Kansas football’s Jared Casey continues to thrive as his role becomes more significant
LAWRENCE — It’s hard for Jared Casey to explain how he feels about the way his role with Kansas football is viewed compared to what it was in the past.
Casey started as a little-known walk-on, caught a two-point conversion to beat Texas last season, and progressed enough to be put on scholarship. Casey, now a redshirt sophomore tight end, didn’t see that rise coming or the attention that would come with it.
Casey continued to approach his process week-to-week with the same mentality he always has, though he's watching more film these days. He just sees himself as a more active participant on game days. And ahead of a Big 12 Conference matchup Saturday against Iowa State (3-1, 0-1 in Big 12), that has him in position to thrive.
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“I would say that I feel more involved than what I was before,” said Casey, who will try to help Kansas improve on its records of 4-0 and 1-0 in Big 12. “So it is obviously different in some aspects. ... I mean, some of it does remain the same. But, yeah, it definitely has changed, obviously, with my role on the team.”
Casey, from Plainville, Kan., has started two of the four games this season after starting one of the nine he appeared in a season ago. He already has five catches for 55 yards and a touchdown after catching eight balls for 101 yards and two touchdowns in 2021. He’s continued to showcase how valuable he can be as a blocker when offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki chooses to run the ball. There might not be a better feeling for Casey than delivering a downfield block that opens a hole for a teammate.
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Casey still hears people bring up the Applebee’s commercial he was in, but he has family and friends who keep him humble and eliminate distractions. Consistency, as head coach Lance Leipold preaches, remains the goal.
“I feel like he’s done pretty well with it,” junior quarterback Jalon Daniels said. “I mean, staying humble throughout the whole entire course, never getting too high, never getting too low. Just coming in with that same mentality of just trying to get better. Had a few great catches (Wednesday). It’s a lot of things that we’re working on.”
Looking ahead, Casey just wants to keep getting better as a player. If there are any honors that will come his way, they’ll be there because he doesn’t lose focus. But when asked about what he’s looking to achieve over the course of his career, his mind first went to the team and the desire to reach bowl games and compete for Big 12 championships.
Casey pointed to the team first because, personally, he’s already reached heights he never thought he would. The team is what he was thinking about when he first arrived at Kansas. He wants to help the Jayhawks do things people outside of the program might not think they are capable of.
“I knew I wasn’t going to be handed anything,” Casey said. “I was a preferred walk-on. I was going to have to work for whatever. I wasn’t going to be given anything. So I set my mind to come here and change the program around. And I didn’t care what it takes. ... I want it to happen.”
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas football’s Jared Casey continues to thrive with Jayhawks
