Kansas State football: 3 Wildcats that need to improve in 2021

By Ethan Lee | Jul 16, 2021

MANHATTAN, KS - NOVEMBER 16: Quarterback Skylar Thompson #10 of the Kansas State Wildcats scrambles to the outside against the West Virginia Mountaineers during the second half at Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium on November 16, 2019 in Manhattan, Kansas. (Photo by Peter G. Aiken/Getty Images) /

1 of 5

MANHATTAN, KS – NOVEMBER 07: Head coach Chris Klieman of the Kansas State Wildcats leads his team out onto the field, prior to a game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium on November 7, 2020 in Manhattan, Kansas. (Photo by Peter G. Aiken/Getty Images) /

The Kansas State football team has a lot of potential as it enters into 2021. How good can this team be this season?

Entering into the third year of the Chris Klieman era of Kansas State football, the Wildcats are looking to be considerably better than they were a season ago. For many college football teams, 2020 was a rollercoaster of a season.

That was definitely the case for the Kansas State Wildcats as they battled injuries throughout the year. Those injuries were a key reason as to why what could have been a thoroughly enjoyable season quickly soured.

Despite the fact that the Wildcats started the season with a loss to the Arkansas State Red Wolves, Kansas State quickly recovered and followed that up with a win over the Oklahoma Sooners. That’s the second time in as many seasons that Klieman’s Wildcats have found a way to upset the Sooners.

From there, K-State won three more games before things got ugly in a hurry. Kansas State finished the season by losing five games in a row and ended the year at 4-6.

That’s not great, but Kansas State has a chance to be better this season.

If the Kansas State football team is going to take a step forward with Chris Klieman at the helm, these players will need to take a step forward as well

Just how much better Kansas State can be seems to be the question. The Wildcats were pretty solid back in 2019 during Klieman’s first season in Manhattan, but they still seemed to have a ceiling.

Klieman is a great coach who was incredibly successful at helping develop a dynasty at North Dakota State. K-State is in a different spot than what North Dakota State was, but that doesn’t mean this program can’t eventually be great too.

It’s just not totally clear how good this team will be this season. Better than last year is expected and should be a relatively easy hurdle to clear for this group.

Any better than that and we’ll need to see the following players really take a step up. Not that they haven’t already been solid for the Wildcats, but there is always room for improvement.

Home/Kansas State Wildcats