Jayhawks return important offensive line piece for fall camp

LAWRENCE (KSNT) - One could argue the quarterback is the most important position in football, but the quarterback wouldn’t be able to do his job without the guy snapping the ball to him.

For KU, that guy is center Mike Novitsky.

"That's a guy right there," quarterback Jalon Daniels said. "If I mess up on a protection call, he's going to be right there to check me on that and make sure I'm making the right call. That's a very smart guy up front."

Novitsky’s back for fall camp healthy. He missed the spring practice schedule to recover from injury.  He’s a leader for this offense. His team is happy to have him back, including Lance Leipold, who Novitsky followed to Kansas from Buffalo.

"He's probably everything we thought, but I think the way it was accepted and embraced has been better than we even could've imagined," Leipold said.

Novitsky did get something out of the spring. Even though he couldn’t practice on the field, he could practice the playbook.

"It was different," Novitsky said. "I kind of got a different perspective. I was able to watch the offense from a different perspective. I watched the back field, what they're doing, how they're aligned. So, I was able to get a full picture of our offense."

Fall practice lasts exactly a month. Then, the real deal starts. KU opens the season against Missouri State on Sept. 1.