Kansas State Football should lean on Joshua Youngblood in 2019

The Kansas State football offense is in need of playmakers at receiver and will likely lean on a freshman to make plays for them in 2019.

The name Joshua Youngblood was an unknown to even the most ardent of Kansas State football fans at this time last year, perhaps even at the end of the past football season.

Youngblood was an unknown football player in Tampa Florida, finishing his senior season at Berkeley Prep with anticipation of continuing his football career at Temple, the school he had committed to in July of 2018.

However, change comes. Youngblood decommitted form Temple, the prospect appeared on the program’s radar with the coaching change, and Youngblood would commit to the Wildcat program in January before signing in February.

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And the Wildcats are sure glad he choose Manhattan.

An offseason of turmoil saw not only long time legendary coach Bill Snyder step down and the arrival of Chris Klieman from North Dakota State, but also the departure of the top receivers, senior Isiah Zuber (transferred to Mississippi State) and Hunter Rison (left the program after being suspended following an arrest for assault).

A program lacking in any sense of playmakers desperately needed one, and by all accounts, Youngblood is primed to make plays his first season with the Kansas State program.

"“I am tremendously excited about a true freshman named Josh Youngblood,” Klieman said, “who I think will be an impact guy who we kind of stole out of the central Florida area … He’s the one that probably jumped out at me the most.”"

The top returning receivers for the Wildcats at receiver either lack explosiveness or experience or both. The lone senior is former walkon Dalton Schoen with untested young receivers Malik Knowles, Chabastian Taylor and Wykeen Gill.

Gill, like Schoen, was a walk-on with the K-State program, just recently placed on scholarship. All top returners have good size, none are overly explosive or display an ability to get downfield.

At recent Big 12 media days, representatives of the Wildcat program didn’t hesitate and couldn’t stop throwing praise at the youngster. Skylar Thompson, the junior quarterback is excited about the receiver as a passing target for the fall.

"“First time I met him I could tell he was a special dude and a special player,” Thompson said. “He really cares about our football program. You could tell his sense of energy when he arrived in June that he was fully invested and wanted to learn the offense and I think he realizes he has a good chance to play this year. He has the type of speed you can’t teach.”"

With a new coach and scheme, it certainly appears new players will have to carry the load at the skill positions this fall.

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Graduate transfers James Gilbert and Jordon Brown are expected to take on a bulk of the carries in the run game and it certainly appears as fall practice starts that freshman Joshua Youngblood is going to be counted on to make plays on the outside as a receiver.

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