Throughout fall camp, one of the most talked about players amongst the coaching staff and teammates was junior linebacker Cornell Wheeler. He was getting ready for his fourth season of college football, his first one where he was going to see a significant role on defense, before he was injured for the season opener versus Missouri State.

Wheeler participated in the game versus Illinois, but waited until the Nevada game to record his first tackle, which was one of three on the night. Against BYU, he forced a fumble, and was all over the field for the Jayhawks.

Defensive coordinator Brian Borland credits Wheeler’s approach toward his recovery for his recent success.

“I think it's really probably a credit to him to not be frustrated,” Borland said. "There was not any...'Oh, man, I was right there. Now I'm not, and here we go again.’ So I don't think he really had any of that.”

Wheeler, who started his career at Michigan, did not see any playing time as a freshman. He arrived at Kansas ahead of the 2021 season, but had been working mainly on special teams. Until the Nevada game, Wheeler had one career tackle to his name. Now he’s found a spot on the field for an emerging Kansas defense.

“It's taken a while for him to find his niche,” Borland said. “He's kind of found his role in some of our substitute package stuff but he's also a guy that he could be an every down player too.”

Perhaps the biggest play Wheeler made in the win over BYU was when he hurried the throw from Kedon Slovis that led to Kenny Logan’s pick-six. As soon as Logan got the ball, Wheeler could be seen waving Logan to him so he could block for him.

When a BYU player dove at Logan’s legs to try and make the touchdown-saving tackle, Wheeler threw a block at the same level to make sure his teammate could score.

“Just to be out there with those guys and just helping the team,” Wheeler said. “That's my biggest goal for me, is just help the team in any way that I can. So I'm thankful for that.”

The Kansas defense has embraced the challenge of causing havoc against opposing offenses, and is even ranked No.1 in the category. With Wheeler forcing a fumble and pressuring the quarterback into an interception, he wants to help the unit stay atop the havoc rankings.

“That's our biggest goal,” Wheeler said. “We want to create havoc each and every play, each series we are on the field. We want to create havoc and just be the best that we can be. Get off the field on third down, create picks, turnovers. So we just took that initiative to have that mentality”

Despite taking four years for him to work his way onto the field, Wheeler is completely bought into what the Jayhawks are looking to accomplish defensively. Those plays are impressing the coaching staff, making them want to put him out there.

“You don't just somehow get placed on the field during the game,” Borland said. “That's stuff you got to earn on a daily basis. So he's really done an awesome job at that. Just the work ethic, and it's the day in and day out, things that you can see that tell me or tell our coaches that, ‘hey, this guy's ready to do something and he's capable of doing something, so let's find a way to get him on the field.’”