Kansas Jayhawks Offer 3-Star Junior Safety Jabarri Lofton: What It Means

It's no secret that Kansas head football coach Lance Leipold recruits the state of Illinois as hard as any state. And, yes, that includes the state of Kansas.

However, most of the recruits Leipold offers from the Land of Lincoln are from the highly esteemed Chicago Catholic League/East Suburban Catholic League, the Chicago Public League, or the Chicago suburbs.

But on Wednesday, Leipold went down to southern Illinois to find his next potential recruit after offering three-star safety Jabarri Lofton out of East St. Louis High School.

Jabarri Lofton's background

Blessed to receive an offer from Kansas!! #agtg @CoachBshelb @CochBG4 @DarrenSunkett @hamitchom @CoachTDismukes @AllenTrieu @adamgorney @GregSmithRivals @TheUCReport @247recruiting @Rivals @On3 pic.twitter.com/9nxPbbmeR4
— Jabarri Lofton (@BarriLofton_) January 20, 2026

Lofton has great size for a safety at 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, who was a tackling machine this past fall for the Flyers. Lofton led the team with 66 total tackles and 56 solo tackles, and also posted three tackles for loss, two sacks, an interception, and returned a fumble for 50 yards.

Lofton also played a lot on special teams for the Flyers, too, which is something he'll likely do in college, at least in the beginning.

The junior is at his best against the run, especially on the outside, and rarely gets caught up in blocks on the outside. Lofton is also strong against the horizontal passing game and has an innate ability to sniff out opposing offenses' tendencies.

Lofton can play both free safety and strong safety, but based on his size, love for contact, and strong tackling ability, I see him as a cover-two strong safety at the college level.

What other schools are pursuing Lofton

A lot. But if you want an exact number, the answer is 16, including at least two from each of the Power Four conferences. Only two other Big 12 schools -- Kansas State and Arizona State -- have offered Lofton, but the junior has a pair of offers out of the ACC in the national-runner Miami (FL) Hurricanes and Florida State Seminoles. Plus, Lofton has two SEC offers in Kentucky and Missouri, and four Big Ten offers in Illinois, Nebraska, Purdue, and Michigan State.

The good news is a decent amount of Lofton's offers have come over the last month. The bad news is a ton of other elite programs are pursuing him. So, if Kansas has a real shot of landing Lofton, they need to get him on campus fast.

The Jayhawks are a long shot to land Lofton, but if Leipold can guarantee him something the other schools can't, like immediate playing time, maybe he picks KU.

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