Goal No. 7: GREAT EFFORT.
#7 Jacob Knuth
Redshirt Senior* | 6-4 | 225 lbs. (+6) | Sioux Falls, South Dakota
- Position: Quarterback
- Previous College: University of Minnesota
- Projection: Third-String/Special Teams
- Remaining Eligibility: 1 year
- Status: On Scholarship
Jacob Knuth (b. Dec. 17, 2003) is a transfer quarterback from Minnesota who has one year left to play and walked on to bring depth despite being on scholarship in Minneapolis, where he redshirted* in 2022 and did not see any game action.
He since has earned a scholarship, graduated in December 2025 with his bachelor’s degree in business management and currently is working on his master of business administration degree.
Knuth did not see any game action during the 2023 season
but entered 2024 in a heated battle with Ta’Quan Roberson to see who would primarily back up Avery Johnson at quarterback, a battle Roberson arguably won.
As a sort of situational co-backup, he played as a reserve against both UT Martin and BYU, completing a 9-yard pass in each contest. Knuth also had a 10-yard rush against UT Martin and two rushes for 8 yards against the Cougars in what already was a miserable lost cause of a game by the time he came onto the playing field.
Last season, Knuth only played in the Kansas and Texas Tech games, seeing time on a combined eight snaps. He rushed twice for 45 yards — including a career-long rush of 40 yards — against the Jayhawks, a career highlight.
In both 2025 and 2026, Knuth has been in an ongoing battle with sophomores Blake Barnett and Dillon Duff for the right to back up Johnson. As former head coach Chris Klieman described it last year, the battle has been quite heated and the outcome still remains unknown:
Through five days, I see those guys doing some splash things, but who can be the most consistent? That’s going to be an ongoing process probably throughout most of fall camp. I don’t know if we’ll be ready to name a guy by the end of fall camp or not because fall camp butts up against a game and game prep. We’ll have to figure that out. It’s a good battle.
Jacob has been here the longest and probably feels really comfortable in what we’re doing. … All three of those guys are going to continue to battle for that two spot.
I really like the growth of Knuth. He’s had the best spring he’s had. … All three of those guys have a chance to be really, really good.
Collin Klein, who was Knuth’s his lead recruiter back in 2022-23, expanded on these points prior to fall camp:
Jacob Knuth has got a lot of experience. You can tell he’s very mature. He doesn’t let any of the highs and lows of his own play or what’s going on around him affect him very much. He’s very, very steady.
But as time wears on, that battle increasingly favors the other two, if only because they have years of eligibility left beyond this upcoming season. As a result, Knuth has been trying his hand at special teams during the 2026 offseason, playing on both the kickoff and punt coverage teams. Klein explained the division of duties thusly:
He’ll predominantly be a quarterback. I lived that life myself a little bit, of being in the mix of the rotation as a backup guy and getting out there on special teams. He’s a tremendous team guy, team player, and he’s going to do anything it takes to help our team win. So, he’s been able to help us on some (special) teams.
Special teams coordinator Stanton Weber has expanded on this in both his spring and fall press conferences:
It’s a bit unique to have a quarterback playing on special teams, but he’s a guy late in his career, and he cares a lot about this place and wants to find any way to help the team, which I admire a lot. When you get through our winter workouts and talk about his numbers in terms of top speed, acceleration and size, he could potentially help us, so why not turn over every rock when you look at players with those body types?
He’s been going through the whole gamut and competing with the rest of them, and he has improved tremendously this spring. With the roster reduction, you’re trying to find value anywhere, and I admire Jacob to propose being utilized in that special teams role. It’s been a lot of fun watching him. …
He’s showing up every day and getting a little better. He’s definitely still working, and he’s a guy that, anytime you transition from quarterback, you have to get more comfortable striking things, you have to get more comfortable with block destruction. He’s improving, and it’s fun to watch him. We know he’s going to be on the (road) trip (roster), so we have to be ready to utilize him in any situations we can. Right now, he’s on a few depth charts, and it’s been a lot of fun letting him participate. No new updates there, really.
Knuth is believed to be the first K-State quarterback to play on special teams since Josh Freeman back in 2008.
One thing is for sure: He has the strength and power to play on special teams, having recently set a new K-State quarterback position group record of 495 pounds in the squat!
Knuth prepped under head coach Brandon White (no relation to our wide receiver) at Harrisburg (S.D.) High School, where he was rated as the 27th-best pocket passer in the Class of 2022 by ESPN, while he also was regarded as the top prep player in the state of South Dakota by 247Sports, On3 and ESPN.
He was named Gatorade Player of the Year for South Dakota and the Argus Leader’s South Dakota Offensive Football Player of the Year, and also was named to the 11AAA All-State team and was an 11AAA All-American.
Knuth was honored as the 11AAA MidcoSports Player of the Year and was the Argus Leader Elite 45 captain, which is bestowed upon the state’s player of the year, and he also earned all-conference, all-metro, and academic all-state accolades.
He led the Tigers to an undefeated 12-0 record and the school’s first-ever state championship as a senior in 2021 when he threw for 2,413 yards and 26 touchdowns on 164-of-251 aim, in addition to rushing for 527 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Knuth threw for 2,403 yards and 28 touchdowns while rushing for 463 yards and four scores as a junior. As a sophomore, he passed for 1,112 and 10 touchdowns, and rushed for 110 yards and one score. Knuth also competed in baseball in high school.
Prior to his transfer, he committed to Minnesota over offers from Air Force, Army, Iowa, South Dakota, South Dakota State and, of course, Kansas State.
Knuth also drew recruiting interest from Iowa State and North Dakota State.
His father, Mike, was a collegiate kicker at Temple University and his brother, Sam, is a sophomore quarterback at Black Hills (S.D.) State University.
*K-State has recently announced a new classification scheme that designates players by their year of eligibility regardless of whether they have “redshirted,” a term that will go out of use with the new “5-for-5” rule. Thus, the KSU SID lists Knuth as a “fifth year” even though he did not play in 2022. For the sake of consistency with past posts, I will continue to designate redshirts based on their playing history, but also note their remaining eligibility to stay consistent with the new designations as well.
