Kansas Jayhawks Football: Phil Steele 2025 Forecast

The 2024 season was a frustrating one for Kansas. The Jayhawks struggled early in the year, losing five of their first six games. Even with an improved effort late in the season, it wasn’t enough to get bowl-eligible. Now, head coach Lance Leipold wants to get things back on track.

Importantly for Kansas, the Jayhawks are reopening David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium after a massive renovation project. Amid that excitement, the Jayhawks have now received a $300 million gift from David Booth. With that comes an expectation that Kansas is going to not just get back to bowl eligibility, but is going to make its presence felt this season.

Ahead of the season, college football expert Phil Steele shared his forecast for Kansas. In his annual preview magazine, Steele broke down the offense and the defense in detail for Kansas. Here are some of his thoughts on what to expect this season:

Offense

On offense, Kansas is set to return Jalon Daniels at quarterback. A veteran, he’s flashed in the past but struggled at times last season amid a change at offensive coordinator. Now, in his second year under the same system, there’s a hope he can return to his previous form. If he can do that, while staying healthy, Kansas should be good on offense.

“Last year their OC left for Penn St and my computer called for 428 ypg and they had 420 but Daniels only had a 14-12 ratio so they dropped to 29.7 ppg. Daniels should return to form,” Steele wrote. “And despite losing RB [Devin] Neal, their top 6 receivers and 3 OL they remain strong.”

Defense

The Jayhawks finished 75th in scoring defense last season, giving up 26 points per game. That was a solid effort, but one Kansas wants to improve on. The problem is that they lack returning starters on that side of the ball, and inexperience is going to be difficult to overcome. Talented transfers help, but are hard to predict.

“Last year my computer called for them to allow 392 ypg and they gave up 393 ypg! This year only two starters are back,” Steele said. “But they have a lot of transfers. My computer is calling for 387 ypg.”

Forecast

The Kansas Jayhawks are set to open the season in Week 0. That shortens up their offseason a bit, but it also gives them an extra bye week during the season. That could help over the course of the year to deal with adjustments and getting healthy. That matters too, given their roster turnover and the injury history that Jalon Daniels has in his past.

“Kansas does have 3 bye weeks (wk 3, 8, 12) and HC Leipold is looking forward to having home games back in new-look Memorial Stadium. Kansas has lost the fewest scholarship players to the portal of any P4 team the last two years. Despite just 10 starters back from last year’s squad,” Steel said. “I like Leipold’s portal additions and they have a great shot at getting back to a bowl.”