Observations from Kansas State’s first open football practice of the spring
Chris Klieman and the Kansas State football team allowed media to watch the first few periods of a spring practice on Tuesday.
Here are some observations from the session:
Some Wildcats are sitting out spring practice
The K-State football roster is mostly healthy this time of year, but that doesn’t mean the Wildcats are at full strength.
A handful of players on both sides of the ball either sat out Tuesday’s practice or didn’t participate in certain drills as they recover from offseason procedures.
K-State strength coach Trumain Carrol kept them busy on the sideline with alternative exercises, but they were limited when it came to actual football.
On offense, the limited players were offensive linemen John Pastore and Navarro Schunke, running back Gabe Ervin and wide receiver Andre Davis.
On defense, they were linebackers Desmond Purnell, Asa Newsom and Austin Romaine, defensive linemen Cody Stufflebean and Brad Stanyer and defensive backs Colby McCalister and Gunner Maldonado.
Logan Bartley, Daniel Cobbs and Adonis Moise participated with red no-contact jerseys.
Offensive line beginning to take shape
It felt a little strange watching Kansas State’s group of offensive linemen work out with a new position coach (Brian Lepak) and several new players.
The Wildcats will look different up front next season.
But it looks like they already have a starting group in mind. When the first-string offense took the field for scrimmage work with starting quarterback Avery Johnson, the Wildcats stuck with five blockers for every play.
Ohio State transfer George Fitzpatrick stepped in at left tackle and Taylor Poitier played alongside him at left guard. Returning starter Sam Hecht snapped the ball at center. Andrew Leingang played at right guard and Gus Hawkins handled right tackle.
K-State likes to rotate between multiple offensive linemen at most positions, so developing depth behind that group will be important. But it feels like they may have a dependable five already.
Battle brewing for backup quarterback
Many assumed that Jacob Knuth would serve as the primary backup quarterback behind Avery Johnson this season. And that may ultimately turn out to be the case.
But the junior from South Dakota will have to earn the job.
Blake Barnett might not make things easy for him. The redshirt freshman from Erie, Colorado, showed off a strong arm in passing drills and even got a few QB2 reps in behind Johnson.
Barnett sat out last season with a redshirt as he recovered from an injury, but he was a coveted recruit coming out of high school. K-State coaches have praised Barnett for his competitiveness in practice, and it will be interesting to see how he performs in practice this month.
Knuth was the third-string quarterback last season, but he saw action as a reserve in games against Tennessee-Martin and BYU. He completed a 9-yard pass in both games and reeled off a 10-yard rush against UT-Martin.
Projecting the depth chart at wide receiver
K-State may have revealed its current pecking order at wide receiver during no-huddle drills.
The Wildcats ran three different units onto the field as they simulated their hurry-up offense. Those groups featured three wide receivers in each formation.
The starting group consisted of Jayce Brown, Jerand Bradley and Jaron Tibbs. No surprises there.
Next up were Caleb Medford, DJ Davis and Bryce Noernberg.
Finally, we saw Sterling Lockett, Jacques Spradley-Demps and Isaac Koch.
This story was originally published April 8, 2025 at 12:50 PM with the headline "Observations from Kansas State’s first open football practice of the spring."