Back in elementary school, whenever new Kansas quarterback Chase Jenkins found himself joining a new team, the easiest way he could show people he belonged was by racing them.
“It’s kind of been like a little joke throughout my life,” Jenkins told R1S1 Sports this spring. “Everybody kind of knew I was the fastest kid in my elementary school, so I’d show up and start racing people in 4th and 5th grade to kind of say hello.”
Jenkins is still one of the fastest dudes on his new team, but it’s safe to say he didn’t start racing his new Jayhawk teammates when he arrived in Lawrence.
This time around, the former Rice QB had a different approach.
“I just came in to be myself, keep my head down and work,” he said.
The reason was simple. Jenkins, a friendly and likable guy by all accounts, came to Kansas believing that the things that have served him well as a teammate all these years would work in Lawrence, too.
Hard work. A team-first mindset. Smiles for days. And common goals with his new crew. All of those helped Jenkins feel at home in his new home this spring.
“It definitely feels like I’ve been here a little longer than I have, but it’s been great,” he said. “I was always able to make friends anywhere that I was. That stuff happens naturally. Especially when you’re in a great environment and a great place.”
It remains to be seen who KU’s starting quarterback will be this fall, and, with spring ball now behind us, it doesn’t appear that we’re much closer to learning the answer.
KU coach Lance Leipold said at the outset of spring practice that he did not anticipate naming a starter by the end of April, and that means the trio of Cole Ballard, Isaiah “Zeke” Marshall and Jenkins are all still alive heading into summer workouts.
“They told me I’d have the opportunity to come in and compete. And that’s all I could ask for."
— Redshirt junior quarterback Chase Jenkins, who transferred in from Rice
Both Ballard and Marshall have been highly complimentary of what Jenkins brings to KU’s QB room. But most people close to the program believe that he’s running third behind the two KU veterans, each of whom spent the past couple of years backing up and learning from former KU great Jalon Daniels.
After playing in a pass-heavy offense in high school, the Houston native was both a QB and wide receiver at Rice, moving to wideout for Year 2 — a redshirt season — and back to quarterback in the Owls’ triple-option attack in 2025.
KU quarterbacks coach Jim Zebrowski said this spring that Jenkins showed plenty of familiarity with the position and that his growth came as a passer.
“Chase is dynamic,” Ballard said, calling both of his QB counterparts “unbelievably gifted.” “He’s a play-maker. He’s one of the fastest runners on the team and we’ve got a lot of fast guys. Seeing him work and how he goes about his day to day is really cool.”
Jenkins isn’t worried about where he sits on the depth chart today. He’s just happy to be playing football and enjoying his new teammates and surroundings.
“They told me I’d have the opportunity to come in and compete,” Jenkins said this spring. “And that’s all I could ask for. When I first moved into the locker room, I think the first person I heard from was Zeke, saying, ‘Anything you need, just let me know; I got you.’ They’ve both been great. Great guys, great teammates. I couldn’t ask for anything else.”
No one knows better than Ballard how important a team’s third quarterback can be. As a true freshman and former walk-on, Ballard found himself playing and even starting in a couple of crucial KU games down the stretch of the 2023 season.
And Marshall, the highly touted prospect from Michigan who many believed may be KU’s QB of the future when he signed, finally showed a snippet of what he can do by making plays in certain packages as the No. 3 QB last season.
So, rather than looking at the race to be No. 1 in 2026 as a cutthroat competition, these three are looking at it like a group project in school. The better one does, the more all three will benefit, along with nearly a hundred of their KU teammates.
“Sometimes you see on TV shows and in movies that guys get jealous and stuff like that,” Jenkins said of the Hollywood version of quarterback battles. “But that's not been the case. It’s been great since the beginning. They welcomed me in like I’ve been here the same amount of years they’ve been here. I think that just shows great character from guys in the room.”
I really don’t ever try to think too much about any of it,” he added. “I think now that I’m older, I’m just more mature, being in college football for a little bit, and I just came here to be myself and whoever gravitates to me, that’s cool and I’ll gravitate to good people, too.”
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