K-State Q&A: Will Howard, Joshua Youngblood and rest-of-season expectations
It’s time for another K-State Q&A.
The Wildcats aren’t playing a football game this week, but that didn’t stop you from sending along a boatload of fantastic questions. Let’s dive right in with some thoughts on Will Howard’s potential, Joshua Youngblood’s transfer, a struggling group of receivers, next year’s game against Stanford, BoJack Horseman, pumpkin beer and a whole lot more. Thanks, as always, for your participation.
Let’s start with this: He is the only true freshman quarterback in school history to win his first road start. That happened last week at TCU.
Also: He did enough things right to help K-State rally past Texas Tech in the fourth quarter for a 31-21 win two weeks ago.
Though he didn’t do anything extraordinary in either of those games, he played well enough to help the Wildcats avoid defeat.
That is something to be proud of at this early stage of his career.
The best thing I can say about Howard thus far is that he seems to know how to read a defense. K-State coaches trust him enough to change plays/protections at the line of scrimmage, and he has taken advantage by putting the Wildcats in good situations. He is also wise enough to recognize when Briley Moore and Deuce Vaughn (K-State’s main playmakers) are open.
He also clearly has talent. That’s why when things line up perfectly for him he has been able to take advantage with explosive plays.
That being said, he threw a very ill-advised pass for an interception against TCU and he got away with a few other balls that also could have been turnovers. Eliminating those big mistakes will be important moving forward.
Howard put up monster numbers in Pennsylvania as a high school quarterback and has a terrific arm. He has the tools to develop into a quality passer.
Is he there yet? No. But maybe he can jump start that process with an off week and then a very winnable home game against Kansas. The Wildcats have time to get him ready for the stretch run.
It’s also possible that K-State continues to play so well on defense and special teams that it won’t need huge production from its quarterback moving forward.
That’s about as rosy as I can paint things for you.
You have to grade Howard on a curve right now. Very few true freshmen can dominate at the college level, and Howard isn’t one of them. The Wildcats would much rather have Skylar Thompson and his senior leadership commanding the offense.
Howard has completed 16 of 32 passes for 314 yards, one touchdown and one interception so far. He also has 93 yards and a touchdown as a rusher, but 80 of them came on one fluky play. He still has a long way to go. I think he will be a really good quarterback in a few years, but his instant impact will be limited. There will be more face-palm moments this season. His challenge will be learning how to sprinkle in cheer-enducing plays along with them.
The beauty of COVID football is that every game can be won if the other team is missing key players. So it’s within the realm of possibility that K-State could win its final six games thanks to a series of unfortunate events for its opponents.
Of course, the Wildcats could lose just about any of its remaining games for the same reason.
So, for the sake of argument, let’s look at K-State’s next six games as if both teams will be at full strength for kickoff.
Kansas: Easy win, even if they pull Bill Snyder out of the stands and ask him to play quarterback.
At West Virginia: Toss up. The Mountaineers beat the Wildcats last season. This game will be in Morgantown and West Virginia hasn’t lost at home this year. I’m leaning toward a loss for K-State right now, but may change my mind as kickoff approaches.
Oklahoma State: Probable loss. The Cowboys had their way with K-State last season. And Spencer Sanders should be back by then.
At Iowa State: Probable loss. Iowa State and K-State have the same resume thus far, but the Cyclones still have their starting quarterback.
At Baylor: Toss up. I’m leaning toward a victory for the Wildcats here, but I admittedly don’t know much about the Bears yet.
Texas: Toss up. Will the Longhorns figure things out by then or not?
Three more victories seems like a reasonable expectation.
Very little.
His career stats are: 28 passing yards on three attempts (with a 100% completion percentage!) and one rushing yard on two attempts.
K-State coaches talk about him like he’s the hardest-worker on the entire roster. They also say they have confidence in him and think he would perform well in a game. But they never play him, so I think there’s some hyperbole in there.
As far as third-string quarterbacks go, he seems above average. If he is forced into action this season, he wouldn’t be intimidated by the moment. He is a smart player and could be a game manager.
Losing your starting quarterback is usually a kiss of death for Big 12 teams.
Only one team in league history has won a conference championship while playing a backup QB, and that team (Oklahoma in 2006) had Adrian Peterson.
So K-State fans will certainly have to temper expectations without Thompson.
If he was still in the lineup, I would like K-State’s chances a lot more at West Virginia and Iowa State. But I didn’t pick the Wildcats to win last week at TCU and they still found a way to beat the Horned Frogs.
We will have to wait and see how many more MacGyver-style victories Klieman can pull off with a limited offense this season.
That seems rare.
Before I continue with my answer here I would like to clarify that Joshua Youngblood was merely a freshman All-American. He wasn’t an All-American as a freshman. Though both are impressive accomplishments, one is much more easily attained than the other.
It’s a bummer for K-State fans to see Youngblood transfer this early into his sophomore campaign. He was electric as a kick returner last season and seemed to have Tyler Lockett levels of potential once he figured out how to play receiver.
Alas, I think some of that success went to his head. He came into this year talking about gaining 3,000 total yards. Not only that, he wanted to amass those numbers in three separate categories. He was gunning for 1,000 receiving yards, 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 return yards.
It’s fine to aim big, but you have to stay level headed if you encounter some struggles along the way, especially when you are coming off surgery on both of your legs and are trying to play during a pandemic the way Youngblood was this year.
That didn’t seem to happen. He missed the first game of the season, presumably because of COVID protocols, and he wasn’t even on the sideline for the third game of the season, presumably for disciplinary issues. In the two games he played, he didn’t make a single catch, he rushed once for three yards and he returned three kicks for 54 yards.
Here’s guessing that was frustrating for him.
Overall, it has been a strange frew months for Youngblood. He voiced some displeasure on Twitter about Chris Klieman sharing information of his offseason surgeries.
Then he couldn’t seem to recapture his freshman magic. He seemed resistant to coaching and ended up in the metaphorical doghouse. And then he decided to transfer.
You see that happen from time to time in sports. Marcus Foster is a good former example from the basketball team.
I hate to say it, but just about every player in the country is a threat to enter the transfer portal these days.
You are right, though. Jacardia Wright and Malik Knowles are also having disappointing seasons.
I thought Wright would lead the team in rushing yards before I saw Deuce Vaughn.
He only has 22 yards on four attempts.
I thought Malik Knowles would be the team’s No. 1 receiver before I realized that honor goes to Chabastin Taylor.
He only has two catches for 34 yards.
Not great, Bob!
Still, their circumstances feel a little different than what Youngblood was dealing with.
Wright is simply getting outplayed. You can make an argument that he deserves more carries, particularly at the expense of Harry Trotter. But Trotter is the senior leader of the group, and he does a bunch of little things right (like blocking) that make him more valuable within the offense. Keyon Mozee is more of a threat out of the backfield and Vaughn is the best player on the entire team.
Where does Wright fit in?
K-State running backs coach Brian Anderson made a great point this week when he said Wright needs to learn how to play in a way that is different from his teammates. He wants him to be a bruiser that can run for tough yards between the tackles. The Wildcats need that right now. Maybe that’s not what Wright envisioned doing before the season began, but it’s how he can get on the field.
If he sticks with it, I think Wright will still carve out a role within this offense. At the least, he could see a lot more carries next year. He’s too talented to stay on the sideline.
With Knowles, there is no one to blame but himself. He has played in every game and he has been targeted plenty of times. He’s just not catching the ball. He has been open and in position to haul in multiple touchdowns. Maybe he needs some Stickum? I’m not sure what is going on with him. Has he lost confidence? Is he in a slump?
Whatever the case, I’m not sure transferring will help his situation. It would be a lot easier for him to stop dropping passes than to look for a new school.
Chabastin Taylor and a bunch of bums.
Receiver is a train wreck right now. K-State has played four games, and Taylor is the only player of the group that has double-digit catches (10) or triple-digit yards (169).
Freshman running back Keyon Mozee has more receiving yards than every receiver other than Taylor, and he only has one catch this season.
Malik Knowles is in an unexplained slump, Wykeen Gill is out for the season with an injury and Joshua Youngblood is gone.
The No. 2 receiver right now is probably Phillip Brooks. The No. 3 receiver is shockingly D.J. Render, who was supposed to play defensive back this season.
Somehow, someway, they need to step up. Alas, that may not be easy now that a freshman quarterback is in charge of getting them the ball.
Deuce Vaughn will lead the team in receiving yards.
Briley Moore will lead the team in receptions.
Kansas State: Vincent Adultman.
It’s pretty obvious that K-State’s offense is Deuce Vaughn and Briley Moore parading around in a trench coat like an adult, but when you combine them with a strong defense and special teams that’s enough to win games and land a girlfriend like Princess Carolyn.
Iowa State: Pinky Penguin.
Is this the season Iowa State leaves behind the aging business of printing books and lands a primo job on network television?
Oklahoma State: Todd Chavez.
With Oklahoma and Texas struggling, there is no one around to sabotage Mike Gundy’s rock opera.
They should devote one entire concessions area exclusively to seasonal beers.
How magical would that be?
Schlafly Pumpkin Ale, Dogfish Head Punkin Ale, Lakefront Pumpkin Lager, Free State Octoberfest, Bob’s 47, Sam Adams.
Make it happen, K-State!
Lance Robinson had four tackles against Arkansas State but then missed K-State’s next two games, presumably because of COVID protocols.
He was back on the field against TCU and made a tackle. Playing time is a little harder to come by than it was at the beginning of the season now that Ekow Boye-Doe and Justin Gardner have stepped up and AJ Parker has thrived at the nickel spot. But I expect Robinson to play and make a bigger impact in future games.
Until the pandemic arrived, I can tell you that Kansas State and Stanford were expected to play in a 2021 season kickoff event at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
But now that the pandemic is still going strong and we don’t know what schedules or stadium capacities will look like next season, the location of that game is up in the air.
I can’t even tell you for sure that the Pac-12 will allow any of its teams to travel for a road/neutral nonconference game next season. So it might not even get played next year.
K-State athletic director Gene Taylor said during his weekly Q&A with fans that he expects the game to be played but didn’t say one word about where.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a concrete answer for you either.
But, for the sake of argument, let’s say the game does get played. I’m guessing it will be moved back to Bill Snyder Family Stadium. The Dallas Cowboys aren’t going to want to pay millions to K-State and Stanford to play a game in front of a socially-distant crowd. And the Manhattan businesses that thrive on Saturday home games will be begging for K-State to play as many home games as they possibly can next season.
It made a ton of sense to move that game off campus under normal circumstances. It makes more sense to keep it on campus during, or immediately after, a pandemic.
I can see somewhere around 10 seniors choosing to return for an extra year of college football.
Any number much higher than that would seriously surprise me.
There will be seniors that want to make a run at the NFL, there will be seniors that are ready to graduate and start a career in something other than sports and there will be seniors that want to stay in school as long as they can.
The biggest question for K-State fans: Will Thompson return for a sixth year?
We will have to wait and see. Those decisions will likely come down to how badly each player wants to remain in school and how badly each team needs that player at his current position.
It will be fascinating to see how those decisions impact college football. Some teams could be loaded with more veteran leadership than ever before. Some teams might see more transfers than usual. It’s hard to predict.
K-State would definitely welcome one or all of them back for another season given how little proven depth they have at linebacker.
But I don’t think the Wildcats are necessarily desperate for them to return.
Daniel Green has played well this season, especially last week at TCU, and there is some promising young talent at the position. Not a lot, but some. Jay Harris comes to mind.
It also seems like K-State’s defense is impervious to personnel changes. The secondary was decimated by COVID before the Oklahoma game, and the Wildcats have somehow won three straight since.
I trust that Klieman will find some answers regardless of who returns at linebacker. But that will be an important position for recruiting purposes this offseason.
Excellent use of the word “cromulent.” It embiggens my heart to see it.
It’s true, K-State does not employ a specific special teams coach or analyst on its staff. Chris Klieman prefers to split special teams duty among many of his coaches and graduate assistants.
They all deserve credit, but I do feel like I should single out Stanton Weber as a key to K-State’s success on special teams. He has fused everything that Sean Snyder taught him together with Klieman’s style and it is working great.
You can’t argue with the results. K-State has blocked a field goal or punt in every game this season.