Rapid Recap: First Kansas State camp update from Chris Klieman

Kansas State offensive line notes

It has been well-documented at this point how deep the Kansas State offensive line will be for this season. The unit returns 119 total starts and has some impressive young players knocking on the door and on the brink of emerging as well.

There is one injury to the group thus far. Christian Duffie will likely miss a few games to start the season. His injury occurred over the Summer, but it is not considered to be a long-term deal.

With the injury to Duffie, there has been lots of reps distributed at right tackle.

A few players taking those snaps thus far are Carver Willis, Andrew Leingang and John Pastore. Another lineup option has been Taylor Poitier or Sam Hecht at guard and moving Cooper Beebe back to right tackle where he started as a redshirt freshman.

Perhaps no offensive linemen drew more praise than Hecht. K-State head coach Chris Klieman brought the Mill Valley product up a few times as a player impressing him through the first six practices of training camp in Manhattan.

Freshmen impressing

Though Klieman noted some of the newcomers are likely swimming upstream from a mental standpoint, three were spotlighted as navigating through it enough to warrant meaningful snaps during the first week of Kansas State practices.

Running back Joe Jackson, linebacker Asa Newsom and safety Jack Fabris have all showcased some good things and could get reps with the older players sooner rather than later if they continue the current trajectory.

It is not the first time that Jackson has been mentioned by Klieman. Remember that the standout from Florida was brought up at the Signing Day press conference as someone that could contribute early for the Wildcats.

Newsom was a big recruiting win for K-State in the last cycle. He has the make-up of someone that could contribute on special teams this season and potentially receive snaps at linebacker just like Jake Clifton did a year ago.

Fabris has always had the look of a player that would do anything to see the field, which could result in early special teams work, too. It should not be overlooked that he was a special teams ace in high school and could be asked to do the same as a true freshman for Kansas State.

Quarterback depth

The Wildcats are starting to develop depth at quarterback as well. Jake Rubley has been impressive in the first few practices. The game has really started to slow down for the Colorado native as he looks to win the No. 2 job behind starter Will Howard.

Avery Johnson continues to learn from Rubley, as well as Howard. The true freshman plays fast and has made some splash plays during training camp because of it. Once the game starts slowing down for Johnson, Klieman expects him to make quantum leap after quantum leap.

It is interesting to note that the K-State head coach only picked out Rubley and Johnson, voluntarily, when asked about the back-up role, not that the conclusion is a stunner. But he had no problem mentioning the truth.

Will Lee taking the next step at cornerback for Kansas State according to HC Chris Klieman.

— Derek Young (@DerekYoungKSO) August 8, 2023

Experimentation in K-State secondary

After being asked where they were in addressing the secondary, which Klieman mentioned as an objective that needed accomplished when speaking at Big 12 Media Days in Arlington, he considered it still a work in progress.

However, many Kansas State players have impressed.

Three safeties were singled out in VJ Payne, Kobe Savage and Marques Sigle. Are those the starters? He at least made it sound like they were the leaders in the clubhouse. Savage looks fully healthy, it is apparent that Payne played a lot last year and Sigle has settled in after learning a new spot on the field.

The K-State head coach admitted that he could be forgetting people when trying to go through positions, like cornerback and receiver, but five cornerbacks that he picked out of the crowd were Will Lee, Jacob Parrish, Keenan Garber, Jordan Wright and Justice James. It was also in that order.

Lee drew the strongest praise after being described as someone that has taken the next step. Like Payne, Parrish was identified as someone where it was clear by watching him that he benefited from the experience of last season.

Garber and Wright are making pushes, with the latter being moved around all over the secondary.

Conference realignment thoughts

An interesting part of conference realignment is how it impacts the Kansas State non-conference schedule. The Wildcats are scheduled to play Arizona in 2024 and 2025, as well as Colorado in 2027 and 2028.

Klieman didn’t even realize that K-State was supposed to play those schools in the upcoming years until he was told so not long ago. He has not discussed it with Gene Taylor or Jill Shields and doesn’t believe they’ll have a conclusion on how to move forward for another few months.

Praise for Kansas State nose guards and receivers

Though brief, what the head coach had to say about the Kansas State nose guards and wide receivers was significant.

Klieman intimated that the nose guard spot is a position of strength and depth for the Wildcats. Uso Seumalo has been as advertised, showing off his strength and explosiveness and being a consistent disruptor. Damian Ilalio has had an impressive first week as well.

Though he admitted that he still wasn’t sure what the rotation and depth would be like for this season, Klieman also sounded thrilled by what the receivers showed during the first week of training camp as well, and their first time under assistant Matthew Middleton.

According to Klieman, Keagan Johnson has been exceptional. He absolutely lit up about the Iowa transfer on more than one occasion in terms of what he has been showcasing for the Wildcats. Phillip Brooks has looked good, and RJ Garcia has made a ton of plays so far, too.