Five things: Why Noah King makes Kansas State better

1.) To be honest, we were not expecting the new Kansas State commit to be Noah King when Taylor Braet put out the announcement tweet on Monday afternoon. The Wildcats already had two safeties locked up and are trending for Logan Bartley of Florida. But they had pursued King for over a month, and K-State was not the only ones intrigued by his skill-set. He was offered by Kentucky and Nebraska after camp performances in Lexington and Lincoln. The Wildcats were the most consistent with him, though, and hosted him for a visit at the end of July and also saw him compete in person. Defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman couldn’t be happier, as indicated by a tweet of his own.

2.) Kansas State may not be done in Ohio. Maybe I’m rubbing off on the program. King is from the southwestern portion of the state, just south of Dayton. He attends a quality program in the Cincinnati area. But he could be joined by defensive tackle Dior Garner, who hails from powerhouse Canton McKinley High School. The Wildcats are attempting to make a move for the Bowling Green commit, just like Kentucky, Michigan and West Virginia.

3.) King is the third safety, to go with RJ Collins of Kansas City and Dominic Mitchell of Phoenix. Because they still want Bartley, it could eventually be four. Bartley just de-committed from Wake Forest after visiting Manhattan. Then again, the number could still be three since Collins can play some cornerback.

4.) At the end of the day, taking a potential fourth safety was worth it to K-State just because of his enormous upside. King isn’t as close to being as ready as the others they’ve already added, or even Bartley. But he has the potential to be the best of the bunch if he hits his ceiling and hones in on his development. The potential range of outcomes on how he will fare in Manhattan is pretty wide, but the good can’t be ignored. We’re talking about an All-Big 12 career as best case scenario.

5.) Point number four probably makes point number five an obvious one. Defensive backs can always be on special teams. That path will be there early if King and Kansas State want to go that route. But he seems like a clear redshirt candidate.

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