Kansas State hopes Christian Duffie can provide a much-needed boost to offensive line
The Kansas State offensive line has not played up to expectations so far this season.
The Wildcats are only averaging 4.5 yards per rush (seventh in the Big 12) and they have already allowed four sacks (sixth in the Big 12) during their first three games.
You can blame those struggles on many different things. Starting right tackle Christian Duffie has been out with an injury, star left guard Cooper Beebe has been playing out of position and Taylor Poitier is still trying to gain endurance after battling back from a pair of ACL injuries. But no matter how you slice it, blocking has been an issue.
“It’s obvious that we haven’t had the success we’ve wanted to have in that area,” K-State center Hayden Gillum said. “I think the biggest thing for us is just settling into our identity. You look back at what made us good a year ago, guys were playing hard and just playing physical. We were moving guys. We’ve got to get back to that, back to our identity and playing free and playing hard and finishing plays.”
Fortunately for the K-State front five, good news is on the way.
Duffie is set to make his season debut against UCF this weekend, and that could be a very big deal. The 6-foot-5 and 300-pound right tackle started 35 straight games for the Wildcats before he suffered a lower-body injury over the summer. He was part of the offensive front that paved the way for 5,863 yards and 452 points a year ago.
Some believe he is the missing link for this group.
“It will mean a bunch (to get him back),” K-State coach Chris Klieman said. “Not that the other guys aren’t playing well, but you have got a guy who is a (veteran) starter. The communication gets kicked up a notch because Duffie has been through everything and seen everything. He has a comfort level.”
K-State has certainly missed Duffie in the starting lineup. The Wildcats have struggled mightily on the right side of the offensive line this season. Quarterback Will Howard has consistently dealt with pressure from that side of the field, and it has been difficult for the team to run the ball in that direction.
In order to fix those issues, Beebe has played nearly half his snaps out of position at right tackle with Hadley Panzer sliding to left guard and Poiter filling in at right guard.
That is one of the reasons why K-State has leaned heavily on QB runs with multiple lead blockers this season. Without electric running back Deuce Vaughn or a healthy offensive line, the Wildcats have been unable to gain significant yardage on traditional running plays.
They were at their worst against Missouri, with DJ Giddens (36 yards on nine carries) and Treshaun Ward (46 yards on nine carries) combining for a pedestrian total of 82 yards.
Perhaps that will change now that Duffie is healthy. But it will take him a while to get back up to 100%.
He is not even listed as a starter this week. Carver Willis will likely begin the UCF game at right tackle.
“I would love to get him between 20 and 30 snaps,” Klieman said. “He may like to think he can get 30 to 40 snaps, but anywhere between 20 and 30 would be terrific. He had a normal practice yesterday, granted we weren’t in pads. He will be in pads the rest of the week. He was in pads last week as well and did some run-game and pass-game stuff. Conditioning is a little bit of a concern ... but he will be available.”
It is time to find out just how valuable Duffie is to this team.
K-State is counting on him to make a big difference. If he doesn’t, it’s not clear how the offensive line will get back on track.