Kansas State’s quarterback room has a clear headliner, but the real intrigue starts behind Avery Johnson.
Johnson sits firmly at No. 1 on the Wildcats’ depth chart, and for good reason. He’s entering what the source describes as his fourth season and is on track to finish with multiple all-time Kansas State quarterback records.
The bigger picture, though, is where his future could take the roster next. He was originally heading into his senior season, but now the eligibility picture has shifted, and he’s effectively moving through the old college-football terminology as a redshirt junior.
The ideal outcome for Kansas State is simple: Johnson puts together a huge year, pushes the Wildcats to the Big 12 Championship and heads to the NFL draft. But if he comes back for another season, the rest of the quarterback board changes in a hurry.
That’s why the backup discussion matters. The depth chart projection has Dillon Duff ahead of Blake Barnett, even though the writer notes that if Barnett has had the better camp, he would be the backup instead.
The reasoning here is tied to eligibility and retention. Duff is a year behind Barnett, and the thought is that he may be easier to bring back for another season if Johnson stays in 2027.
Barnett, meanwhile, has already waited his turn, and another year of delay could make a future move more likely if he’s still blocked from the starting job.
The projection also reflects a broader philosophy about how valuable every snap can be. If all else is equal, the idea is to invest those reps in the player more likely to return and turn them into production down the line. Whether that actually factors into the staff’s thinking is another matter, but it’s part of the new reality coaches and general managers have to navigate in 2026.
Jacob Knuth is still listed as a quarterback, but the update on him is that he’s trying to get on the field as a special teamer in 2026. Even so, he brings experience and gives Kansas State what amounts to a dependable emergency option at the bottom of the room. If Johnson, Duff and Barnett were all unavailable on game day, the Wildcats would still have a quarterback with meaningful experience to turn to.
Johnson remains the ceiling for this offense. Still, the source argues the floor does not collapse if Duff or Barnett are forced into extended action. Both are said to fit the Klein offense better in some ways than Johnson, and with Kansas State’s running back talent this season, either one should be able to hold things together against most of the Big 12, with the upper tier of the league still the toughest test.
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