Kansas State football will begin soon and as a result, KC Kingdom sat down with Derek Young of KStateOnline.com. He answered our questions about Kansas State football and what to expect this season.
Kansas State football under Bill Snyder has been regarded as a program that year in and year out can consistently overcome both expectations and a perception of lesser available talent. A part of the rivals.com program, KStateOnline.com has helped provide fans of the Wildcats information on all things K-State. Derek Young of KStateOnline helped shed some updates on the upcoming 2018 football season.
1) Who do you anticipate taking the first snap at quarterback against South Dakota on September 1st? Will it be Alex Delton or Skylar Thompson?
DY: If you had asked me this a couple weeks ago, I would have been pretty confident that it would be Alex Delton. Now I’m not so sure. I think the tide has turned some towards Skylar Thompson in the last week and a half. I might lean towards Skylar ever so slightly based on that.
2) Will Kansas State rely on Alex Barnes as a primary running back or will we see a ‘committee’ approach with Justin Silmon and Dalvin Warmack?
DY: I think they’ll depend on Barnes heavily, perhaps more so than usual from a primary back. I still think Silmon could grab 30-40 carries and I think Warmack will be used in a scat-back type of role. I think the quarterbacks grab slightly less carries as well. So, Barnes could hit some totals on carries that we haven’t seen in a bit.
3) This offseason, the Cats lost a lot of production in the departures of Byron Pringle and Dominick Heath. Dalton Schoen appears set to be returning from injury. What other names should fans look towards to replace the yardage of Pringle and Heath?
DY: I mean, Isaiah Zuber led the team with 51 receptions a year ago. That is not a number to just ignore. 15 more and he’s got a top-10 season for receptions in K-State history. Beyond he and Schoen, Zach Reuter will be the third starter to begin the season in all likelihood and he has a ton of respect on the team and from the coaching staff for how hard he works and his blocking acumen. I’m not sure how involved he’ll be in the passing game itself, though. But Isaiah Harris was someone that looked like one of the better wideouts on the team a year ago before getting injured. He can give this team some explosiveness that it probably needs more of in all honesty.