LAWRENCE — So much attention is focused on Kansas football’s cornerback duo of Cobee Bryant and Mello Dotson, and for good reason.

Bryant and Dotson, both seniors, are leaders for the Jayhawks defensively. They have the potential to be two of the best cornerbacks in the Big 12 Conference this fall. Both could end up hearing their names called in next year’s NFL Draft, should they play the way they are capable of during the 2024 season.

But Bryant and Dotson won’t be the only cornerbacks to take the field as Kansas battles for a Big 12 title. They won’t be the only two who play key parts in the journey the Jayhawks are about to take. Redshirt junior cornerback Damarius McGhee is another player to keep an eye on, and when he’s in the game fans might be able to notice aspects of his game he’s learned from Bryant and Dotson.

RELATED: Kansas football’s Children’s Mercy Park practice provides valuable experience this fall

RELATED: Where Kansas football ranks in US LBM preseason coaches poll top 25

“I would say 3, off-man, because he’s probably our best off-man player,” McGhee said in a reference to Dotson, who wears that number, before later referring to Bryant and Bryant’s No. 2 jersey. “Press, I look more toward 2.”

McGhee joined Kansas as a transfer from LSU ahead of the 2023 season, but what he described as a back injury kept him from playing much at all. Although he valued how much the Jayhawks’ training staff looked out for him, it was frustrating that he wasn’t on the field with his teammates as much as he would have liked. It’s part of why he’s so eager to be able to play in 2024.

McGhee has also appreciated the arrival of D.K. McDonald as the team’s co-defensive coordinator/cornerbacks coach. McDonald, who most recently coached in the NFL as an assistant on the Philadelphia Eagles’ staff, had the trust of players when he joined the KU program because of his experience at the professional level. McGhee recalled one phrase McDonald uses being, “Time will either promote you, or expose you,” and it’s something McGhee won’t soon forget.

While McGhee noted McDonald isn’t serious all of the time, even though it may seem that way, when it’s time for them to lock in that’s what they do. There’s a lot of competition in that position group right now, with freshman cornerback Jalen Todd, redshirt freshman cornerback Jameel Croft Jr. and redshirt freshman cornerback Jacoby Davis among those pushing for playing time. From McDonald’s perspective, McGhee’s consistency has stood out.

“He had one of the best springs that we had in the secondary, so now he’s continuing to bring that along and able to push some guys and, once again, just give us some flexibility on some things we can do in the back end if we get into some third down packages and different things like that,” McDonald said about McGhee. “You’re able to move some guys around, and you can throw him on the field and feel confident that he can go and play at the level hopefully that Cobee and Mello are playing also.”

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: Keep an eye on Kansas football cornerback Damarius McGhee this season