Kansas State adds four on signing day, but Wildcats fail to address one important need
The Kansas State football team added a small, but notable, new batch of recruits to its roster as the February signing period began on Wednesday.
The Wildcats signed a quarterback with upside (Adryan Lara), a pair of promising high school prospects from within the Sunflower State (Jacob Parrish, Tyson Struber) and a junior college transfer who should help provide immediate depth on the defensive line (Vaai Seumalo).
Head coach Chris Klieman spoke passionately about all of them. He said Lara has “tremendous arm strength.” He thinks Parrish is “a hidden gem.” He said Struber is so athletic he could play offense or defense for the Wildcats. And he projected Seumalo as a player “that will help us inside.”
Those are all good things for the Wildcats, who increased the size of their 2022 signing class to 17 players.
But Klieman and his coaching staff still have several roster holes to fill before they can turn their focus to spring practices and next season. The biggest one of all appears to be at running back.
The Wildcats haven’t landed a single one during this recruiting cycle, which means they don’t have a proven backup for Deuce Vaughn.
“We have to be cognizant that we don’t have a bunch there,” Klieman said. “We have to be cognizant that we lost some guys to the portal. That’s going to happen every year at different spots. It just hit us at running back this year. So we’re evaluating.”
K-State was in the mix for three-star running back Travis Bates until he signed with Duke on Wednesday.
Where will the Wildcats look now?
The good news is K-State doesn’t need to add a workhorse runner to its offense. Vaughn is the face of the team after putting up monstrous numbers as both a freshman and a sophomore. Getting the ball in his hands will be the priority for new offensive coordinator Collin Klein.
The bad news is all that success chased away all the running backs who played behind Vaughn last season. Joe Ervin, Jacardia Wright and Clyde Price each entered the NCAA transfer portal shortly after the Texas Bowl.
Every football team needs more than one running back, even if their starter is an All-American like Vaughn. But finding reinforcements for that position hasn’t been easy.
Klieman said convincing a transfer to come in and play behind Vaughn has been virtually impossible because he can’t promise anyone 20 carries as a backup. Other options haven’t been easy, either.
“We looked at some high school seniors in 2022 and we’ll continue to do that,” Klieman said. “We’ll maybe look at a junior-college kid, because that’s probably the area I think has been missed on. A lot of junior-college kids will probably come available in May because they didn’t get looked at as much because of the transfer portal. But it’s something that we’re looking at every day.”
K-State’s latest recruiting class ranks 57th nationally and eighth in the Big 12, per Rivals, which is about average for a K-State recruiting cycle.
It will look a lot better when, or if, the Wildcats find a running back to help Vaughn in the backfield.
2022 Kansas State football recruiting class
High school recruits
Drake Bequeaith: 6-5, 255 offensive lineman from Grapevine, Texas
Jake Clifton: 6-3, 205 athlete from Owasso, Oklahoma
Jalen Klemm: 6-5, 262 offensive lineman from Gibsonia, Pennsylvania
Adryan Lara: 6-2, 215 quarterback from Goodyear, Arizona
Sterling Lockett: 5-10, 155 wide receiver from Overland Park
Brayden Loftin: 6-5, 207 tight end from Council Bluff, Iowa
Colby McCalister: 5-11, 180 defensive back from Friendswood, Texas
Garrett Oakley: 6-5, 205 tight end from Columbus, Nebraska
Tobi Osunsanmi: 6-3, 210 defensive back from Wichita
Jacob Parrish: 5-11, 170 defensive back from Olathe
John Pastore: 6-6, 270 offensive lineman from Erie, Colorado
VJ Payne: 6-2, 190 defensive back from Buford, Georgia
Jordan Perry: 6-2, 180 athlete from Jefferson, Georgia
Donovan Rieman: 6-4, 230 defensive end from Enid, Oklahoma
Tyson Struber: 6-2, 185 athlete from Galva
Junior-college transfers
Kobe Savage: 5-11, 185 defensive back from Tyler (Texas) Junior College
Vaai Seumalo: 6-3, 310 defensive tackle from Garden City Community College
This story was originally published February 2, 2022 at 4:57 PM with the headline "Kansas State adds four on signing day, but Wildcats fail to address one important need."