Kansas football and Lance Leipold have landed their first commit in the 2027 recruiting class.
Derek Gonzalez, a consensus three-star offensive lineman from Nogales High School (La Puente, California), announced his commitment to Kansas on Wednesday night via social media. The 6-foot-7, 280-pound lineman chose the Jayhawks over Arizona, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas Tech and Vanderbilt.
Gonzalez earned all-league honors in the Montview League as a junior and visited Lawrence during the Sunflower Showdown weekend in late October.
His pledge marks Kansas’ first commitment in the 2027 cycle and breaks from recent years when the Jayhawks opened classes with quarterbacks, including Jaylen Mason (2026) and David McComb (2025). Instead, the Jayhawks start up front.
Gonzalez joins a growing pipeline of offensive line talent and becomes the latest Southern California recruit to pick Kansas.
Here is the last JayhawksRoundtable Kansas football story:
Four Kansas Football Jayhawks Headed to 2026 NFL Combine
Kansas football will be well represented in Indianapolis later this month.
Four Jayhawks have been invited to the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine, the NFL announced Wednesday, including quarterback Jalon Daniels, wide receiver Emmanuel Henderson Jr., offensive lineman Enrique Cruz Jr. and kicker Laith Marjan, who will participate in the NFL Combine Specialist Showcase.
The annual event will take place Feb. 23 through March 2 in Indianapolis, with on-field workouts airing on NFL Network beginning Feb. 26. A total of 319 prospects were invited.
Kansas has now had eight players invited to the combine over the past two seasons, its highest two-year total since at least 2000. Last year, Logan Brown, Cobee Bryant, Devin Neal and Mello Dotson represented the Jayhawks in Indianapolis.
Daniels headlines this year’s group being selected as a QB. He is one of 15 quarterbacks invited and the first Kansas quarterback to receive a combine invite since at least 2000. Daniels is coming off one of his best collegiate seasons, completing 62.1% of his passes for a career-high 2,531 yards and 22 touchdowns with seven interceptions. He averaged 7.9 yards per attempt and helped steady the Jayhawks’ offense throughout the fall.
Daniels also boosted his draft stock with a strong week at the East-West Shrine Bowl, where he showed improved timing and command in front of NFL evaluators.
Henderson enters the combine as one of the most dynamic return specialists and fastest wide receivers in the country. A First Team All-Big 12 selection as a return man, he led the conference in kickoff return yards and averaged 25.3 yards per return. His 94-yard kickoff return against West Virginia was the second-longest in the league this season. The former Alabama transfer also earned Third Team All-Big 12 honors at wide receiver, finishing seventh in the conference in receiving yards and fourth in yards per catch. He will have a chance to showcase his high-end speed, something NFL scouts love.
Cruz anchored Kansas’ offensive line at right tackle and earned Honorable Mention All-Big 12 recognition. According to Pro Football Focus, he graded as the sixth-highest tackle in the Big 12 and ranked 47th nationally among FBS tackles. Kansas has now had an offensive lineman invited to the combine in four straight years.
The 2026 NFL Draft is scheduled for April 23-25 in Pittsburgh, where the Jayhawks will look to continue building on the program’s recent momentum at the professional level.