K-State football navigating practice with limited numbers at key positions due to COVID
The Kansas State football team is dealing with a dilemma that is uniquely tied to the coronavirus pandemic.
What happens when a portion of a team’s roster tests positive for COVID-19 and safety protocols force multiple players at the same position to miss practice while they quarantine?
That’s an answer K-State coach Chris Klieman and his coaching staff are currently trying to answer, as the Wildcats have practiced with limited numbers at several positions this week because of 10 active cases on their team.
According to sources, two positions have been hit harder than the rest: offensive line and wide receiver.
By no means are the Wildcats in danger of running out of healthy players at either position before the season begins against Arkansas State on Sept. 12, the sources said. A team official reiterated Wednesday that K-State practice remains on as originally scheduled. But the absences have forced K-State coaches to get creative with their personnel and prepare emergency options in case they are needed on game day.
At various times over the past week, sources said K-State has practiced with skeleton crews at offensive line and wide receiver. That’s not ideal for a coaching staff that loves depth and makes lots of substitutions whenever the Wildcats’ offense is on the field.
Last season, K-State used 16 different players as ball-carriers and Skylar Thompson completed passes to 17 different targets. Though the Wildcats started five seniors on the offensive line and relied on them all year, reserves routinely saw playing time after the offense sustained a long scoring drive.
“The style of football we play, we want to have 12, 13, 14-play drives,” K-State offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham said last month. “We want defensive linemen to get tired. The problem with that is when you have 14 or 15 play drives as an O-lineman, you’re not having someone sub in for you. So you have to not only execute physically, but you have to communicate and still mentally be strong. That’s one of the things we’ll really have to work at as camp continues.”
Offensive line was a big question mark for K-State entering the season. Limiting depth at that position won’t help matters, even if the team’s projected starters remain healthy. It is unknown which specific players have missed practice time.
It’s a similar story at receiver, where the Wildcats are looking to replace Dalton Schoen and find a new go-to receiver for Thompson.
The Wildcats received some good news on the coronavirus front on Wednesday when local health officials reported that the K-State football team hasn’t experienced any new active cases since Monday, when the roster was identified as a new source of outbreak in Riley County with 10 active cases.
But with players undergoing testing three times a week, per Big 12 policy, it is a fluid situation.
The problem currently hampering K-State in practice isn’t so much losing players to active COVID-19 cases as it is losing teammates that have come in close contact with players that have tested positive.
The Wildcats have 17 wide receivers, 21 offensive linemen and nearly 140 players on their roster, so the loss of 10 players isn’t enough to cripple most positions. But when you begin isolating teammates for precautionary reasons, depth can become an issue.
Most players that have recently tested positive for COVID-19 are unlikely to play against Arkansas State, as the conference requires a 10-day quarantine period followed by a string of other tests that include a EKG, troponin blood test, echocardiogram and cardiac MRI.
But it’s possible some will be ready to return to play by then, depending on when they tested positive.
Players that haven’t tested positive while in quarantine should be able to return to practice soon as long as they continue to test negative.
This story was originally published September 2, 2020 at 4:43 PM with the headline "K-State football navigating practice with limited numbers at key positions due to COVID."