Kansas Jayhawk Defenders As Members of the Mafia

Just for fun, let's imagine the Kansas Jayhawk defense as mobsters, or members of the Mafia, if you will.

It seems like a fun way to get all of the contributing Jayhawks on that side of the ball some well-earned recognition and lay out what makes them tick as a group, or an organization, right down to the big man himself.

So, without further ado (and in an attempt to write something a little more unique), I present to you Lawrence's biggest and baddest...

The Hawk Mafia.

Forever guarding the mansion gates, these two junior defensive tackles may appear a little short and soft, but at their best can handle even the biggest and best intruding offensive linemen.

Neither one needs more than his hands and excellent use of a relatively shorter center of gravity to dismantle a blocker.

In the 4-3, the higher-ups would like to see them both a little more active and effective in the backfield.  For their first time, however, both Johnson and Dorsey proved efficient in the 3-3-5 at holding down the fort up front.

These JuCo prospects were brought in last season to add some instant athleticism and experience to the organization.

Both have had their problems adjusting, but both are also getting one more opportunity as seniors to prove that they are valuable members of this team.

Calvin Rubles's footspeed is infamous while Quintin Woods specializes in breaking up backfield gatherings, and Kansas could really use both playing to the best of their potential to be successful this year.

Tyrone Sellers, Kevin Young, and Keba Agostinho are out and about, above ground, and doing the dirty work.

These young defensive ends go from pier to port and door to door as the first guys to encounter the bad guys, solve (or cause) the problems, and collect the dough from insolent backfield occupants who don't pay their protection fees.

All three are rookies trying to prove themselves and stand out in hopes of working their way into the boss's good book and achieving a promotion to full-time frontline starter.

He's still learning the ropes, and unfortunately, for opposing offenses and disrespecters, still growing.

When the Kansas frontliners need just a little extra size to get the job done, they call John Williams.

Williams is immensely strong and very athletic for his size, but he's still figuring out how to use it.  Don't be the first to make him really mad.

Jake Laptad is the head man up front: The leader.  He is out and about, still working the business, and collecting commission like the other defensive linemen, but he's also responsible for taking charge and making the calls when things get messy.

Chris Harris is the underground adviser.  No exchanges take place around the edge of the field that he's not aware of, and he's among the best at breaking them up.

Both guys have been doing their jobs for a long time (since they were true freshmen), and still get better each and every game.

Just when you thought you've snuck away from the frontline guys unscathed, you get smoked by one of these two monsters.

Among the most impressive and well-rounded athletes on the field, Johnson and Dudley are big, strong, fast, and practically mechanical in their ability to track and bring down the sneaks.

The real reason they're called metal men, though, is because they take care of business like clockwork and don't ask questions.

Phillip Strozier and Olaitan Oguntodu haven't had the most glamorous careers imaginable, but both have been around for a long time and have the tools to get the job done.  The senior safeties have seen every high and every low.

Their best attributes are the tools and abilities they can teach and lend to the other men in the organization.

Strozier and Oguntodu are still effective, but look for them to cede more and more action down the stretch to the younger, high potential guys.  They'll keep on providing the valuable weaponry that is their experience.

Every mafia group needs a monkey.

Isaiah Barfield is a raw yet extremely athletic guy who is getting better with every game he plays and piece of experience he earns.  He happens to be getting better and better and finding his way into small places (and in this case, pass trajectories).

When this group needs a sneaky-quick kinda guy to take care of an opponent quietly, Barfield is the man they turn to.

At 5'11" and 185-ish pounds apiece, these two guys aren't the biggest around, but when at their best, can be among Kansas' most dangerous.

What makes them so dangerous is their ability to line up anywhere on the field.  You never know which direction they'll attack from, and they're just as good from close range (around the box) as they are at sniping you down from a distance.

Last week, Prinz Kande and Tyler Patmon looked like most inexperienced freshmen would as they both took on an adjusted 3-3-5 safety role, yet each flashed quality athleticism and got the job done against a quality Georgia Tech offense.

The final and absolute last defense against potential escapees, Keeston Terry and Lubbock Smith can cover a lot of ground in a small amount of time.  Once they get a hold of you, you're not likely to get away either.

Terry is a little bigger, Smith is a little faster, and both have excellent potential as deep, middle-of-the-field safeties.

Neither has gotten to show it off too much yet, but both seem to have a good knack for making big plays too. 

The Don has just brought in a relative over from the other side, and nobody knows much about him.

Toben Opurum was relatively under the radar despite being one of the best weapons on the opposite end of town last season, and he looks as dangerous as anyone.

Is he really though?

The higher-ups assure us that he will be, but it looks like no one will know for sure for a while.

For now, we'll consider him a secret weapon.

I'm probably getting too high on Springer considering he's only played one truly quality game. 

Still, it happened to come against a good team in a time of need.  Not to mention, we've been hearing great things from the coaching staff about him all summer, and it's great to see him back some of that talk up.

He's the leader in the middle of the field, communicating directly with the Don himself.  He's too vicious and dangerous to be held back by injuries or poor scheming any longer, and I venture to say Springer won't need any big connections to make his name big in 2010.

He's an old-fashioned, hard-nosed guy who's really been through a lot in his life, but it looks like he's getting one more chance to be the top guy in a top organization.

Carl Torbush has got some work to do, and he doesn't currently have all the resources he needs to be nationally feared, but with a little extra success in 2010, he'll be well on his way.

All Torbush has to do to win the support and trust of the guys below him and the fans around him is to get his defense to keep doing what they've done for the first two games this season.

It hasn't always been pretty, but in the first game, this Don's Mafia gave the Jayhawk offense chance after chance to win, and in second game, his Mafia did what it needed to do to keep the Jayhawks on top.

That's all a Don can ask for.