Three observations from Kansas State’s first open practice of preseason football camp
The Kansas State football team allowed reporters to watch the first 40 minutes of practice on Monday morning inside Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
Here are three observations from what the Wildcats showed during that time:
Adrian Martinez showed off his arm strength
He wasn’t able to attempt many passes in the spring while he was recovering from shoulder surgery, but Adrian Martinez appears completely healthy now.
The Nebraska transfer threw a wide array of passes on Monday and clearly looked like K-State’s starting quarterback while doing so. He completed passes of varying length to receivers and tight ends. He seems to have picked up where he left off last season when he completed 189 of 306 passes for 2,863 yards with the Cornhuskers.
Though he doesn’t have the strongest arm in college football, his throws are generally accurate. On Monday, he completed some impressive throws to tight end Sammy Wheeler and narrowly missed on a downfield throw to Keenan Garber.
Wheeler, by the way, was turning heads as a pass-catcher. His best highlight came while he was running a post route. On that play, the throw came in behind him but he contorted his body and made the catch with one hand.
It was most fascinating to watch Martinez throw alongside K-State’s four other scholarship quarterbacks when they were throwing to opposite sides of the field while standing at the same spot. His pass velocity was clearly higher than his teammates, though Will Howard also had a noticable zip on his throws.
Practices felt incomplete without Martinez in the spring. That is no longer the case now that he has a healthy throwing shoulder.
Noticeable absence on defense
Overall, it appears as though the Wildcats have done a nice job avoiding injuries during the early portion of their preseason camp.
The vast majority of the players who missed spring practice with ailments are now back. No players were working off to the side Monday.
Cincere Mason, for example, was a full participant at safety after recovering from an injury. K-State’s defensive line was also intact with healthy returning players.
Still, there was one notable defensive player absent on Monday. Khalid Duke was not present.
Duke, a junior defensive end/linebacker, has been making his way back from a torn ACL that sidelined him for most of last season. K-State football coach Chris Klieman said last month that Duke has also been dealing with a hamstring injury.
Klieman provided an update on Duke after practice, explaining his absence was due to cautionary reasons.
“We are confident he is going to be set and ready to go for the first game,” Klieman said. “We are being very smart with him coming off the injury that he had.”
Senior linebacker Will Honas was limited during some drills on Monday, but Klieman said the Nebraska linebacker is fully healthy and competing for a starting spot at his position.
Who’s next at safety and running back?
For now, it appears as though a healthy competition exists at both positions.
Deuce Vaughn will obviously handle most of the carries at running back. But it’s unclear who will see most of the action behind him. On Monday, the rotation at drills was Vaughn, followed by Jordan Shippers, DJ Giddens and then Anthony Frias.
But that might not mean anything. They all had good moments.
Things also seem wide open at safety. K-State players have complimented T.J. Smith, Kobe Savage, Josh Hayes, Drake Cheatum. Perhaps they could all contribute.
This story was originally published August 8, 2022 at 12:08 PM.