Link(s) to other depth chart posts
Offensive Tackle
Interior Offensive Line
It’s that time of year again. Kansas State Football’s official countdown to kickoff stands at 9 days, 3 hours, 19 minutes, 30 seconds, and counting. While it seems impossible because of the sweltering heat wave I’ve been suffering through down here in Athens, Georgia, fall is supposedly right around the corner. I’ve got a little over two weeks to talk about the Kansas State roster before we all get a chance to see the team in action.
I’m going to start going back through the position reviews I published earlier in the summer and start speculating on a depth chart that will inevitably be proven wrong on September 5th.
Just a reminder that I don’t live in Manhattan anymore. I’m not at practice, and I mostly have the same information everyone else does. Don’t take any of these depth charts as “insider” information. I’m going to put them together based on the information available and make some relatively informed guesses based on press conferences, news releases, etc.
Quarterback Roster
My Quarterback Depth Chart
- Avery Johnson
- Dillon Duff
- Blake Barnett
- Jacob Knuth
Thoughts
Avery Johnson is obviously at the top of the depth chart. He’s a veteran heading into his fourth season and will finish his career with multiple all-time Kansas State quarterback records. Here’s the interesting thing, though: Avery was heading into his senior season; now he’s heading into his fourth season. In the antiquated parlance of the previous college football era, he went from being a true senior to a redshirt junior in terms of eligibility. The best-case scenario is for Avery to put together a dominant season, lead Kansas State to the Big 12 Championship and enter the NFL draft. That’s certainly a possibility, but in the event, Avery decides to come back next season with what could be an absolutely stacked roster, my backup quarterback math has changed.
This is where I remind everyone that I’m not at practice, and if Blake Barnett has put in a better camp than Dillon Duff, he’ll be the backup. I have Duff ahead of Barnett on the theory that it will be easier to convince Duff to stay an additional season than Barnett. I feel bad for Blake because he’s waited his turn, only to see his starting timeline potentially pushed an additional season into the future. If Avery stays, you’ve got to think Barnett looks for someplace he can start, or at least compete for the starting job, in 2027.
Duff is a year behind Barnett in terms of eligibility and should be easier to lure back to town to compete for the starting job in 2028 and still have two seasons of eligibility remaining. I consider every snap in practice and in games an investment in experience, and it only makes sense, all else being equal, to invest snaps in the player more likely to pay them off on the field in the long run. I have no idea if that will play into the decision-making process, but these are some of the new permutations head coaches and general managers (what a weird thing to type) have to consider in 2026.
In case you haven’t heard the update on Jacob Knuth, he’s still listed as a quarterback but is trying to get on the field as a special teamer in 2026. I’m willing to wager that he’s probably one of the more experienced “break-in-case-of-emergency fourth-string quarterbacks in the nation, and while that’s probably not worth anything, in the event Johnson, Duff, and Barnett end up locked in an elevator on game day, the Wildcats will still be in decent shape at quarterback.
Overall
Avery sets the ceiling for this team, but I don’t think the floor drops out if either Duff or Barnett are called into action for an extended time this season. They both fit the Klein offense, in some ways, better than Avery and should be able to hold up against all but the upper crust of the Big 12, considering the talent in the Kansas State running back room this season.
This is about as good as you’re going to get in terms of quarterback depth these days.
