Kansas Football Injury Report: Star Wide Receiver Dealing With Ailment

Lance Leipold met with the media after Kansas football’s much-needed bye week and previewed the upcoming matchup with West Virginia.

In his press conference, he revealed a new name on the Jayhawks’ injury report. According to Leipold, Ball State transfer and standout wide receiver Cam Pickett has not been at full strength this season.

"He's not 100% right now," Leipold said on Monday. "We kind of keep working through it. I commend him because he continues to work through some of it. He's one of the guys who we limited last week and hopefully we can get them closer to 100% by Saturday."

Pickett, KU’s projected starting slot wideout entering the year, has been effective when on the field. Through three games, he has recorded 10 catches for 124 yards and three touchdowns, including two in the opener against Fresno State.

However, his snaps have been limited, as he has yet to log more than 20 in a single game and saw just 13 against Missouri.

Until now, it was unclear whether KU was holding him back for specific packages or experimenting with different rotations. Leipold’s comments made it evident that Pickett is battling some type of ailment.

The highly touted transfer was one of KU’s most important portal additions alongside Alabama transfer Emmanuel Henderson Jr. A season ago, Pickett reeled in 49 receptions for 528 yards and 2 scores.

His elusiveness in the short game and ability to make things happen after the catch give KU’s offense an added dimension, but also one that clearly hasn’t been fully available so far.

With Pickett limited, the Jayhawks will likely continue leaning on Doug Emilien in the slot or mix in more tight-end heavy looks. Those blocker-heavy sets were effective against Missouri, including a massive fourth-down RPO play to Boden Groen.

But the Jayhawks are still missing something without Pickett on the field consistently. Henderson and DeShawn Hanika cannot be Jalon Daniels' only big-time targets, especially if the running game doesn't get going in the near future.

Getting Pickett back to 100% will be crucial for higher-leverage matchups later this fall, especially against Texas Tech and in the Sunflower Showdown vs. Kansas State.

For now, KU may continue to manage his workload through the first few games of conference play against opponents they will be favored over. Regardless, Pickett’s health will be one of the most important storylines to monitor moving forward.

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