The Kansas State football team allowed reporters to watch portions of its practice on Monday morning at training camp.
Here are five observations from the action as the Wildcats continue to prepare for their season opener against Tennessee-Martin on August 31 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium:
The position battle for QB2 is close
It remains unclear who has the upper hand in Kansas State’s competition for backup quarterback.
Jacob Knuth, a sophomore who began his college football career at Minnesota, was the first quarterback to rotate in behind Avery Johnson when the Wildcats were in 11-on-11 drills. That could be a good sign for him.
But it was Connecticut transfer Ta’Quan Roberson who made bigger plays throughout the course of practice.
Roberson was at his best throwing the ball down field. That was most evident when he connected with wide receiver Zayden Martinez on a post-route even though he was well covered.
He has only been on campus for a few weeks, but Roberson appears comfortable in the K-State offense.
Knuth also had some nice moments, though, and connected with his receivers on several different routes.
K-State coach Chris Klieman has said it will be a few weeks before he is ready to name a QB2 heading into the season. He wasn’t kidding. There doesn’t appear to be much separation between Knuth and Roberson at the moment.
Here’s how offensive plays will be called this season
It was easy to spot quarterbacks coach Matt Wells.
The former Texas Tech head coach strolled around the K-State practice facility wearing a lavender shirt and a headset, which will allow him to speak directly with Avery Johnson before plays this season.
Headset communication has been around for years in the NFL, but it is new to the college game. How will K-State handle the technology? We appear to have our answer.
The plan seems to be for offensive coordinator Conor Riley to call plays from the press box with Wells then relaying them into Johnson and other K-State quarterbacks from the sideline. K-State coaches are also allowed to communicate with one defensive player between plays, but it is unclear how that procedure will work.
No K-State coaches were wearing headsets on the defensive side of the ball on Monday.
Sterling Lockett is ready to make an impact
K-State fans haven’t seen much from Sterling Lockett since he arrived on campus, but that could change this season.
The sophomore wide receiver appears ready to make plays for the Wildcats. He showed off his skills on Monday by reeling in a handful of nice catches, including back-to-back grabs during 11-on-11 work.
On the first play, backup quarterback Jacob Knuth rolled out to his right and found Lockett on an out route, Lockett caught the pass and then turned up field for a healthy gain. On the second play, Johnson found Lockett across the middle for another gain that would have moved the chains.
K-State fans will always be intrigued by what Lockett can bring to the field because his older brother (Tyler), uncle (Aaron) and father (Kevin) were some of the best receivers in school history. It seems as though the youngest of those Locketts is ready to help the K-State offense behind starters Keagan Johnson and Jayce Brown.
Lots of intensity on defense
Some K-State defenders treated this practice like it was a game.
The defensive tackles, in particular, were playing hard and giving their all during drills. It was interesting to watch defensive tackles caoch Mike Tuiasosopo raise his voice with players when they were hitting the sled.
Nothing was good enough for him. He kept challenging his group, and they responded.
Another healthy practice for the Wildcats
The K-State football team is still operating at full strength.
Perhaps that is to be expected little more than one week into training camp, but there are typically at least a few players out with injuries at most practices. That is not the case right now.
There were no K-State players watching from the sideline. And only two were wearing red, no-contact jerseys — defensive back Kanijal Thomas and running back DJ Giddens. Both players are considered healthy and are being limited for cautionary reasons.
That number was less than we saw last week. Right now, the Wildcats are healthier than when training camp started.
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