LAWRENCE — Jonathan Wallace didn’t want to give away too much recently, after another fall camp practice.
Wallace, Kansas football’s running backs coach, is well aware of how explosive redshirt junior running back Sevion Morrison can be. Morrison’s skillset allows him to be someone that can be used in numerous ways offensively. So, Wallace elected to just leave his explanation for Morrison’s potential role in 2024 at that, before also praising Morrison’s improvement in pass protection.
But as Wallace, Morrison and head coach Lance Leipold have all pondered what’s possible for Morrison this year, it’s clear it’s a matter of how much — not if — Morrison factors into the Jayhawks’ offense. To date, since transferring in from Nebraska ahead of the 2022 season, Morrison has had issues at times staying healthy. Stay healthy and Morrison will have the chance to be the type of “Swiss Army knife,” as he called himself, that could elevate the offense’s potential.
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“We know that this is a highly-anticipated season,” Morrison told reporters. “But just building up, taking care of my body, it’s just been fun being around the guys. Knowing what we can do this season, it’s fun more than anything.”
Leipold and Morrison were a bit more open about how Morrison might be used when they spoke about him. Leipold pointed to Morrison being used in motion, lining up in different spots and potentially one of multiple running backs on the field at one time. Morrison pointed to himself lining up in the backfield or as a wide receiver, and even brought up blocking as a fullback.
It’s all about capitalizing on the talent Morrison possesses, with Morrison describing himself as someone who’s fast, can make people miss and catch passes out of the backfield. Leipold highlighted Morrison’s above-average hands, speed and quickness. Again, it’ll just be about remaining healthy so Morrison can take advantage of any chance that comes his way this fall.
Morrison does have to deal with the reality there are two running backs ahead of him in his room in senior Devin Neal and redshirt junior Daniel Hishaw Jr. Those are two guys who will demand a lot of playing time because of how talented they are. But those three and the rest in the room can each provide different things to the offense, which means the ability for the coaching staff to find ways to get each of them opportunities to make plays.
“The meetings is fun, because we get to watch each other on film,” Morrison said. “… Everybody’s set is different, so we just sometimes — we joke about what this person can do or we highly praise what that person can do. But, overall, it’s fun because you just see a little bit of everything.”
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Sevion Morrison enjoys idea of being Kansas football’s ‘Swiss Army knife’ offensively
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