Pesek-Hickson likes what sees from offense

It was announced on Tuesday, the Kansas spring game would be May 1st, and Amauri Pesek-Hickson is one player looking forward to the game.

Before arriving at Kansas, he was a grayshirt, which means had to sit out the fall before arriving. He got on the field as a true freshman but the spring game was canceled due to Covid.

“It would be my first spring game so I'm really excited for it,” he said. “I know a lot of the guys, last year not being able to have that spring game. So, we're just ready to get after it, man. We're ready to show everybody what we've been working on. Offense clicking, defense clicking, everybody's on the same page as far as moving forward with our schemes and everything like that. So, we're excited.”

Pesek-Hickson was committed to Michigan as a high school player at Blue Valley North. Late in the process he decommitted from the Wolverines and picked the Jayhawks.

Last year he played in the final four games rushing for 100 yards against TCU and 43 against Oklahoma. He’s been learning the new offense under Mike DeBord and likes what he sees. Pesek-Hickson didn’t give details about the changes on offense, but gave some hints.

“Can't really tell that, but I mean, Coach DeBord is a great offensive mind,” he said. “We've got a lot of different things going on, a lot of different formations, a lot of different motions. I mean, he's a genius. And everybody else on the offensive staff giving what they know, Coach Grimes, Coach Jones, Coach Wallace, everybody's just giving in to us and we are making the best decision offensively for us.”

Pooka Williams opted out after four weeks which left the bulk of the carries going to Velton Gardner, Daniel Hishaw, and Pesek-Hickson. They were the top three rushers, and all will return this season.

They will give DeBord a change-of-pace because the trio has different styles.

“We all really are three different type of backs,” Pesek-Hickson said. “Velton is quick, if he hits that hole fast, he’s going to be out of there. Daniel is big and powerful and can hit the gap the same way. As far as me, I say me and Velton have the ability to be out wide and catch swing passes and catch routes, as we all do, but me and Velton might specialize that a little bit more than Daniel.

“But Daniel is a good downhill runner, I'm a good downhill runner, Velton's a good downhill runner. I mean, we got depth in our room and it's good, friendly competition too. Everybody's supporting other, everybody knows what to do, everybody knows how to do it. So, we just all supporting each other.”

One of the struggles last year in the running game was the performance of the offensive line. Between transfers and another year of experience Pesek-Hickson has already seen improvement from the offensive line.

“The o-line's going to be good,” he said. “The o-line's really aggressive. I mean, the protections, they communicate, and we preach communication every single day. So, I mean the o-line just communicates, know where they're going, understand the front, so everything like that. They're coming along really well.”