K-State Q&A: How does Skylar Thompson compare to best former Wildcats quarterbacks?
It’s time for another K-State Q&A.
We’ve got some truly great (and creative) questions on tap this week, so there’s no need to bog down the mailbag with a lengthy intro. Let’s dive right in. Thanks, as always, for your participation.
Skylar Thompson made the bold choice to switch numbers and wear Kansas State’s iconic No. 7 jersey this season, which was also worn by the best two quarterbacks in school history: Michael Bishop and Collin Klein.
You’ve got to admire that kind of confidence, but Thompson isn’t on their level. He will need WAY more than an average season to be mentioned anywhere close to the same sentence as those two purple legends when his college career comes to an end.
Thompson feels more like a Tier 3 quarterback in the pantheon of K-State passers, as of now.
I would put Bishop and Klein in a tier all by themselves.
Tier 2 includes familiar names like Jake Waters, Josh Freeman, Chad May, Ell Roberson, Lynn Dickey and Steve Grogan.
Thompson seems like a better fit with Tier 3 players such as Jonathan Beasley, Jesse Ertz, Carl Straw and Matt Miller. I wanted to squeeze Carson Coffman’s name in there, too, but he is probably in Tier 4.
Here’s the argument for Thompson moving up: He owns impressive top 10 victories over Oklahoma (x2) and Oklahoma State, he has started a million games, he has what they call the clutch gene, he has a chance to lead K-State to three bowls and he should end up ranking within the top five of several different career passing statistics.
He’s also the first K-State quarterback to endorse College Works Painting.
Like you said, it won’t really be that hard for him to leave K-State in the top two of many of those categories.
Thompson currently ranks sixth all time in passing yards (4,395), seventh in passing touchdowns (30), seventh in passing efficiency (132.8) and fourth in completion percentage (59.8%). Add on his 22 rushing touchdowns, and his statistics will likely end up looking very good compared to most K-State quarterbacks.
But here’s the thing: His numbers have been achieved through longevity more than excellence.
Thompson has been starting games since he was a redshirt freshman and he is now a “super senior,” so it stands to reason that his career stats should look great compared to players like Waters and Bishop, who played just two seasons after transferring in from junior college.
As a junior, Thompson had his best season and he threw for 2,315 yards. Eight other K-State quarterbacks have thrown for more yardage in a season. Three of them have done so twice.
In my mind, Thompson is in the conversation to be one of the school’s top 10 best quarterbacks. But he will need a big senior season to make me think he is up there with Freeman (8,078 career passing yards) or Roberson (won a Big 12 championship) or Waters (3,501 passing yards as as senior).
K-State having a great season is what could really help Thompson’s cause. As good as Thompson has been at times as a college quarterback, he has never won more than eight games in a season.
Many of the quarterbacks listed above won 11.
If Thompson puts up big numbers this season and K-State wins a lot of games, he can move up to Tier 2. Otherwise, he will be remembered more as a good QB than a great QB.
I was talking to a friend the other day who watched Gaven Haselhorst play quite a bit of high school football at Hays, and he told me he had the makings of an all-conference defender in the SEC. He just didn’t get much attention coming out of Kansas.
Time will tell on that prediction, but Haselhorst definitely looked the part at the Kansas Shrine Bowl.
He is also a freak athlete, who can bench press a large amount of weight and do back flips.
Here’s guessing that is enough for him to see some snaps this season. Linebacker is a position of need for the Wildcats as they look to replace Justin Hughes and Elijah Sullivan. Haselhorst seems capable of providing valuable depth, at the least.
Given his experience as a pass-rusher, perhaps he will see some action when the Wildcats go with three defensive linemen next season on third down.
Klieman will do his best to get plenty of freshmen on the field, in some capacity. I’m going to keep an eye on Omar Daniels and Desmond Purnell at defensive back, RJ Garcia at receiver and maybe Chris Tennant at kicker.
I feel great about it ... so long as the money that you raise is passed along to your K-State newcomer of choice within the NIL rules, whatever they are.
Start thinking of something that you want these athletes to endorse and try to make a deal once they arrive on campus.
This is the new normal, right? I don’t know why anyone would be against student-athletes making money at this point.
A Miami booster reportedly is looking to give $6,000 to every player on the Hurricanes roster.
There’s nothing stopping you from doing the same with K-State football players.
Sophomore running back Deuce Vaughn is the obvious answer to this question, even though he was left off the media’s preseason All Big 12 team.
I think Breece Hall and Bijan Robinson are the best two running backs in the Big 12, but Vaughn is right behind them in third. So I get why K-State fans think he was snubbed by the media earlier this week, especially after Pro Football Focus named him to their preseason All-America team.
If he builds on what he accomplished as a freshman, he could easily earn first-team all-conference honors at running back this year.
You have to squint to find many other candidates on K-State’s roster, but I can see a few of them being considered.
Julius Brents has been the talk of the defense all offseason. Perhaps he will immediately shine with the Wildcats at cornerback.
Noah Johnson is back for another year at center. If he stays healthy, he could be an all-conference candidate.
Malik Knowles is the only other name that comes to mind. K-State can’t throw the ball to Daniel Imatorbhebhe and Vaughn on every play, so Knowles should gobble up targets when Thompson looks down field. If he stays healthy and makes the most of his usage, I could see him joining the conversation.
EMAIL QUESTION: I am a Wildcat fan living in Nebraska. One thing this state has going for it is Runza. I have had In-N-Out and think Runza burgers are much better. Never had Whataburger, though. Which is better between the two? — Ryan B.
I’ve got a funny story to share about Runza.
When I was a freshman in college, a guy living on my dorm floor ventured off campus to eat a meal at Runza and fell in love with the place. I’m talking head-over-sneakers in love here. He loved the sandwiches and burgers and couldn’t believe how inexpensive they were to purchase. The meals were maybe $2.99 back then.
When he returned to the dorm that night, he announced that he was dropping his meal plan and eating nothing but Runza from now on.
And he was serious!
He went back to Runza every day for about two weeks, at which point he decided to throw in the towel and start eating a few vegetables here and there. Still, it was an impressive run.
I share that story because, even though I personally don’t like Runza nearly as much as Whataburger or In-N-Out or Shake Shack or Five Guys, I have never seen anyone more committed to a fast food restaurant than my classmate was with Runza back in the day.
If you’ve read this mailbag before, you know I prefer Whataburger over just about any other fast food joint, but remembering that story makes me want to give Runza another try.
Kudos for submitting such a creative question.
I have never thought about this before.
I imagine Chris Klieman would push for the football field to be shortened as much as possible to something like 80 yards. That way, opposing Big 12 teams with high-octane offenses would have less room to maneuver. The Wildcats would take advantage of playing more red-zone defense and their ground-oriented offense would spend more time in the red zone itself.
The Wildcats would probably like to shorten the length of both end zones, too. Or maybe install grass fields and grow them super long so it slows down opponents.
Of course, they would be in for quite a shock when they visit Texas Tech and play on a Canadian-sized football field.
Dang, y’all are throwing some good questions at me this week.
This is actually a topic I have thought about in the past. So before I get to my answer, here are some honorable mentions: The 2012-13 athletic year when K-State won Big 12 championships in baseball, men’s basketball and football ... The 1998 football season ... The hiring process that brought Bill Snyder to K-State ... The Pasco Fiasco ... The John Currie/Frank Martin feud ... Or the Big 12 realignment scare from a decade ago.
I could honestly give you 20 more suggestions.
But my official answer is Michael Beasley. The best college basketball recruit in the country spent one season in Manhattan, and so much seemed to happen during that year. Martin replaced Bob Huggins, K-State ended The Streak against KU at Bramlage Coliseum and Beasley went on to become the No. 2 pick in the NBA Draft.
But it wasn’t all smooth sailing. The Wildcats lost 10 games that year and had some interesting ups and downs on their way to the NCAA Tournament.
Beasley is also quite the character. It would be interesting to hear him reflect on his time at K-State now and get a look at some behind-the-scenes video from that team.
For the record, I would love it if K-State added men’s soccer.
But there are two problems with that idea.
1. K-State would need to add another new women’s sport to abide by Title IX scholarship rules.
2. There aren’t any men’s soccer teams in this region.
Men’s soccer is predominantly played by teams on the East and West coasts. No schools in the Big 12 or SEC sponsor the sport. So if K-State created a men’s soccer team, it would have to play in the Missouri Valley or Horizon League or the Pac-12. Sadly, I don’t see any of those options working.
Wrestling would make more sense, and probably be more popular in this area. But, again, adding a men’s team means you also have to add a women’s team.
Softball could be fun, but K-State would need to build a stadium first.
I honestly don’t see K-State adding any new sports anytime soon. But if it did, the most probable two options seem like bowling and esports.
The Wildcats already have a bowling alley on campus, so that would make that sport doable.
But esports are much more popular. Video game teams is probably the smart way to go.