Mailbag: Assessing the 3-1 Kansas State start

1. What does it take to get more production from the Kansas State receivers?

DY: First, it has to be recruited better and I thought the last recruiting cycle was a step in the right direction for Kansas State. There has to be an appealing offensive system for a receiver to sign, and that wasn’t instituted until offensive coordinator Collin Klein did so last year.

Secondly, they aren’t awful. They do need to be better and much of that is just due to Keagan Johnson not yet being Keagan Johnson. They were relying on him to be the premiere guy and he hasn’t been healthy enough to do so.

2. Is West Virginia better than we thought or is TCU worse than we thought?

DY: Of course West Virginia is a bit better than I thought they would be since I ranked the Mountaineers last in the Big 12 to begin the season. I’m happy for Neal Brown who seems to be a good guy and is pretty close with K-State head coach Chris Klieman.

In terms of TCU, while I did have them high in my rankings the last two weeks, that was based off of a body of work. It was still better than a lot of teams in the Big 12 at the time. The Colorado loss didn’t appear as bad anymore. But I thought they were a team that would take a step back this year.

3. Will K-State now change the distribution of touches between Giddens and Ward?

DY: It is possible, and I know the question was asked because DJ Giddens almost had 300 yards against UCF and tacked on four touchdowns as well. However, I’m sure Kansas State will still assemble it based on the plan that makes sense for the opponent.

With that being said, I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a bit more Giddens. He’s easily the better player between the two, in my opinion.

4. How do you feel about college football on a Friday?

DY: I don’t hate it. I also understand it. It’s the business. When you have that many teams in Power Five conferences now, meaning 14 and/or 16, there’s only so many television windows on a Saturday. And college football wisely doesn’t want to compete all that much with the NFL on Thursdays.

5. How does Kansas State not defeat Oklahoma State by 30?

DY: For starters, when is the last time Oklahoma State lost at T. Boone Pickens Stadium by 30? Clearly that is not a regular occurrence. Just like even the bad teams in general don’t lose at home by 30 that often.

It’s always tough to win on the road. That won’t be any different in Stillwater. They will play one of their best games of the season, if not the best. Remember, K-State still is a target on them, and especially this week since they housed the Cowboys 48-0 in Manhattan a year ago.

Jake Rubley, Will Howard, Hayden Gillum and RJ Garcia/Kansas State Athletics

6. Is Will Howard too heavy?

DY: No. Will Howard is clearly mobile enough to still be a threat on the ground and he’s about 230-240 pounds. That’s not unheard of or limiting for him. It should also help him stay healthy, though the Kansas State signal caller has already been injured this season.

7. Will the K-State offense or defense have any added wrinkles?

DY: Absolutely. But it may not be visible to the naked eye. It could just be a tweak to a blocking scheme out of a certain formation, a tiny modification to a route combination against a particular defensive look or a different formation in general.

Specifically, perhaps there’s a different way for K-State to utilize Avery Johnson.

8. Compare this year’s team to last year’s team at defensive line, linebacker, the secondary, quarterback, offensive line, running backs, receivers and kicker.

DY: Handing out about 15 different grades is not really conducive to the mailbag format. I’ll share where Kansas State was better last year and where they are better this year.

The Wildcats were a better defensive line last season because there’s no replacing Eli Huggins or Felix Anudike-Uzomah. They’re closer to that group than I thought they would be, though. K-State was also better at linebacker last season, but that’s because the inexperience is hurting early in the year.

The biggest discrepancy is in the secondary, where they were obviously a great deal better last season than thus far this year.

I believe this year’s Kansas State offensive line will be better by Week 12 or Week 13, but last year’s club was better up front by the finish of the year than what the Wildcats are at the moment. Howard was better at the end of last year, but I also expect him to reach that level again this season.

There’s no replacing Deuce Vaughn, but again, K-State is closer there than I thought they would be this season. Receiver is probably close but last year’s team has the edge. I’d expect that to also change by the end of the season.

Some of this isn’t fair, though. Just about every team is going to be better in Week 12 and Week 13 than they are Week 5. This year’s Kansas State team in Week 5 is still better than last year’s group in Week 5 in a handful of spots.

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