Rapid Recap: Kansas State offensive line coming into focus
Kansas State offensive line rotation
During Kansas State offensive coordinator Conor Riley’s first press conference of the fall, one of the questions asked was about the offensive line. After all, it is his position group. It is also a position group that lost Cooper Beebe, Christian Duffie, Hayden Gillum and KT Leveston from a season ago.
As of now, Riley believes there are seven offensive linemen in position for the five starting positions. The first five would be Easton Kilty, Hadley Panzer, Sam Hecht, Taylor Poitier and Carver Willis from left to right. While those five have not started together, all outside of Hecht have starting experience at the collegiate level. The next two offensive linemen in the rotation are John Pastore and Andrew Leingang. The K-State offensive coordinator went as far as to say Leingang has had the best camp he has ever had at Kansas State so far. Leingang has played guard, tackle, and even some center in the first week of training camp.
K-State’s biggest challenge as of now is to find the eighth, ninth, and 10th offensive lineman. Alex Key, Michael Capria, Drake Bequeath, Jackson Fullmer and true freshman Kyle Rakers were mentioned as potential players to be in the next wave.
Advantage of Matt Wells
Kansas State co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Matt Wells has hit the ground running in Manhattan. Wells has brought conceptual thoughts that fit with what K-State and Riley want to do offensively. Another way Wells has helped is through all of his experience. He has been a head coach, offensive coordinator, and offensive analyst. He has used something along the way, from all of his stops, at Kansas State to help the Wildcat offense.
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Conceptually the K-State passing game will look different this season because of Wells. His passing concepts align with what Kansas State wide receivers coach Matthew Middleton is used to.
More playmakers
A constant theme from Big 12 Media Day to fall camp has been the playmakers Kansas State has offensively this year. Riley admitted one of the challenges is finding ways to get all of the playmakers the ball, but it is a good thing. It will come down to who can the coaches and quarterback trust with the ball in their hands. There will be some mechanisms to get playmakers the ball, including special packages for certain players.
One of the main playmakers will be running back Dylan Edwards. K-State is putting a lot on his plate right now and challenging him. Edwards doesn’t like the narrative as just being a scat back, but in the past few days, Riley has seen him run through the A gap and explode, which gets the Wildcat offensive coordinator excited with his background. The versatility Edwards brings to the Kansas State offense will make it more dynamic.
