Nick Lenners is healthy, ready to help K-State football at multiple positions

Is Nick Lenners a fullback or a tight end?

That’s a trick question.

The 6-foot-5 sophomore will play both positions for the Kansas State Wildcats this season.

“Our guys have to play multiple spots,” K-State football coach Chris Klieman said Tuesday. “When I say that I mean he will be an on-the-ball tight end, he may be in the backfield and he may be flexed out. But I can go through that list of tight ends and fullbacks that we list on the depth chart. They have to be able to do all those things in (our) system to be successful and to be versatile. The more they can do the better off our offense will be.”

There’s no telling where Lenners will line up when K-State takes the field against Nicholls on Saturday. The Wildcats list him as their starting fullback on the depth chart, but he is also the second option at tight end. That means he might end up blocking with the offensive line, leading the way through a hole as a fullback or catching a pass over the middle.

They are all realistic possibilities for him in offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham’s pro-style system.

“There will be plays when we do run routes,” Lenners said. “There will be plays when we block. And we are going to have a really dominant run game.”

For the record, Lenners is fine with all of the above. He doesn’t care what K-State coaches ask him to do, as long as he gets back on the field.

It’s been a while since he played under lights.

The last time K-State fans saw Lenners, he was being helped to the locker room because of a torn ACL early in the 2018 opener against South Dakota. He figured to be a big part of the offense last season, but he never got an opportunity to show what he could do.

“It was tough with all the emotions I had going into my start,” Lenners said. “Getting hurt, it really sucked but it is nice to be back and I am really excited about this week.”

In a bizarre stroke of bad luck, that injury occurred one day after his younger brother broke his leg during a high school football game back in his hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska. His parents were in attendance for both games.

Talk about a painful start to football season.

On the plus side, Lenners regained a year of eligibility when the NCAA approved a medical hardship waiver following the injury. So he still has three more seasons in Manhattan.

Still, Lenners used his injury as motivation while he recovered from his injury. It was a slow process, and he didn’t feel back to 100 percent until midway through preseason camp. But the moment he did, he invited his parents to town so they could watch him at practice.

His teammates are happy to see him healthy again, too.

“He is a big guy, but he moves well,” K-State quarterback Skylar Thompson said. “We have him playing at fullback right now, but he can also play tight end. He gives us a lot of options.”

“Nick is a great guy, a very versatile guy,” K-State center Adam Holtorf added. “Because of his build and stature, he can move in from fullback to tight end. He has got great hands, so when you put him out on pass routes he is able to catch those balls that a traditional tight end has a little more trouble with. He is a hard worker and he has really embraced his role as a fullback and as a tight end.”

Lenners enters this game with much to prove, no matter what position he plays.

“I am looking forward to showing people that my injury is not going to define me,” Lenners said, “that I am ready and that I am back. I trust my knee completely.”

This story was originally published August 27, 2019 at 4:06 PM with the headline "Nick Lenners is healthy, ready to help K-State football at multiple positions."