Cornell Wheeler is Kansas’ tone-setting MIKE linebacker
In the 2024 season, Cornell Wheeler became Kansas’ starting MIKE linebacker and a team captain, finishing as the Jayhawks’ third-leading tackler with 64 tackles, 5.0 tackles for loss, an interception, four pass breakups, and a forced fumble. His value goes beyond the box score: coaches praised his command of the defense, durability-through-adversity, and leadership after a bumpy injury-filled path from Michigan to Lawrence. If you want a dependable, vocal, physical middle linebacker who steadies the defense and sets the edge mentally as much as physically, Wheeler is the kind of fit that keeps coordinators sleeping a little less soundly.
