3 things to know about Kansas football’s special teams units as season opener nears

LAWRENCE — The Kansas football program has received a lot of attention during fall camp, and for good reason.

The Jayhawks are No. 24 in the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll. They have a quarterback in redshirt junior Jalon Daniels who recently made the watch list for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award — given each year to the top upperclassman at the position who is on pace to graduate with his class. On defense, there’s the senior cornerback duo of Cobee Bryant and Mello Dotson.

But while there have been a number of players in the spotlight, Kansas’ special teams units shouldn’t be forgotten. In a Big 12 Conference with so many potential champions in 2024, special teams could help be the difference in competing for a title or not. The Jayhawks have been in a number of close games since Lance Leipold took over as head coach ahead of the 2021 season.

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Here are a few things to know about Kansas’ special teams units as fall camp progresses:

Damon Greaves is back at punter

Kansas relied on Damon Greaves as its lead punter last year, and now he’s back for his sophomore season. Greaves, who’s an international talent out of Australia, punted 32 times in 2023 with an average of 39.0 yards per punt. He had one punt that went 50-plus yards, his long of 53, and 11 punts that landed inside the 20 yard line.

Who could return kickoffs, punts for Kansas football?

Leipold said they hadn’t done a ton of full-team work in these areas, but he would like to think they have enough experience back on punt return. Leipold mentioned redshirt senior wide receiver Trevor Wilson, senior safety O.J. Burroughs and senior wide receiver Luke Grimm in that spot. Two others Leipold brought up were redshirt junior running back Sevion Morrison, in kick return, and senior wide receiver Quentin Skinner.

Taiwo Onatolu, Kansas’ special teams coordinator, mentioned a handful of names for kick return — Morrison, Wilson, redshirt freshman cornerback Jameel Croft Jr. and freshman running back Harry Stewart III. Onatolu described Wilson as the lead option for punt return, but mentioned Burroughs. Wilson recorded the most kick and punt returns last season, and much of the team’s production in this area will be with the team again this fall.

Who will kick field goals for Kansas football?

With Seth Keller’s departure comes a need for Kansas to find a kicker on field goals and extra points. Redshirt junior Owen Piepergerdes recorded the most experience in those two areas in 2023 of those in contention for the jobs, but it was limited. Piepergerdes, along with redshirt sophomore Charlie Weinrich and senior Tabor Allen, are three names to know.

Allen is someone the Jayhawks have had on kickoffs, but Onatolu reiterated Allen is competing to start on the field goals unit. Both Piepergerdes and Weinrich also received praise. Onatolu noted they’ll take a look at where things stand at the end of fall camp, and didn’t rule out the competition continuing into the season.

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: 3 things to know about Kansas football’s special teams units as season opener nears