Austin Booker’s ‘pass rush and speed’ can help Kansas football’s defensive line in 2023

Kansas redshirt sophomore defensive end Austin Booker (99) works through drills during Tuesday's practice at the team's indoor practice facility.
Kansas redshirt sophomore defensive end Austin Booker (99) works through drills during Tuesday's practice at the team's indoor practice facility.
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LAWRENCE — Austin Booker’s name has come up multiple times in the past week, as Lance Leipold has talked about Kansas football’s progress through spring ball.

Leipold, the Jayhawks’ head coach, has been monitoring who can help the defense’s pass rush in 2023. He’s been asked for names, of players who could be relied upon after Lonnie Phelps Jr. turned pro after the 2022 season. And Booker keeps getting mentioned.

For Booker, a redshirt sophomore defensive lineman, that confidence from his head coach matters. The Minnesota transfer has plenty of confidence in himself, sure. But together that all contributes to why Booker ultimately thinks he can enjoy success on the field.

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“I love the defense,” said Booker, a three-star transfer talent according to 247Sports. “I feel like I fit in this defense a lot better, just — it’s a lot more speed, less run plays. And that’s definitely my strength, is pass rush and speed. So, I definitely feel like I can use that a lot better and it’s been good getting to know everybody.”

When Booker ultimately made his decision to choose Kansas, he did so by picking the Jayhawks over the Indiana Hoosiers. As someone who’s from the state of Indiana, Booker thinks many thought he’d go back home. But while that might have been the better fit in Booker’s mind when it comes to things outside of football, he wanted his choice to be football specific.

It’s helped, of course, that another Minnesota transfer joined Kansas in redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Gage Keys. But Booker was clear the driving force was football. It wasn’t necessarily about certain people having key roles in his decision.

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Leipold has liked the length Booker, listed at 6-foot-6, provides their defensive line. It’s part of why Leipold thinks the Jayhawks will have a look there they haven’t had before. And he’s seen Booker become more comfortable is the spring has gone on.

“It’s kind of always been my thing to work on, just being tall, just getting low,” Booker said about his focus moving forward through the rest of spring. “I need to work on that in my game, most definitely, especially from a two-point stance. It’s definitely harder to get low off the ball. So, using the three-point stance and fixing up my two-point stance, definitely getting low, is a main focus for me this spring.”

Booker didn’t come to Kansas with the level of production at his former school that Phelps did the year prior, when Phelps transferred in from Miami (Ohio), as Booker didn’t have a significant role in 2022 after not playing in any games in 2021. But Booker is excited about the potential to play a lot more snaps with the Jayhawks as Phelps was. That’s the kind of opportunity Booker has been looking for since he came to college.

Booker has a level of athleticism he says comes in part because of his parents, who are former collegiate athletes, and the experience his football coach at Center Grove High School had in track as well. He’s working on getting his weight up to 250 pounds by the start of the season, from the about 242 pounds he said he’s at right now. And whatever opportunities come from that, in regards to his future in football, he’ll look to take advantage of.

“Talking about, like, the league, and how long I’m going to stay, I’m not sure,” Booker said. “Just work hard and whatever opportunities come, come.”

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: KU football's Austin Booker’s pass rush, speed can help defensive line