Mailbag: Can Kansas State capitalize on a loaded 2025 in-state crop?
1. What happens to the Kaedin Massey visit if Grant Brix commits to Kansas State?
DY: Nothing. We have every reason to believe that Kansas State would add both offensive linemen Kaedin Massey and Grant Brix. Momentum is building for both, with Oklahoma seen as the competition in both cases.
2. Will the Wildcats offer tight end Gavin Hoffman from Blue Valley Northwest?
DY: I do not believe so. It isn’t that Gavin Hoffman isn’t good enough to play his college football in Manhattan. After all, he has already added offers from Arkansas, Illinois, Purdue, Texas Tech, Nebraska, Iowa, Arizona State and Missouri.
The Lindenwood Mega Camp was kind to the 2023 product. But K-State just doesn’t have enough room to add a tight end in the recruiting cycle the more that they have poured over it. In fact, they are not terribly heartbroken that they lost Carson Bruhn at this point.
3. Are you surprised about the lack of transfers that K-State has landed?
DY: A bit. That is just because I have total faith in the Kansas State coaches and believe that they are elite in just about every component. For that reason, I still think Jerome Tang and the Wildcats sign a heck of a group.
Is that faith being tested? Yes, but I still can’t count them out because of what they were able to do in year one. What if K-State is able to pair Creighton transfer Arthur Kaluma with Tylor Perry and the three freshmen already added?
4. Which 2024 defensive end does the coaching staff feel good about?
DY: Two are coming to mind at the moment. While Jayshawn Ross is off the Kansas State board, two from St. Louis are rising up the list. Keep your eyes on Joseph Anderson and Caleb Redd? They won’t be easy to land, though.
5. Can you break down what the staff looks for in the ‘Will’ and ‘Sam’ linebacker positions?
DY: That is a great question and my answer won’t be the best one.
The 3-3-5 that K-State deploys consists of wrinkles of their own. The ‘Will’ linebacker is Austin Moore and his pursuit to the ball, high football IQ, block destruction, strength and sideline-to-sideline ability stand out as his strengths.
Some of that will carry over to the ‘Sam’ spot in the Kansas State defense, but they are asked to cover quite a bit more. Desmond Purnell and Jake Clifton will likely be the two that play it the most, and they will often be more in space.
6. Which redshirt freshman makes the biggest impact for Kansas State?
DY: Each side of the ball has one that makes a lot of sense.
K-State defensive back Colby McCalister pops off the page. He may not be a starter, just because Marques Sigle, Kobe Savage and VJ Payne should be positioned to be trio in the back end, but he saw first team reps in the Spring after a position switch.
Offensively, the redshirt frosh that should see the most playing time is tight end Garrett Oakley. Again, the top guy is Ben Sinnott but that doesn’t mean that they won’t count on Oakley for a sizable amount of snaps.
7. How are football season ticket sales going?
DY: At this point, it would be a total shock if Kansas State didn’t sell out every game once again. They are going to come close to it via season tickets alone.
8. Which year has the best in-state class between 2023 and 2025?
DY: It is just too early to say. The top end looks pretty similar, though. The depth is still to be determined.
The 2023 group consisted of guys like Avery Johnson, Jordan Allen, Dylan Edwards, John Randle, Jr., Joe Otting, Andre Davis and Samuel Same at the top, and the 2025 collection is already composed of the likes of Julian Marks, Jayden Woods, Bryson Hayes, Caden Butler, Andrew Babalola and DaSaahn Brame.
With a bit more depth, the 2025 class could have an argument.
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