Why preseason expectations are soaring for K-State defensive end Khalid Duke
There is room for an abundance of passengers on every college football team’s preseason hype train, but only one player gets to sit in the driver’s seat.
At Kansas State, that player is Khalid Duke. And the sophomore defensive end currently has the locomotive firing on all cylinders like a veteran conductor.
“Khalid Duke is a baller,” said fellow K-State defensive end Wyatt Hubert.
“He can be one of the best defensive ends in the conference,” said defensive ends coach Joe Klanderman.
“He is just playing at a different speed than everyone else right now,” added defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman. “They’re having a hard time blocking him in the run game and the pass game. That’s what we really need.”
Who is Khalid Duke? You may remember him from such moments as the time he came up with sacks against Kansas and West Virginia last season, or the time he recovered a fumble against Bowling Green. He showed flashes while playing in seven games as a freshman, but he appears ready to take the leap to a higher level as a sophomore.
One look at his roster measurements should tell you why. When K-State recruited Duke as a high school linebacker out of Atlanta, he barely weighed more than 200 pounds. That left him slender enough to pile up 1,000 yards as a receiver and win a state championship in the triple jump when he wasn’t trying to tackle ball-carriers on the football field. But he has transformed his body in K-State’s weight room.
When the 2019 season ended, Duke was listed at 6-foot-3 and 216 pounds. He is now all the way up to 244 pounds, and apparently playing quicker than ever on the defensive line.
“What makes him a baller is he has all the intangibles,” Hubert said. “He’s definitely a God-gifted defensive end. He’s about 6’4, 240, great quickness, great size, and great football instinct. He’s quick off the ball, quick off the snap.
“Obviously he’s a young guy with not much playing experience, but that will come over time. I’ve definitely taken him under my wing and shown him what I can show him, just from experience. How to watch film, what to do, all the keys and tendencies to catch up on that make you a better player. I’m excited for his future. I’m excited to play next to him this fall.”
It’s scary to think about what Hubert and Duke might be able to accomplish playing alongside each other on opposite ends of the defensive line.
Hubert emerged as an all-conference pass-rusher last season while piling up 12.5 tackles for loss, including seven sacks. More is expected from him as a junior, so long as his teammates can play well enough to prevent opposing offensive coordinators from smothering Hubert with double teams on every play.
That’s where Duke comes in.
If all goes well, he could mimic the type of season Reggie Walker and Jordan Willis had as pass-rush partners in 2016 when Walker had 6.5 sacks as a freshman and Willis had 11.5 sacks as a senior.
“We weren’t able to generate a ton of pressure with four (pass-rushers) last year,” Klanderman said, “partly because of injury and partly because of personnel. That wasn’t our strong suit, but the fact that he stepped up might enable us to move some guys around in third-down situations, get the four best pass rushers out there. He’s certainly emerged as one of those four, something we weren’t sure of prior to this camp.”
To be sure, K-State coach Chris Klieman and his assistants have mentioned several other newcomers and rising underclassmen as potential break-out candidates this season, including freshman running back Deuce Vaughn, freshman offensive lineman Cooper Beebe, freshman defensive end Felix Anudike and transfer tight end Briley Moore. But none of them compare to Duke when it comes to preseason expectations.
There’s a reason he is in the driver’s seat.
“Khalid has a huge ceiling,” Wyatt, the defensive ends coach, said. “If he continues to improve week in, week out and he stays committed to being one of the best, I think he has a chance to be really special.”
This story was originally published August 19, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Why preseason expectations are soaring for K-State defensive end Khalid Duke."