Kansas State enters the season with Avery Johnson carrying the weight of bigger expectations and a bigger question: is there another gear left?
Johnson had plenty of outs after a 6-6 finish and an offseason that got even messier when Chris Klieman unexpectedly stepped down. He could have chased a new situation through the transfer portal and NIL market. Instead, he stayed put, choosing to finish what he started in Manhattan and, as the source puts it, to leave on his terms.
Now the Wildcats’ quarterback is back as the full-time starter, and the conversation around him has sharpened. Johnson has flashed real talent at times, but he has also had stretches that fell short of what comes with being a four-star recruit. After three seasons, the central issue is simple: has he already hit his ceiling, or is the best version still coming?
There’s no shortage of motivation. Johnson, a Wichita native, wants his senior season to land the way he imagines it. He also gets a fresh chance to build something with first-year coach Collin Klein, who helped recruit him to Kansas State before returning to the program after serving as offensive coordinator at Texas A & M.
And then there’s the legacy piece. Johnson wants K-State fans to talk about him in the same breath as Michael Bishop, Will Howard and Klein when the school’s best quarterbacks come up. That’s the standard now, and the season ahead will go a long way toward showing whether he can meet it.
In Other News...
Kansas State Just Got Another Painful Reminder Of How Much It Lost
Kansas States roster turnover has already been a defining part of the post-Chris Klieman transition, and the latest reminder came with a look around the transfer portal market. Former Wildcats Tobi Osunsanmi and Jayce Brown both showed up as major national additions for their new teams, a jarring reflection of how much talent has left Manhattan after a disappointing 2025 season. For a program that has built much of its recent identity on development and continuity, seeing two familiar names land that kind of attention only sharpens the sense of what has been lost.
The Wildcats now have to sort through the fallout on both sides of the ball. Jaron Tibbs is stepping into the top receiver job after Browns departure, while Elijah Hill and Wendell Gregory are among the newcomers asked to help on the defensive front. Osunsanmis exit stings in a different way after his strong start before an October injury ended his season, and it leaves Kansas State trying to replace production, experience and upside all at once. [Read more 🡒]
K-State Still Has One Big Question About This Transfer Edge Rusher
Jayden Bryant arrives in Manhattan with a bit of a resume and a little room to grow, which is exactly the kind of profile Kansas State likes to keep an eye on along the defensive front. The redshirt sophomore defensive end transferred in from Coastal Carolina after playing all 13 games last season, and he already has a feel for college football after logging action as a true freshman in 2024 while preserving his redshirt. He is also majoring in communication studies, a reminder that this is still a player in the middle of building both his game and his place in the program.
What makes Bryant interesting for the Wildcats is the blend of production and uncertainty. He showed enough at Coastal Carolina to post tackles for loss and sacks, and he has the kind of experience that can help a defense over the course of a season, but the bigger question is where he fits in a K-State edge group that already has established names ahead of him. Bryant should add depth and competition, and there is at least a path for him to push into the mix, but for now his role is still one of the more intriguing things to watch as camp unfolds. [Read more 🡒]