These up-and-coming players have impressed Kansas State coaches ahead of Liberty Bowl
One of the most interesting things about Kansas State’s football practices leading up to the Liberty Bowl is the development of up-and-coming players who didn’t get many opportunities to play during the regular season but now seem poised to fill big roles in the future.
K-State starters and coaches have singled out several of those young playmakers this week.
One player all K-State fans need to be aware of is Cooper Beebe. The freshman offensive lineman and former Piper High product continues to look like a potential starter next year and a long-term contributor for the Wildcats up front.
At 6-foot-3 and 342 pounds, he has the ideal size to play alongside Josh Rivas at guard and the talent to help fill the void after five senior starters leave the team this offseason.
“Cooper Beebe is a great example of a young man that is a true freshman that we really feel like has a great future ahead,” K-State offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham said. “Obviously, his work ethic has to continue to be a huge part of who he is, but right now he’s shown that he wants to get better everyday.
“I’m only using him as the example, but we were happy, in general, with the whole offensive like and the freshman group in general.”
Two other names to keep an eye on from the offense are already familiar ones.
Messingham said Malik Knowles and Joshua Youngblood are two other standouts from these bowl practices. Knowles, a redshirt freshman, started the season strong with solid efforts against nonconference opponents, but his production dipped as he battled injuries during Big 12 play.
Now that he’s healthy, he is back to looking like the team’s most talented receiver.
Youngblood had a tremendous freshman campaign as a return man but only caught nine passes for 73 yards as a receiver. He has emerged as a future leader in practice this month.
“Malik has continued to grow as a leader, a guy that understands the work ethic and how to get better, how you go about attacking the process,” Messingham said. “Both Malik and Joshua Youngblood, we had a little bit of downtime when Christmas came. Neither of them went home. Both of them were in the weight room on their own, not just working out but catching balls and catching jugs and that type of stuff.
“That work ethic is going to be huge for us, because it will allow them to kind of teach that and mentor the young guys that come in.”
Ryan Henington, a sophomore quarterback from Junction City, has also done a nice job mimicking Navy quarterback Malcolm Perry for K-State’s scout team.
On the other side of the ball, K-State coaches have been impressed with freshman linebacker Austin Moore, freshman defensive back Tyrone Lewis and freshman linebacker Daniel Green.
“Look at Austin Moore,” K-State defensive coordinator Scottie Hazelton said. “He’s a guy that I didn’t really have a chance to work with him in fall camp because he didn’t come to fall camp. He’s a guy that comes in and we make fun of because he’s like a machine: he just does everything right.”
Hazelton said Lewis has played so well in bowl practices that he somewhat regrets playing him four games during the regular season, because he would like to use him against Navy without burning his redshirt.
“He looks like a different cat than he did at anytime during the whole season,” Hazelton said. “Maturity wise, he came along. It’s going to help him for spring ball.”