Wendell Gregory
*Note: Name links to official K-State Bio.
Bio
Position: Defensive End
Height: 6’3
Weight: 255
Hometown: Marietta, Georgia
High School: Walton High School
Recruiting Class: 2024
Former Team: South Carolina, Oklahoma State
Eligibility Remaining: 3 Seasons – Redshirt Sophomore
High School Recruiting Rankings: 4*(91.98) – National Rank: 200 – Edge Rank: 26
Transfer Portal Rankings: 4*(93.75) – National Rank: 37 – Edge: 6
High School
- Helped lead his team to a 14-1 record and berth in the Georgia State Championship Game
- Contributed 61 tackles, 18 tackles-for-loss, and 4 sacks as a senior
- Recorded 157 tackles, 29.5 tackles for loss, and 12.5 sacks over his high school career
- Moved from wide receiver to linebacker as a sophomore
- Consensus 4* recruit across all 4 major recruiting services
- Considered the 8th-best outside linebacker in the 2024 by ESPN
- Committed to South Carolina over offers from Tennessee, Louisville, Auburn, Michigan, and Kansas State
- Attended the same high school as K-State running back Makari Bodiford
High School Highlights
College Career
2024 Season – USC
- Played in 2 games
- Retained Redshirt
- Made the correct move (in my humble opinion) to transfer after his freshman season
2025 Season – Oklahoma State
- Started 4 games and played in all 12
- Played 419 total snaps on defense
- Contributed 27 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, 4 sacks
- Credited with 21 QB hurries by Pro Football Focus
- Second nationally in tackles for loss by a freshman
- Named 2025 Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year by the Coaches
- Named 2025 All-Big 12 Third Team
College Highlights / Interviews
2026 – Season Outlook
Starter –
Thoughts
Wendell Gregory was a beacon of light for an otherwise moribund Oklahoma State team.
There are bad football teams, and then there are bad football teams that fire their coach 3-games into the season. When that happened, it was a good sign that all hope was lost, but Gregory still came out every game and put on a show. His drive to succeed despite playing on what I considered the worst team in major college football last season allowed him to move on to the verdant prairies of Manhattan, Kansas, for the 2026 season. No doubt an upgrade in football, scenery, and well, pretty much every other metric I can think of right now. I’m sure Stillwater has some redeeming qualities, but I hope I never have to spend enough time there to identify them.
The Pokes loss is the Wildcats gain, as new K-State defensive coordinator Jordan Peterson will have one of the most disruptive players in the Big 12 at his disposal in 2026. When I say disruptive, I don’t mean he’s a one-dimensional pass rusher; in fact, if there is one area of his game that I would like to see improve, it’s that his pass rush is a little one-note, that note being speed off the edge, which he can convert to power when engaged with an offensive tackle. I’d like to see him add a little bit more to his bag. A spin move would be devastating with his ability to drive tackles off the line with quick-twitch get-offs at the snap. I’m sure that will develop. Keep in mind, last season was his first playing defensive end after making the transition from outside linebacker.
I see his biggest initial value is in the backside pursuit in the run game, especially in the zone read game. Big 12 teams learned early on that if you decide to run away from him, you had better dedicate someone on the back side to cut him off; he’s going to hawk down the running back from the backside. Looking back at K-State’s 2025, he’s the type of freak athlete that the Wildcats were missing. The defensive ends were good, but I don’t think offensive coordinators lost any sleep over containing them. Gregory is the type of player that keeps offensive coordinators up at night. He can put his hand in the ground and play a traditional defensive end role, or he can stand up and be a pure edge rusher, more like an outside linebacker. Wherever he lines up, the quarterback is going to be paying close attention, because giving him a free release off the line is a good way to see if your backup quarterback can play.
The question is whether he can hold up in the run game. The best way to slow down a speed rusher is to run at him, and that’s what teams did to him a good bit at Oklahoma State. If you don’t want him chasing your running back down from the backside, put him on his backside with a double team. He came into college football listed at 220 pounds and is now listed at 255. That’s plenty big to hold up in the run game, but he needs to learn how to play like a 255-pound guy. That also takes a little time. His trial by fire in Stillwater last season, where he regularly faced double teams because there wasn’t really much else on the Pokes’ defensive line worth blocking, much less double-teaming. He’ll receive that same attention in 2026, but K-State has more options on the defensive line, making it harder for the opposing offensive coordinator to spend his entire week or prep coming up with ways to block Gregory. There may not have been a more schemed against player in the Big 12 last season.
If he gets a little better at anchoring in the run game and turns a few more of his “pressures” into sacks, he has all the tools to be the Wildcats’ next 1st round NFL draft pick.
