Why one K-State football player says QB Skylar Thompson is playing at ‘Heisman level’
The odds of Skylar Thompson earning all-conference honors at the end of his final season with Kansas State seemed to crumble when the senior quarterback missed the majority of three straight games with a knee injury earlier this year.
He had lots of ground to make up.
Only an improbable combination of K-State victories and eye-popping passing statistics would get him back into the conversation with these Big 12 quarterbacks: Iowa State’s Brock Purdy, Oklahoma’s Caleb Williams, West Virginia’s Jarret Doege and Baylor’s Gerry Bohanon.
And yet, that is exactly what has happened.
“Skylar is playing at a Heisman level,” K-State center Noah Johnson said. “I’m not a voter or a coach or a media guy, but the amount of work he puts in and what he means to the team and what he means to me, the plays he makes … There’s no other quarterback in the country I would want to block for. There’s no other star quarterback in the NFL I’d rather play with than Skylar Thompson.”
Thompson has been on the longest hot streak of his college career since returning from injury last month against Oklahoma.
After starting out as a dual-threat quarterback known more for his toughness and leadership than his arm, he has surprisingly proven himself as a precision passer by throwing for 1,318 yards and eight touchdowns during his five conference games.
No one in the Big 12 is averaging more yards per league game (263.6) than Thompson. His completion percentage (71.9%) and total yards both rank fourth. Only Williams has a higher efficiency rating.
Thompson also leads the Big 12 in QBR, a complicated stat ESPN created a few years ago to better rate the nation’s most efficient quarterbacks. He ranks 19th nationally.
One more thing: K-State (6-3, 3-3 Big 12) is bowl eligible and on a three-game winning streak.
“The numbers that Skylar is putting up are really fun to see,” K-State coach Chris Klieman said. “For us to put the game in his hands a lot more this year and feel comfortable that when the pocket breaks down we know and he’s going to scramble out, direct traffic and … throw a big touchdown, it is huge … Without a doubt, he’s having an all-conference type of season.”
Other quarterbacks have more impressive overall statistics, but few, if any, are playing better than Thompson at the moment.
Want to hear something funny about Thompson’s streak of five straight games with at least 206 passing yards and a touchdown? It might not have happened without his knee injury.
When Thompson returned to the huddle against Oklahoma, he seemed unwilling to scramble for yards when a passing play didn’t show immediate promise — as he had throughout the bulk of his time in a K-State uniform. The injury forced him to stay in the pocket, go through his progressions and find open receivers rather than make something happen with his legs.
The results have been impressive. He threw for 320 yards and three scores against the Sooners. Then he connected with 11 different receivers against Texas Tech and nine more against Kansas.
Somewhere along the way, the game slowed way down for him.
“I put a lot of work into developing my passing game over the past couple years and I just never have really had the opportunity to display that with my injuries,” Thompson said. “So I finally had the opportunity to showcase what I’ve been working on and it’s it’s been paying off. I’m playing with a lot of confidence.”
It remains to be seen if Thompson can play well enough during the final three games of the season to close the statistical gap between him and Big 12 quarterbacks that have been healthy all year. Or if he can make coaches and media members think more highly of him than Williams, who is undefeated as Oklahoma’s starter.
But he has already done enough to join the conversation.
At the very least, he is ending his final season in Manhattan with a bang.
“It’s cool to see a guy with that much talent be in rhythm and get on a hot streak and complete all the passes that he wants across the field,” K-State receiver Kade Warner said. “It has been really fun to watch him play to the best of his ability.”
This story was originally published November 10, 2021 at 12:29 PM with the headline "Why one K-State football player says QB Skylar Thompson is playing at ‘Heisman level’."