Kansas football fall camp position analysis: Defensive tackles have a lot to prove

LAWRENCE — There may not be a position group on Kansas football’s defense with more to prove than the Jayhawks’ defensive tackles.

Sam Burt and Caleb Sampson each started all 13 games in 2022, as they wrapped up their college careers at KU. That means there’s playing time to battle for, for the players who returned for 2023 and for the newcomers on the roster.

Here are four thoughts about Kansas’ defensive tackles as fall camp continues:

D.J. Withers is standing out

Asked if anyone has separated themselves, at first defensive tackles coach Jim Panagos began to make a general comment about the whole room. But then he did say how pleased he is with redshirt sophomore D.J. Withers. Panagos noted that Withers is having a great camp.

“He’s one of the persons that I challenged in this offseason with his bend, and he worked on improving every day,” Panagos said. “And now he sees the results. And I said to him last night, ‘The biggest challenge, can you do it during training camp? Can you do it during the season?’ And he keeps doing it.”

Withers is coming off a 2022 season in which he had six tackles and a tackle for loss in 13 appearances. Panagos said during that campaign it was like Withers was always there, but couldn’t make the play because he either wasn’t strong enough, was still young or wasn’t getting off blocks. Now, though, Panagos described Withers as someone who’s making plays and gaining confidence.

Jim Panagos isn’t rushing a determination of the rotation

Panagos, who called this the most coachable room he’s had in three-plus decades of coaching, is adamant that he’s getting everyone ready to play this year. Eventually, of course, they’ll determine who plays. But he said he’s not worried about that right now.

Redshirt sophomore Tommy Dunn Jr., redshirt sophomore Gage Keys and redshirt senior Devin Phillips are three other names to keep an eye on, though, when it comes to who might start and play significant snaps.

“It’s a high level of competition,” said Keys, who transferred in from Minnesota. “We’ve got some really talented guys in the room and, personally, I’m very excited for you to see all of us play. Just because we’ve all been grinding this whole summer to kind of show the country that we’ve got a really good d-line. And a lot of people might be sleeping on it, but there’s a lot of talent in this room so I’m really excited.”

The freshmen have potential

Maybe they’ll play this year and maybe they won’t, but freshmen Marcus Calvin and Blake Herold have already caught Panagos’ eyes. And it’s their potential that had Panagos talking.

Panagos highlighted the kind of ability he saw from Calvin when Calvin was in high school.

“The first time I saw him play basketball, I said, ‘This is really impressive,’” Panagos said. “Someone that’s 315 pounds that can move around and bend.”

Panagos highlighted how hard Herold has worked to change his body.

“He just turned 18 years old, and he’s 283 pounds today,” Panagos said. “So, his progression is going nicely, too.”

Improved athleticism will be key

There’s a desire for Kansas to have an athletic front line defensively, and compared to last year Panagos said they have improved there.

“I just think we’re moving better laterally,” Panagos said. “I think (director of sports performance) coach Matt (Gildersleeve) did a really good job in the weight room, so I think we’re bending better. We’re moving better. We have confidence, and that improves in their play.”

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Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas football fall camp position analysis: Defensive tackles