For the second straight season the Jayhawks will be replacing a starter at left tackle. One difference heading into next year they have a good idea who their starting left tackle will be.

In the past couple seasons the coaching staff did not know Dominick Puni and Bryce Cabeldue would emerge as their starters. That appears to be different this spring as Calvin Clements appears to have locked down the left side.

The Kansas coaches like to cross-train their linemen, but Clements is cemented in at left tackle.

“He's our guy at left tackle,” said Kansas OL coach Daryl Agpalsa. “Would I flip him? No, I don't think so. What I love about Calvin is you lock him in at left tackle this year, and he's a tackle till the day he's done playing college football. And I think that's where it best fits and it best suits him.”

Clements suffered an injury that sidelined him for several months, but he returned to play in game action last season. He played in a backup role and logged 169 snaps.

“I think I've come along a long way,” Clements said. “I think part of last year was coming back from injury, and you know every day is trying to reach your full potential. I feel like midway through last season, I got back to maybe who I was before the injury and now it's just building off that.”

Part of the road back was gaining confidence coming off the injury.

“I think the confidence is a big piece,” he said. “I know what to do now. It's fine tuning how to do it and then building confidence with it, being comfortable in this position and just trying to reach that full potential every day.”

Clements who played at Free State High School, is now trying to build consistency. He got a start in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl in 2023 when the Jayhawks defeated UNLV. He was injured early in spring practice last year. It was a long rehab process that took him through the summer.

Now the key is building consistency.

“I guess the word is to be consistent and stack plays,” Agpalsa said about Clements. “We talk about doing our job. And if you do your job one play, stack it to another play. You can stack it for a play, stack it for a series, you can do a series, get to a quarter to a half to a game, if that makes sense.

“For Calvin Clemens to take the next step in our program really comes down to how many plays can he stack in a row, how many days can he stack in a row. When he becomes highly consistent, that's when he becomes a great player.”

Much of the off season was focused on getting stronger. Even though he played last season he needed to gain all the strength in his lower body.

“There was a big focus on the weight room,” he said. “I think a big focus for me was getting my lower body back to where it needs to be and strengthen that area. And then I definitely felt like I did a good job of that this off season. Coming into spring ball, I felt really confident, really athletic. So that was a big piece that I wanted to work on.”