After the summer recruiting cycle ended the Jayhawks had two commitments from wide receivers. This was a pivotal year for receiver recruiting with the top four players graduating and five spots needing to be filled.

Wide receivers coach Terry Samuel had a strong finish to the class signing Bryson Hayes and Jaden Nickens giving the Jayhawks four receivers in the class.

The class looks a lot different after signing day compared to going into November.

“Well, as you deal with COVID and sometimes an injury or whatever it is, our numbers are a little wacky at that position,” said head coach Lance Leipold. “So, with five seniors this year, we're trying to get things a little more balanced out.”

Jackson Cook, from South Gwinnett High, was the first receiver to commit in the summer.

“Jackson Cook is a receiver with solid size,” Leipold said. “He's got good speed, really good hands, and a humble guy that will work hard. He comes from a good program. He's going to continue to be a guy that I think is going to be a very good player for us as well. He has, and ability to go up and get the ball, speed, all those things.”

Cook was a summer commit and was followed by Tate Nagy. In his high school career Nagy played quarterback at Blue Valley West, where he was recently named the EKL Offensive Player of the Year and a finalist for the Simone Award.

Nagy, the son of Kansas Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt, impressed college coaches this summer as a wide receiver.

Nagy first made the switch from quarterback to receiver at camps in Texas, where some of the Kansas coaches were in attendance.

“We had a chance to see Tate down in a couple camps down in Texas,” Leipold said. “You go to some of these camps, and it's no different than it was 30 years ago. There's always more quarterbacks than anything else. The lines get really long, and the reps get very minimal sometimes. And I think he was like, you know, forget this. I'm going to jump in the receiver line and just do some things.”

Receiver was a new position for Nagy, but he learned quickly and earned an offer from Kansas.

“He's a competitive athlete and started showing his ball skills and then the next day did it again,” Leipold said. “We happened to see him and then we got him to our camp. He's got some ability, and he's got great ball skills. He can be a punt returner. He can judge a ball. I don't want to say he's a throwback in a way, but he's just an athlete and he gets it.”

The receiver group was strengthened in November with late commitments from Hayes and Nickens. Hayes was committed to Nebraska and was a long-time target of the Kansas coaches.

“We recruited him a long time, had he and his family on campus multiple times,” Leipold said. “I know it was a tough decision originally and then he decided that he wanted to rethink that and come here. He's been timed sub 4 4. He's got the kind of speed and things that we need to add to that room.”

Nickens was the last to commit and will play football and basketball for the Jayhawks. He was committed to Oklahoma but backed off his pledge last spring. He moved to California to play for Sierra Canyon and Samuel continued to recruit him.

“The ability to have an opportunity to play two sports was huge to him,” Leipold said. “He was on this campus before for a basketball camp. He had been here and came on his visit Colorado game. He was very excited about the opportunity, obviously the football program and what we've done, how he could fit in. For him to have an opportunity to play basketball and to do it here was probably his deciding factor. He's an excitable young man. He's got a chance to be a really good football player and we're excited to have him.”