that in competition, then I can't wait to see him play, either.

I'm not going to nit-pick over every position...yet...

However, there are a few bases left to cover.

Look out for Darius Willis at linebacker.  He, Steve Johnson and Huldon Tharp could be the league's most surprising linebacker corps. 

Guys like true freshmen Jake Love, Collin Garrett, Jason Hensley and redshirt freshmen Jake Farley and Ed Fink provide some actual depth at the position, too.

Isaiah Barfield, Tyler Patmon, Anthony Davis, Greg Brown, Corrigan Powell, Keeston Terry, Bradley McDougald, Prinz Kande, Dexter McDonald and Lubbock Smith will provide plenty of options in the secondary. 

Kansas just needs one or two of them to become dangerous playmakers.

Chris Omigie will make or break the offense. 

D.J. Beshears and Daymond Patterson have their roles, and Pick could become a now-stereotyped "Kerry Meier" kind of possession guy.  With his size and speed, Omigie needs to be dangerous down the field.

Sure he needs a quarterback to get it there, but Omigie is just to talented to drop some of the golden opportunities he let slip through his fingers last season. 

If he's not ready, Erick McGriff or Christian Matthews will get the next shot.

Like last season, the beginning of 2011 may be slow and disheartening. 

I will be thoroughly surprised if Georgia Tech doesn't simply trounce us on their home turf in repayment for last year's little slip-up.

We may start off 1-3 (I sincerely hope there are no 1-AA-grade mishaps in 2011).

2010 taught me to never again predict records, and I refuse to admit publicly that I think KU should go bowling, but I firmly believe that this team will get much much better as the season goes along. 

Unlike 2010, it will be a progress we should see on the stat sheet and maybe even in the win column.

Honestly, until year three of the coaching tenure, I think that's all a fan can ask for.