Bryce Foster came into fall camp limited due to injury. Here’s how much this Kansas football offensive lineman has been participating so far.
LAWRENCE — Kansas football came into fall camp in late July anticipating Bryce Foster would be limited early on, as he made his way back from an injury.
But on Thursday, coach Lance Leipold highlighted some progress Foster has made in recent days as practices have gotten underway. Foster, a redshirt senior offensive lineman, has been doing some individual drills and even taken one-on-one reps. Considering Leipold didn’t expect much in terms of Foster’s participation just yet, at least for another week, he hadn’t gone into deep discussions with the training staff about Foster’s availability.
With Foster, the Jayhawks have a starting center that’s capable of being an All-Big 12 Conference honoree by season’s end. He was an All-Big 12, second-team selection in 2024, and comes into the fall of 2025 as a member of the preseason all-conference team. For now, Leipold is focused on making sure Foster is ready to go as the season opener nears and being cognizant of avoiding situations that could lead to a setback.
Here are a few more takeaways from Leipold’s latest update with the media:
How are Kansas’ special teams units progressing?
Leipold didn’t provide many details here, but did outline that there are still some competitions going on — especially at punt return. He wasn’t ready to name anyone involved in the punt return competition, but when it came to kick return, did highlight senior wide receiver and Alabama transfer Emmanuel Henderson Jr. as the guy who’s likely taking the most amount of reps there. Overall, the evaluation process is ongoing.
Outside of Justice Finkley and Dean Miller, who’s standing out at defensive end?
While it appears redshirt senior defensive end Dean Miller and senior defensive end Justice Finkley, a Texas transfer, are in line for key roles this fall, they aren’t the only players at their position who’ve impressed. Redshirt freshman Dakyus Brinkley and sophomore Leroy Harris III, a Chattanooga transfer, are in that group. So, too, are redshirt senior Dylan Brooks and junior Alex Bray, an Illinois transfer.
Leipold sees five or six guys rotating in at both defensive end and defensive tackle, if they can stay healthy, and Bray is in that mix. According to Leipold, Bray wanted an opportunity to truly play defensive end, and Kansas is giving him that. Leipold mused that Bray is a slightly different version of what Dylan Wudke gave the Jayhawks last year.
What has Lance Leipold seen from Cam Pickett?
Cam Pickett joined Kansas as a redshirt junior wide receiver and transfer from Ball State. According to Leipold, the newcomer has essentially been everything they’d hoped and seen on film. That’s someone who is deceptively fast, has good hands, plays well in the slot, finds ways to get open, and can be versatile.
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at [email protected] or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: How much has OL Bryce Foster done in fall camp for Kansas football?
Category: General Sports
