KU football team loses two offensive linemen before start of fall camp

Kansas football coach David Beaty announced the departures of two sophomore offensive linemen on Wednesday, leaving a bare-bones roster even thinner as the Jayhawks reported for the start of fall camp.

Joey Bloomfield has retired from football while Junior Visinia is no longer with the program, Beaty said in a release.

Kansas, which counted 64 scholarship players for most of the summer months, continues to suffer from roster attrition as Beaty attempts to lay a foundation in his first season. Bloomfield, a native of Louisville, Ky., came to Kansas in 2013 but never played a snap. He took a redshirt during the 2013 season and didn’t play in 2014. Visinia, a Grandview graduate, started three games as a true freshman in 2014, replacing the injured Ngalu Fusimalohi during the season’s final three weeks.

KU did not announce a reason for the departure of Visinia, who was expected to be a factor in the offensive line this season. The losses of Visinia and Bloomfield shine a light on an offensive line that could face some depth issues in 2015. Junior Jordan Shelley-Smith, who represented Kansas at Big 12 Media Days, is expected to be in the mix at one tackle position, while junior-college transfer Larry Mazyck also returns for his senior season. Redshirt freshman Jacob Bragg and sophomore Joe Gibson could be a factor on the interior of the line.

Kansas listed 15 offensive lineman on its summer roster, which was expected to be updated this week.

This story was originally published August 5, 2015 at 5:05 PM with the headline "KU football team loses two offensive linemen before start of fall camp."