Jason Bean Raises the Floor for Kansas Football
While conducting his post-game press conference after a 48-17 win over Missouri State to open the season, Lance Leipold was asked how fortunate the Kansas Jayhawks were that senior quarterback Jason Bean decided to return to school. He needed just one word to answer.
“Very.”
Rightly so. The day Kansas football fans had been waiting for all summer arrived on Friday as KU again took the field inside David Booth Memorial Stadium. Except Jalon Daniels, star quarterback and Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year, didn’t make it into the game.
Before the game, rumors of Daniels continuing to battle back spasms – which hindered him for most of fall camp – popped up, with fear that he wouldn’t play. That ended up being the case, with Leipold saying that Daniels was feeling much better but didn’t have enough practice reps heading into the week to warrant starting.
Instead, Bean stepped in as he did several times last year and led the Jayhawks to victory behind 22-28 passing for 276 yards and two touchdowns along with 41 yards rushing. His QBR ranked No. 25 in week one out of every D-I quarterback.
Let’s get this out of the way right off the bat. For Kansas to be at its best and reach its ceiling, it needs a healthy Daniels. He’s as dynamic of a quarterback as Kansas has seen in decades and has the sheer skill and athleticism to put the team on his back.
But Leipold is correct, Bean’s return is huge for the program. Having Bean as your No. 2 quarterback raises the team’s floor significantly. You don’t have to look far and wide to see teams lose their starting QB and significantly fall off. That doesn’t exist at KU. The Jayhawks are not suddenly a three-win team with Bean under center. Yes, Daniels is who you want out there if you had your choice — he’s that special of a player — but you can feel more confident with Bean stepping in than you can most team’s backups and still being a competent team.
He’s one of the fastest players on the team and is a more-than competent passer who can both find receivers in the middle of the field and take shots deep. What’s also important is his experience, not just within the system at Kansas but overall as a collegiate player. He’s seen it all and overcome his share of adversity.
“I’ve been through a lot here and in college football,” Bean said after Friday’s game. “I’ve played a lot of snaps and just been trying to utilize those snaps, the lessons that I’ve learned in the past. Just trying to make myself that much better.”
It’s unclear how much more playing time is in his future. From what has been said publicly, the comments hint that Daniels could return to the starting lineup on Friday. But as junior running back Devin Neal pointed out, one of Bean’s best assets is his unchanging demeanor no matter who plays.
“It’s really special because he can very easily be down in the dumps, jealous, whatever, you name it. But for him, it’s never about that,” Neal said. “It’s about him being ready for his moment and you see that each time he puts on his uniform and gets on the field. And that’s really remarkable for me to see that. He just commands the huddle and he’s clicking on all cylinders when he or Jalon are on the field. It’s just super important for him to keep being the same guy that he is and that’s why we love him.”
Leipold isn’t the only one very happy Bean is back. And the feeling shouldn’t be contained to just the locker room.
