KSO Nuggets: Seemingly impressive Spring for Kansas State QB Avery Johnson
KANSAS STATE LOOKING FOR LENGTH
We have seen Kansas State host a few receiver visitors in the last month or two. Some that come to mind are Jesse Watson of East Saint Louis and CJ Brown of Arkansas and will still welcome in Isaiah McMorris of Omaha and Ashton Bethel-Roman of Texas.
However, it is a position that isn’t providing a lot of certainty at the moment. And that is a situation due to two different factors. The first is that K-State had to transition from Thad Ward to Matthew Middleton right before an important recruiting period.
Secondly, some of those options still do not fit the criteria that they are hoping for in the 2024 cycle. One observation and takeaway that they have already made is that they would like to add a bit more length and size at wideout.
AVERY JOHNSON
My approach in the Spring was to not cover Avery Johnson as if he was the Kansas State starting quarterback since I knew that would be the instincts of many in the K-State media. Most back-up quarterbacks do not receive a lot of recognition and I didn’t want to treat him differently.
However, it is hard not to take note of the praise and reaction that he is drawing from his teammates, coaches and just anyone that watches practice. He is already making a mark. That is not to say that he has accelerated his timeline to playing time or earned a limited role for the 2023 season.
That is yet to be determined at this point.
But his progress and performance has certainly impressed anyone. Kansas State defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman called him special and a streak of lightning. Assistant Van Malone brought him up as someone standing out in the Spring and that not many can catch him in the open field and that it looks different when he takes off.
It was also funny to recognize that when RJ Garcia interviewed starting K-State quarterback Will Howard, he took offense to Garcia stating that every signal-caller was faster than him with the exception being Johnson.
Another source mentioned to me that he has been the most intrigued about Johnson’s work habits off the field in terms of preparation and studying and that he has “killed it” in the Spring. Kansas State basketball staffer Kevin Sutton echoed the same after watching a spring practice.
Not to mention that the K-State offensive coordinator, Collin Klein, did not state that it was a foregone conclusion that Jake Rubley would run away with the No. 2 job and described it as an open competition between those two and Adryan Lara.
K-STATE AND THE PORTAL
The next transfer portal window for college football has been moved from May 1-May 15 to April 15-April 30. Yes, that means it opens back up on Saturday for about two weeks. Of course, the conversation will shift to who could exit and who could become available to land.
As one source told me, Kansas State only lost “the guys that they wanted to lose” during the first stretch. Obviously, they hope that will be the case once again in the second window. My understanding is that there’s likely a couple more that could fall into that category.
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