Kansas offensive coordinator Jim Zebrowski is pretty comfortable with the plan he has to replace Devin Neal.
“Uh, Daniel and Leshon,” the man they call “Z” said during Thursday’s annual media day. “That’s our plan, which is a good plan.”
Daniel, of course, is former Neal running mate Daniel Hishaw Jr. And Leshon, you may know, came to Lawrence in the offseason after playing the last four years at Iowa. Both have lead-back potential. But they also share the desire to do whatever is best for the team and whatever they have to do to win.
That, Zebrowski said, made it easier for him to figure out how to use them after spending the past few years watching Neal, the program’s all-time leading rusher, get the lion’s share of the carries.
“It’s pretty impressive to have a kid like Devin graduate and go on (to the NFL) — and I hope he does great things — and have two (quality) guys behind him,” Zebrowski said Thursday. “Picking up Leshon and having Daniel Hishaw, that's just such a bonus.”
In 34 games over his four previous seasons with the Jayhawks, Hishaw has amassed nearly 1,500 yards and 19 touchdowns on 282 carries.
So, it’s not exactly as if he’s a wildcard here. The guy has played. And he’s played in big games and had some huge moments.
But given how solid and consistent Neal became during his final two seasons with the program — and, really, for all four years of his Kansas career — it’s fair to question if that steady play can be counted on at the running back position.
Because of how they’ve looked in camp and because Hishaw and Williams (1,300 yards and 4 TDs in 32 games at Iowa) are both veterans of college football, Zebrowski is not concerned a bit about their ability to be the answer.
“He's in as good of shape in however long he's been here,” Zebrowski said of Hishaw. “He looks great in terms of just changing direction, and he's worked so hard. He's great at pass pro, his hands have gotten better. I'm so excited about him. And, geez Louise, like you’ve got two guys who’ve learned, one guy who learned from Devin and has seen him, and another guy who played at a different spot and comes in and picks things up really fast. So, I think we're in a great spot. I'm really excited about that room.”
There’s more to the plan than just knowing who the two running backs to handle most of the work this season will be if everything goes according to plan.
Zebrowski also knows how he wants to use them both.
“You hate to not have a guy get some reps early,” he said. “You’d like to play them both early and get them involved in the game. I think you’ll see them both pretty early in most games. I think that’s kind of the plan. You kind of give them a chance to get some touches and away we go. That’s really hard for any position, to not play for a while and not get in until the second quarter or something. … One might do something better than the other one, but they both do things really well. I think you’ll see them both a good amount.”
The first chance for that to come true arrives in one week, when the Jayhawks open the 2025 season with a home game in their brand-new stadium against Fresno State on Saturday, Aug. 23.
Kickoff is slated for 5:30 p.m. on FOX.
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