The health of Jalon Daniels will be key in 2024 success

The biggest question mark going into the 2024 season is the health of Jalon Daniels. When Daniels has been healthy, he gives the Jayhawks another dynamic at quarterback.

In the three games he played last season Daniels earned a high grade of 84.6 by Pro Football Focus. In 2022 he scored 78.8, which was the highest overall grade on the team.

Those last two seasons he played in nine games and if the KU is going to be the near the predicted win total this year it will depend on a healthy Jalon Daniels.

In spring football, they limited Daniels, but he was able to go through several drills. There were times when he flashed his potential and offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes took notice.

“Jalon, not being able to do everything, but golly, when he goes, man, is he good,” Grimes said. “And I just love his temperament. You know, he's upbeat, he's got a smile every day, like an unusual combination of being fiercely competitive, but really happy and outgoing as well.”

Although Daniels was not a full-go for all of spring he was around practice and the team for everything. That was important because he learned the new things Grimes is adding to the offense.

“I just love his vibe, and I think that's really valuable for a team,” Grimes said. “He had a really good spring with as much as he could do.”

Last year Cole Ballard was forced into action after arriving as a true freshman in the summer. Ballard was a preferred walk-on to start and eventually earned a scholarship. He appeared in four games and graded at 54.6 by PFF, but he was inserted in the line-up in difficult situations.

He played in the Texas Tech game when Jason Bean was injured. The Jayhawks lost that game in a low-scoring contest. He started the in-state rivalry game against Kansas State. Those are not easy situations for a quarterback who arrived on campus just months before.

Grimes saw progress from Ballard in the spring.

“I think Cole has improved so much,” Grime said. “It's so hard to play as a freshman. I mean, it's got to be the hardest thing I can imagine in all of sports would be to play football as a freshman in college and he certainly did an admirable job last year. But you look at how he's grown from then to now.”

Isaiah Marshall was one of the country’s top dual-threat quarterbacks as a high school player last year. He led his team to the Michigan state championship and shortly after that he enrolled in January.

Marshall went through spring football to get a head start and learn the offense. Reporting early allowed quarterbacks coach Jim Zebrowski to get Marshall familiar with the offense.

“Z has done just a remarkable job just helping him learn the offense and becoming just a more accurate passer.” Grimes said. “Zeke is wildly talented. That's where Cole was a year ago, you know, just learning the offense. But, man, there are a lot of moments, it's not occasional where just every once in a while, you see a flash and go, ‘wow.’ Every day there are very impressive things that you see from him, and so I’m really excited about his future.”