Kansas State football players share high praise for this transfer wide receiver
Taylor Poiter has been a member of Kansas State’s offensive line since 2019, so it’s worth noting when the seventh-year senior goes out of his way to praise a group of new teammates before they’ve even played their first games in a purple uniform.
“Our offense will be a little different this season,” Poitier said Tuesday at Big 12 Media Days. “We have got a lot more guys to get the ball to, so that’s really exciting.”
Poitier is particularly eager to see how junior wide receiver Jaron Tibbs will complement a group of skill players that already featured Avery Johnson at quarterback, Dylan Edwards at running back, Jayce Brown on the outside and a plethora of talent at tight end.
Tibbs, a 6-foot-2 transfer from Purdue, made a strong first impression on the Wildcats during spring practices.
“You can already tell,” Poitier said, “that he’s going to be really good.”
Johnson also likes what he has seen from his new wide receiver.
The junior quarterback said K-State coaches placed a white board outside of the team’s indoor practice facility in the spring and asked for players to write down the names of any player who impressed them. Nobody got more shoutouts than Tibbs.
“It wasn’t just offensive players saying that either,” Johnson said. “A lot of our defensive guys all talked about how good of a job he did.”
Johnson is glad to have him in the K-State receiving corps.
“He is going to be a dude for us this year,” Johnson said. “He’s just a big, physical receiver. The dude is well put together. He’s smart, a really good route-runner, strong hands, good at catching in traffic. He does a lot of things that you can’t teach. We built a really good connection this offseason.”
That will certainly come as good news to K-State football fans.
Wide receiver has typically been a weakness during the Chris Klieman era. Last season, only Jayce Brown (47 catches for 823 yards and five touchdowns) was able to eclipse 360 yards through the air. Most of Johnson’s touchdowns were thrown to running backs and tight ends.
It was also like that when the Wildcats utilized Deuce Vaughn and Ben Sinnott as their main receiver threats. Perhaps K-State will have more of a one-two punch at receiver with Brown and Tibbs on the perimeter.
Tibbs only grabbed 25 passes for 305 yards and two touchdowns as a sophomore at Purdue. But a change of scenery seems to be working out for both him and K-State as the Wildcats prepare for the 2025 season.
In February, Tibbs said he transferred to K-State because he wanted to be a deep threat for Johnson.
“There are a lot of explosive plays in this offense,” Tibbs said. “And it’s not just centered around passing or running the ball. It’s a mix of both, because we have a good quarterback. Being a part of this was just something I felt like I couldn’t pass up.”
This story was originally published July 9, 2025 at 5:30 AM with the headline "Kansas State football players share high praise for this transfer wide receiver."