Kansas State Football: Signing Day 2023 Wrap - Offense - Skill Positions

Dec 22, 2022 - 1:28 PM

Wow, the Kansas State Wildcats brought in their best haul yet on both sides of the ball during the Klieman era today. To put things in perspective, Coach Klieman's inaugural 2019 class was ranked 68th by Rivals, the 2020 class was ranked 49th, the 2021 class was ranked 60th, the 2022 was ranked 50th, and the 2023 class is currently ranking 28th. That’s one heck of a jump in overall quality.

Turns out, upgrading your offensive coordinator and having a Big 12 Championship trophy helps recruiting. Things are cooking in Manhattan, and you normally don’t see Conference Championship dividends until the next recruiting class. If things continue down this path, we could experience another Golden Era of Kansas State football.

Quarterback

If you’re reading this, you already know about Avery Johnson. Kansas State landed the highest ranked quarterback to come out of the state in a long time (I’ll need to check, but he might be the highest rated quarterback from the state of Kansas in the “*” era of recruiting)*. Quarterback is the most important position in team sports, and the Wildcats landed an uber-talented one that happens to fit perfectly in the offense. It doesn’t get much better than that.

*Editor’s note: Drew was on a roll, but we went and checked, and Graham Mertz (2019) was rated higher by Rivals & ESPN, and both he and Blake Bell (2010) were higher in 247’s composite. But Avery is the highest in pure 247 rating ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Sorry, Drew.

Running Back

While everyone was obsessed about “the one that got away” (and then got away from someone else) the one that stayed was putting up monster numbers in Florida. He ran the ball 145 times for 1143 yards (7.9 YPC) and found the end zone 16 times over the course of 8 games (feel free to do the math on that).

Speed and versatility (sound familiar) is the name of the game for Jackson. He’s a threat to take it the distance every time he touches the ball. He can line up at tailback or wide receiver, it all depends on how you want to feed him the rock. If Deuce stays, he’ll have a year to get acclimated, maybe return some kicks if he avoids the red shirt. If Deuce goes (please don’t go), he’ll provide the perfect counter balance to DJ Giddens’ smash mouth style.

I was never too worried about losing the other guy, because I think Jackson is the better overall player.

Wide Receiver

The Wildcats needed wide receivers, and Coach Ward went out and snagged four intriguing prospects. You can separate these guys into three different categories.

Boundary

Kade Warner filled this role for the Wildcats this season, despite being a bit under sized. Size won’t be an issue in the near future with Andre Davis and Tre Spivey on the roster. Spivey is 6’4” with long arms. Throw it up and he’s going to go get it. Even if he’s covered from the shoulders down, he’s open up top because outside of Julius Brents, you won’t find many corners that can jump with him.

If you watched WCW wrestling in the late 80s, you’ll know that Dan Spivey (no relations to Tre...that I know of) and Sid Vicious former a tag team called The Skyscrapers. If I have my way (and I rarely do) Tre Spivey and Andre Davis will have the same moniker at K-State. Davis, like Spivey, is a tall, long-limbed dude who can climb the ladder and out-jump any corner. Put it up and Davis will pull it down. When he’s not jumping over defensive backs, he has the ability to run past them, his long legs eating up ground.

The coaching staff wanted more size and speed on the boundary, and pulled in a dynamic duo capable of changing the way teams defend the Wildcats. If you don’t roll a safety to the boundary, you’re leaving your corner on an island with a couple freaks who love nothing more than pulling down touchdowns.

Field

The field receiver spot was mainly the realm of Malik Knowles this season. With Malik on his way to the NFL (where I think he’ll turn heads), the field spot needed reinforcements. Enter Wesley Watson. If you’re looking for Kade Warner but faster, look no further than Watson. He has legit track track speed and has been around football his entire life.

His father Matt is the Assistant Athletics Director for Equipment and Apparel at Texas A&M, but the Aggies were so busy throwing around bags of money that they forgot to offer a kid that lives 5 minutes from campus (and two minutes from my old house). Watson may not have been deemed oil money worthy by the Aggies, but he’ll be pulling down touchdowns in Manahttan long after the 5* Texas A&M “recruits” are on to their next stop on the college football meat market.

Add Watson with Iowa transfer Keagan Johnnson, and the field position is reloaded.

A&M’s loss is K-State’s gain.

Slot

Last, but certainly not least, is Jayce Brown. Phillip Brooks is on his way out, and Brown will fit nicely in his role as a slot receiver. You know the guy in high school that could do everything, and make it look smooth, while you tried to put in a respectable performance in the one sport you trained for year round? That guy is Jayce Brown.

When he wasn’t busy being a P5 football recruit, he played a little basketball, and when that got stale, he tossed on his track spikes and ran the 200 and 400 yard dash. When football season rolled back around, he played on both sides of the ball, because why limit yourself?

He’ll join fellow Floridian RJ Garcia in the slot, and his short area quickness should pay dividends over the long run.