Kansas State Football 2015 – Better, worse or about the same?
KSU offense: Better, Worse or about the same?
After losing quarterback Jake Waters, who passed for 3,500 yards, a pair of 1,000-yard receivers in Tyler Lockett and Curry Sexton and four-year starting center B.J. Finney, the Wildcats can’t help but take a step backwards.
Nothing was settled this spring in the quarterback competition between junior Joe Hubener, sophomore Jesse Ertz and true freshman Alex Delton, who graduated high school early and took part in spring drills. Delton is a dual-threat that fits coach Bill Snyder’s system and can’t be counted out next fall.
Whoever emerges as the quarterback will be in charge of an offense that had trouble running the ball a year ago. Charles Jones returns but redshirt freshmen Justin Silmon and Dalvin Warmack drew a lot of attention in the spring. The receiving corps also is unproven, but the Wildcats do have an experienced line with four returning starters led by left tackle Cody Whitehair.
Snyder has his work cut out for him to make the offense work, but he is entering the College Football Hall of Fame in 2015 so don’t count him out.
KSU defense: Better, Worse or about the same?
The defense could be about the same, which would be good, while bordering on improvement. The Wildcats will miss the talent and leadership of defensive end Ryan Mueller and linebacker Jonathan Truman but there is experience at all three levels with returning players accounting for 52 percent of last year’s tackles.
Travis Britz returns at tackle to anchor the line along with sophomore end Jordan Willis. Sophomore Elijah Lee brings speed and athleticism as an outside linebacker, ready to be a full-time contributor after getting his feet wet a year ago as a true freshman in third-down rush packages.
The secondary is the strength of the unit with safety Dante Barnett and corners Morgan Burns and Danzel McDaniel.
The defense needs to create more big plays with sacks – the Cats were No. 6 in the Big 12 last year with 26 – and interceptions to take some pressure off the rebuilding offense.
You buying or selling this team in 2015?
The Wildcats have a manageable non-conference schedule – South Dakota, at UTSA, Louisiana Tech – against teams that were a combined 15-23 last year and will need to show rapid progress.
The Big 12 did K-State no favors with a rugged opening stretch: at Oklahoma State, TCU, Oklahoma, at Texas, Baylor. If the Cats can pick up a road win and protect the home turf for one or more – Snyder usually finds a way — they could cruise down the stretch to a seven- or eight-win season.
Ken Corbitt, the K-State beat writer for The Topeka Capital-Journal provided the information for our Kansas State Football 2015 Spring recap. For more K-State football information, commentary and analysis, you can follow Ken on Twitter @KenCorbitt.
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Right now I’m selling until I see what Snyder puts on the field. The KSU offense could be a mess this season IF Snyder doesn’t find an adequate QB to run his system. Their run game was terrible last year by KSU standards. After averaging about 200 ypg in previous seasons, the Cats averaged just 134 ypg last year. That’s not going to cut it in the high scoring Big 12. My guess is they’ll be a little better in the run game with their OL back and probably being more dependent on the run this year without an experienced QB and losing their two top WR’s..
The defense is in a serious need for linebackers. This is the weakness of this unit. Although I can say they have always been a confident group despite who they lose every year. The loss of starters is always concerning. But one thing I can say for Snyder is the one thing he does better than any coach in the country imo is ensure throughout the season that guys on his depth chart get plenty of “meaningful” reps. Not just mop up or white flag duty. Real reps that count. I can’t overstate the value of that. KSU almost always has a lot of new starters, but seldom have new players. That’s why Snyder has always been the best at plug and play. Like I said, I’m selling for now until I see the product on the field. The one thing going for KSU this season is this is actually considered the easy year rotation on their Big 12 schedule. They won’t have to travel to those hornets nests like Baylor, OU and WV. So at least that is in their favor. Plus KSU is good for ruining at least one team’s season every year. Just ask OU.