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Good morning, Wichita!

Can you smell that? That’s football season baby.

Not interested in football? What about trolls?

Let’s get into it!

- Landon Huslig

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Wichita Area Players to Watch in 2026

Football is back.

And while Wichita doesn't have an NFL team of its own (or big college team anymore, but we do have the Friends Falcons and they ain’t bad), there are plenty of local connections to keep an eye on this fall.

A couple years ago, we took a look at the Wichita-area players scattered across NFL rosters. A lot has changed since then. Some familiar names have retired, others are trying to extend long NFL careers, and a new local player just cracked an NFL roster for the first time. We also want to touch on some of the college guys from the Wichita area.

As the 2026 season begins, three Wichita-area high school products are on NFL 53-man rosters: Breece Hall, Ben Powers and Jayden Price.

Another longtime Wichita-area NFL veteran, Jordan Phillips, remains a free agent after playing for Buffalo last season.

On top of that, we've found 22 Wichita-area players on Division I college football rosters, including 14 at KU and K-State alone.

Let's take a look.

Breece Hall | New York Jets

Position: Running Back
High School: Wichita Northwest
College: Iowa State
NFL Draft: 2022, Round 2, Pick 36
NFL Team: New York Jets

Breece Hall has been a name Wichita football fans have known for a long time.

At Wichita Northwest, Hall became one of the best running backs in Kansas, helping lead the Grizzlies to the Class 5A state championship game before heading to Iowa State.

Hall became a two-time Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year with the Cyclones and finished his college career with 3,941 rushing yards and 50 rushing touchdowns (school record).

The New York Jets selected him with the 36th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Hall rushed for a career-high 1,065 yards in 2025, becoming the first Jets running back to crack 1,000 yards in a season in a decade.

Through his first four NFL seasons, Hall has accumulated 3,398 rushing yards and 18 rushing touchdowns, while adding another 1,642 receiving yards and nine touchdowns through the air.

And this offseason, New York paid him accordingly. Hall signed a three-year, $45.75 million contract extension in May. And he is still only 25 years old.

Ben Powers | Denver Broncos

Position: Guard
High School: Kapaun Mt. Carmel
College: Butler Community College → Oklahoma
NFL Draft: 2019, Round 4, Pick 123
NFL Team: Denver Broncos

Ben Powers has taken an interesting path from Wichita to the NFL.

Powers grew up in Wichita and starred at Kapaun Mt. Carmel, where he played football and was also an accomplished wrestler.

His next stop wasn't a major Division I football program. It was Butler Community College. After one season at Butler, Powers transferred to Oklahoma and eventually became a consensus All-American for the Sooners.

The Baltimore Ravens selected him in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft.

By 2022, he had developed into a full-time NFL starter. Denver signed Powers to a four-year, $52 million contract in 2023.

He's been a fixture on the Broncos' offensive line ever since and is back on Denver's 53-man roster for 2026.

From Kapaun to Butler to Oklahoma to the NFL.

Jayden Price | New Orleans Saints

Position: Cornerback
High School: Mulvane
College: North Dakota State
NFL Team: New Orleans Saints

Jayden Price is the newest name on this list.

The Derby native and Mulvane graduate officially made the New Orleans Saints' 53-man roster this weekend, earning his first spot on an NFL regular-season roster.

Price was a three-year starting quarterback and defensive back at Mulvane.

As a senior, he threw for 1,425 yards and 16 touchdowns, rushed for another 936 yards and 16 scores, while also making 46 tackles and intercepting three passes on defense.

He finished his Mulvane career responsible for 7,895 yards of total offense and 101 touchdowns.

Price went on to North Dakota State, where he made the switch to defensive back and return specialist. He appeared in 71 games for NDSU, starting 54, and finished his career with 107 tackles, 17 passes defended and three interceptions.

He also won three FCS national championships with the Bison.

Getting from there to an NFL roster took a few stops.

Price went undrafted in 2024 and signed with Atlanta, but the Falcons waived him at the end of training camp.

He then had a brief stint with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the CFL (that’s Canadian Football League if you didn’t know) before landing with the Arlington Renegades in the UFL, where he led the league with 13 passes defended in 2025.

That performance earned him another NFL shot. The Saints signed Price in June 2025, waived him during final cuts and brought him back on the practice squad the next day. He spent the season there before signing a reserve/future contract in January.

This summer, he did enough to make the team.

Nearly a decade after starring at quarterback for Mulvane, Jayden Price is officially on an NFL 53-man roster.

Jordan Phillips | Free Agent

Position: Defensive Tackle
High School: Circle
College: Oklahoma
NFL Draft: 2015, Round 2, Pick 52
2026 Status: Free Agent

If we're talking about the greater Wichita area, we're counting Towanda.

Jordan Phillips was a force at Circle High School. I actually played against Jordan in high school, and he was dominant even as a freshman.

The 6-foot-6 defensive tackle became the No. 1 recruit in Kansas and one of the nation's top defensive tackle prospects before signing with Oklahoma.

Miami selected Phillips in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft, beginning an NFL career that has included stops with the Dolphins, Bills, Cardinals and Cowboys.

Phillips returned to Buffalo for the 2025 season, appearing in 11 games before a foot injury ended his year.

Now 33, Phillips has played 140 NFL games and recorded 25 career sacks. As the 2026 season begins, he's a free agent, so we'll see if another team comes calling.

And having played against him myself, I can confirm one thing: for a guy that big, he could MOVE.

Recent Wichita-Area NFL Players

The list looked a little different when we last wrote about Wichita-area NFL players in 2024.

A few familiar names have since finished their playing careers.

Blake Bell | Bishop Carroll → Oklahoma → NFL Champ

He went on to play for the 49ers, Vikings, Jaguars, Cowboys and Chiefs, appearing in 117 regular-season games.

He was part of three Super Bowl championship teams with the Chiefs.

His final NFL season came in 2023.

B.J. Finney | Andale → Kansas State → Pittsburgh

He went on to play seven NFL seasons with the Steelers, Seahawks and Bengals, appearing in 73 games with 15 starts.

Finney medically retired from football in 2022.

Davontae Harris | Wichita South → Illinois State → NFL

Harris spent time with the Bengals, Broncos, Ravens, 49ers, Chargers, Bears and Titans.

He appeared in 36 NFL games and started nine.

Who's Next? Wichita-Area Players in Division I Football

The NFL list might be short, but there are a lot more local names playing on Saturdays.

We've identified 22 players from Wichita and the surrounding area currently on Division I football rosters.

We're counting both FBS and FCS programs and including Wichita-area communities like Derby, Maize, Andover, Goddard, Mulvane and Valley Center.

Kansas State Wildcats

Avery Johnson | QB | Maize

Wesley Fair | S | Wichita Collegiate

Jace Adler | S | Andover Central

Martel Jackson | CB | Derby

Will Anciaux | TE | Kapaun Mt. Carmel

K-State total: 5

🔵 Kansas Jayhawks

KU's roster has even more Wichita-area connections.

Dylan Edwards | RB | Derby

Bryson Hayes | WR | Maize

Jaylen Mason | QB | Wichita Northwest

Micah Johnson | RB | Goddard

Mason Ellis | S | Mulvane

AJ Batiste | WR | Wichita Collegiate

Griffin Baker | WR | Wichita Northwest

Donald Collier | WR | Trinity Academy

Hunter Higgins | DE | Maize South

KU total: 9

That's 14 Wichita-area players between KU and K-State alone.

🐺 South Dakota Coyotes

Bryce Cohoon | WR | Maize

Sam Samè | DL | Derby

Dustin Cochran | OL | Wichita Northwest

Deongelo Williams | OL | Wichita Northwest

South Dakota total: 4

🔴 Indiana Hoosiers

Tobi Osunsanmi | DL | Wichita East

He transferred to Indiana for 2026.

🌪️ Iowa State Cyclones

Carter Pabst | WR | Eisenhower

🔴 Southeast Missouri State

Adrian Patterson | CB | Wichita Heights

🐾 Southern Illinois

Caleb Saner | DE | Valley Center

📊 By the Numbers

Heading into the 2026 football season, we've found:

3 Wichita-area players on NFL 53-man rosters

1 additional longtime NFL veteran currently a free agent

And we've identified 22 Wichita-area players currently on Division I college football rosters:

9 at Kansas
5 at Kansas State
4 at South Dakota
1 at Indiana
1 at Iowa State
1 at Southeast Missouri State
1 at Southern Illinois

That's 25 local players currently playing Division I or NFL football, plus Jordan Phillips waiting to see if another NFL opportunity comes his way.

So when you're watching football this fall, keep an eye out for the hometown on the bottom of the screen.

You might see Wichita quite a bit.

Now just imagine if Wichita State could get a team again…

Did we miss someone? There are more than 260 Division I football programs between the FBS and FCS, so there's a good chance another Wichita-area player is hiding on a roster somewhere. Reply and let us know who we need to add.

One of the best resources for following ‘kids from Wichita’ is the Just a Kid from Wichita page and brand:

What do you want to see us go deep on in a future deep dive?

Let us know!