Five key things to watch as Kansas State Wildcats begin preseason football practice

Kansas State football players returned to campus and reported for the beginning of preseason camp on Tuesday.

The Wildcats will hold their first practice of the summer on Wednesday and officially begin preparing as a group for the 2022 season, which begins with a home game against South Dakota on Sept. 3.

Here are five key story lines to monitor as football returns in Manhattan:

How good is Adrian Martinez?

The answer to this question will likely determine how things go for the Wildcats this year.

K-State fans have basked in the attention that Chris Klieman’s squad has received this offseason as “the sleeper team” of the Big 12. The Wildcats placed a conference-best six players on the preseason All-Big 12 team. And many experts have labeled them as a team that could contend for its first league title since 2012.

But not all projections have been kind to the Wildcats.

Professional oddsmakers have placed K-State’s over/under win total at 6 1/2, which suggests they think the Wildcats could take a step back from the 8-5 record they posted last season. K-State was also picked fifth in the Big 12’s preseason media poll, well behind favorites Baylor and Oklahoma.

What gives?

One reason why there may not be much agreement on the Wildcats: Adrian Martinez. It’s hard to tell how good he will be in a purple uniform. The transfer quarterback put up gaudy stats over the past four seasons at Nebraska (8,491 yards and 45 touchdowns passing to go along with 2,301 yards and 35 touchdowns rushing) but he was never able to win more than five games with the Huskers.

Nebraska was 0-8 in games decided by single digits last season, a record that seems almost impossible given the unpredictability of close games in college football. Was that a Martinez problem? Or was it a Nebraska problem?

Perhaps a change of scenery is all that Martinez requires to live up to his potential. K-State coaches and players have raved about Martinez since he stepped foot on campus. He is a particularly gifted runner, and it is exciting to think about what new offensive coordinator Collin Klein will be able to do with Deuce Vaughn and Martinez together in the backfield.

If Martinez learns to cut down on turnovers and continues to put up big stats, K-State may live up to its most optimistic expectations. But if he struggles, the season could have a few speed bumps.

Preseason camp should give us a clue on what to expect from both Martinez and the Wildcats.

Who will play behind Deuce Vaughn at running back?

Not even Deuce Vaughn can touch the ball on every play.

That is why it will be important for K-State to identify a promising backup (or two) who can complement the junior All-American in the backfield next season.

There is plenty of playing time available following the offseason departures of Joe Ervin and Jacardia Wright.

Anhony Frias, a junior-college transfer, seems to be among the favorites to see carries behind Vaughn. But returning players have spoken highly of redshirt freshman D.J. Giddens and Jordan Schippers served as the No. 2 running back at the Texas Bowl.

It will be interesting to see how many of them are able to carve out a role within the offense this season.

New look in the secondary

K-State is fortunate to return its top two cornerbacks in Julius Brents and Ekow Boye-Doe. But there are question marks across the rest of the secondary following the departures of Jahron McPherson, Russ Yeast and Reggie Stubblefield.

Who will play safety?

The Wildcats will likely turn to some combination of Josh Hayes, Cincere Mason, Kobe Savage and T.J. Smith. All four have the talent to help K-State this season, but they are low on experience. Who will separate from the pack this month?

Khalid Duke’s return on defense

It took longer than some expected for K-State to recover from the loss of Khalid Duke last season.

When he suffered a torn ACL during the final nonconference game of the year against Nevada, the Wildcats scrambled to find anyone else on the roster capable of filling his defensive end/linebacker hybrid role. Klieman went so far as to say he built around K-State’s 3-3-5 defense around him.

Duke had six tackles, including a pair of sacks, in his three games before injury last year. As a sophomore, he made 26 tackles.

The good news is he is expected back this season. The bad news is that Klieman has said Duke’s recovery process has been slowed by a separate hamstring injury.

For now, it’s unclear when (and how much) he will be ready to help the Wildcats again.

Shaking the rust off after spring practice

The Wildcats didn’t have a typical run through spring practice.

The vast majority of K-State’s defensive linemen were out with injuries, Martinez wasn’t cleared to throw until the final few workouts and Vaughn was often withheld from live action for safety reasons.

How will all those players react when they return to the practice field at full strength this week? Fine, most likely. But a few players may need a little time to shake off some proverbial rust.