Two former Kansas State Wildcats football players selected in 2022 NFL Draft
Skylar Thompson is taking his talents to South Beach.
The Miami Dolphins selected the former Kansas State quarterback in the seventh round of the NFL Draft on Saturday. Thompson heads off to the professional ranks as the No. 247 overall pick.
He is excited for the opportunity.
“First and foremost, I’ve got to get my foot in the door and start learning the playbook and just be a great teammate,” Thompson said. “That’s why I’m here – I’m here to win and whatever that may look like, whatever my role is on the team, I’m going to own my role and I’m going to do whatever it takes to help the Miami Dolphins win.”
His selection is meaningful for both the Wildcats and Thompson. The Fort Osage product is the first K-State quarterback to hear his name called in the NFL Draft since Josh Freeman went in the first round back in 2009.
Thompson emerged as a draft candidate during the late stages of his college career when he guided the Wildcats to a pair of eight-win seasons under coach Chris Klieman and engineered a pair of impressive upset victories over Oklahoma.
He was one of the most accomplished quarterbacks in school history. Thompson started a school-record 40 games for the Wildcats and left Manhattan as the only player in program history to throw for 6,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards.
Klieman has said that he expects Thompson’s playing style to translate well to the professional level. We will soon find out if that is the case.
“He’s a competitive kid,” Dolphins general manager Chris Grier said. “Smart, tough. He’s got some athletic ability. I always appreciate how he played and how the coaches and people around him talked about the character and the person. It’s always intriguing and we got to the point here at the end where this was a guy who has potential to develop as a quarterback and has some upside.”
Thompson wasn’t the only K-State football player who was picked in the final round of the draft.
Russ Yeast, a Louisville transfer who spent one season playing defensive back for the Wildcats, was selected six picks later (No. 253) by the Los Angeles Rams.
Yeast was an All-Big 12 player at safety as a senior at K-State, making 47 tackles and four interceptions.
This story was originally published April 30, 2022 at 6:16 PM with the headline "Two former Kansas State Wildcats football players selected in 2022 NFL Draft."