scott and the best dog in the world chauncey give out the top 6 storylines of preseason camp that is kicking off in the coming weeks.
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Boscoe’s Boys
Top 6 Preseason Camp Storylines (at least what my top six are)
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[MUSIC PLAYING] Bring Glory Home in EA Sports College Football 25. Experience the decibel shaking soundscape of college football, putting you inside the stadium alongside iconic rituals and traditions. Test your strategic decision making with an all new composure system, player wear and tear, and screen shaking home field advantages. Learn more about the MVP bundle, which also includes EA Sports Madden NFL 25 and can't miss rewards at ea.com/collegebundle. [MUSIC PLAYING] ♪ It's the moment of the evening ♪ ♪ Every new state fan enjoys ♪ ♪ Little down and board a whiskey ♪ ♪ Back open a little droid ♪ ♪ Please put your hands together ♪ ♪ And make a little noise ♪ ♪ For your favorite wildcatters ♪ ♪ The handsome Bosco boys ♪ [MUSIC PLAYING] ♪ Come on, boys ♪ Boom, the boys are back and folks. It is the final full week of July. I've kind of declared these last couple of weeks the beginning of the end of the offseason. And truly, when preseason camp opens, when August is here, I'm declaring the offseason over, and we will begin-- our build-up to-- oh, man, it feels so good to say. Game almost here for what is sure to be, hopefully. Sure to be, hopefully. Kind of contradictory there. But what is hopefully going to be another banner all-time-type season for K-State football. Now, usually, I, on these Monday shows, give you the roadmap, tell you what is in store this week. Well, I can tell you, on Thursday, we will have Behind Enemy Lines with Cincinnati. On Friday, we'll have Behind Enemy Lines with Iowa State. I'm not going to tell you what I am hoping will happen on Tuesday or Wednesday, hoping for some pretty big shows. But there-- I just don't want to jinx it. I don't want to pump it up too much only for it to not happen. So we'll see. We'll see. Knock on wood, cross your fingers. Hopefully, we have a pretty fun show for you guys on Wednesday and a big show on Tuesday. So we'll see what happens there. Regardless of if those shows happen, I have a couple backup plans in the hopper that I can pull out or I can come up with. So it will be another five-episode week. Which really means, look, we went almost the entire month of July doing five-episode weeks. Only had four in that first week. I took 4th of July off with episodes. But yeah, I mean, it will go five episodes a week all the way through football season. The plan, just like last year, will be through the end of the year. And we'll see where it goes. Hopefully, it is a, you know, talking case-shaped football the way through December. Also, as we kick off case-state basketball, but folks, I'm pumped. I'm absolutely pumped for football season. With the playoff, I don't care about the playoff. The evolution I like is there's more games on Thursday and Friday this year than there usually has been. Not only do you have the Mac, not only do you have the Sun Belt, but you have all sorts of games happening on Tuesdays and Wednesdays starting earlier this year, starting in late September, early October. So we're going to get more access to college football, more big-time games, more standalone time slots. I think it is a really fun time to be a college football fan. You guys know how I feel about the evolution of the sports. And I'm going to try my best. And I think you guys should, too, to really digest, listen to and consume, I guess, listen, consume and digest is probably the better, better order of operations there. Of the stuff that I like about college football, instead of getting mad about the stuff that you don't like. So that's what I'm going to try to do. But it's getting closer and closer. Before you know, it will have Florida State and Georgia Tech playing over in Ireland. I know K-State fans definitely will be watching it out on week zero. Heck, I might drive down to Emporia. The Turnpike Tesla, you got Washburn in Emporia State, one of the big MI-AA rivalries. That's happening in week zero as well. So maybe get out and watch a little division, two football in week zero. But again, it is a month away. Week zero, I mean, what is week zero Saturday? Week zero Saturday is August 23rd. So as you guys listening to this, it is a month and one day away from week zero Saturday. That is why one month and one day away from week zero Saturday, I cannot wait. So today's episode and we'll do another one of these types of episodes, probably a week or two out from the season starting. So in about a month, three to four weeks from now, I'll do a story lines for the season, but this is going to be a story lines of fall camp. So fall camp opening up in less than two weeks. This is going to be how many did I end up with? You know, I ended up with six big story lines. There's some honorable mention. Maybe I'll do honorable mention at the end, but six big story lines that I'm going to be keeping an ear to the ground for, I'm going to be reading Kelis Robinette, Casey online, go paracat, all the great folks who cover K-State football stuff that I'll be looking for in their pieces throughout preseason camp. So I have six big story lines and all of them kind of have some sub stories with them. I'll be interested in what you guys are most interested to hear coming out of preseason camp because that's what drives the next month. You know, it is previewing your own team. We've already done the opponents, but also listening for hoping to hear good stories, hoping to avoid the bad stories as practice begins. Before we get into my story lines of stuff, I'll be watching and looking for, we give a shout out to our friends at Manhattan Brewing Company. Again, we've been talking about it. The buildup to the season is here. The official tailgate beer of the season is Manhattan Brewing Company's Towney Wheat. Now, just 'cause that's my official tailgate beer doesn't mean that you can't enjoy another one. If you want, there are so many good options whether or not you like light and crispy, whether you like bold and multi or some great hoppy IPAs, they have something for rotation, everything in between all of those different options. You know, I'll be counting down the days for a pumpkin batch to get brewed, they're great Oktoberfest. And again, they have everything from the light and crispy, the fruity and sour, the hop-head stuff, all sorts of good multi-forward beers as well. Everything you could want is ready for you at Manhattan Brewing Company. Get a couple of four-backs, get a couple of pints, get a couple of crawlers to go. And of course, if you're in the great state of Kansas, talk to your local liquor store about them stocking Manhattan Brewing Company beers. They're simply the best. Shout out to the guys at Manhattan Brewing Company. Shout out to Jake, I desperately wanna be his best friend. And let's kick into it, let's get to the biggest story lines of camp, I do have it, I kind of ranked one through six, kind of the ones I'm most interested in to, none of these I'm not interested in, so. But it is kind of some of the positional battles to some of the more meta stuff. But the number one thing I'm going to be listening for is what is the starting five on the offensive line going to look like? Who's going to emerge beyond that to be the six and seven guy? Six and seven guys in the rotation. I know Connor Riley wants a eight or nine man rotation. I think he got to get to seven, having your starting five, and then you have someone on the interior and the exterior. I'm pretty sure I know who the seven are going to be, but it really comes down to what is that interior offensive line going to be? I know they were searching for tackles in the transfer portal a little bit later. None of them came to fruition, so I feel safe predicting that Easton kilty and Carver Willis will be your two tackles. I think those are going to be the guys who run out there, play one in the opener. I think those are going to be the two guys on the depth chart. And as long as there aren't any injuries, I would imagine, those are the two guys who are starting and hopefully the big 12 championship game, hopefully a major bowl game as well. I think Carver Willis really developed, and he was the guy who started the season at tackle as Duffy came back into it. He rotated a lot at that right tackle spot. I think that is going to be his, he started rough. I think myself and everyone included really thought he struggled most of that first month of the season, but as the season went on, by the end of the season, he was a very viable tackle, and I feel comfortable with another off season, another spring, another summer camp, that he will be a very good right tackle. I think eventually he is going to be an NFL type guy. And then Easton kilty, again, he is, you know, Cooper, BB, Light, Kroger, Rand, Cooper, BB, whatever version you want. He's probably not going to be an all-American. I mean, maybe he could get into some of that conversation, but I think he could be an all-conference type guy. I think he will be an NFL draft pick. He is someone at his previous spot at UT Chattanooga. He played inside, he played outside. He was an FCS all-American. He was FCS all-conference. I think ideally we would have liked to play him at guard, but he's going to have to play tackle for us. I think guard will be his spot in the NFL. And again, I think he's going to be anywhere between a fifth and seventh run draft pick when his time comes in the NFL. But I think those are going to be your tackles. I also think Hadley Panzer is going to be on the interior. Again, we'll get there in a second. My gut says he'll be playing one of those guards. I would imagine, I would imagine maybe right guard. You keep him at right guard 'cause he has that chemistry 'cause he played next to Carver Willis a lot last year, but he can play left guard, he can play right guard, he can play center, which then gets into some of the conversations it gets into where this could get fun. The next, I think if you put a gun to my head, I would predict Taylor Portier at the other guard spot in Sam Hecht at center. But you're starting to hear whispers of, could this be the breakout season for Andrew Line Gang? Again, originally there was talk about him as far back as two seasons ago. And there's been talk about, could he play tackle? I think he really has settled into playing guard again. I think he is someone who could play inside and outside. I think his home is going to be at guard. Can he push for that starting role? Could he move Sam Hecht to the outside looking in, sliding Taylor Portier or Panzer, Headley Panzer to center? I think it'd probably be Headley Panzer in that sense. Could he push Taylor Portier out of the starting lineup and had him be that backup guard in a role that he had primarily last year? That is where I think the biggest storyline comes. You have three guys fighting for two spots. I think you're hearing enough good stuff about Sam Hecht. When you talk to people around the program, I'd imagine he is going to hold down that center spot. But again, I think Connor Riley has proven he's willing to mix and match to try to get that best five out on the field. So that is going to be the number one thing I'm truly looking at. I don't think anyone outside of that six will be competing for a starting job coming out of camp. I do think when you look at some of the younger guys, I think Jompa's story could be the backup tackle. Again, you have him in there with either, you know, Andrew Leinging or Taylor Portier or Taylor Portier, excuse me, big seasons. So you could have to turn over again, a lot of that offensive line. But you have the ability to stay old, you have the ability to stay experienced. And I would imagine some of those young guys, whether it be the red shirt freshman or possibly even the true freshman, highly regarded true freshman class coming in, could get some time, especially with that four game red shirt rule, especially with knock on wood. Hopefully you have a handful of big time blowouts this season. So you can rotate a little bit more. So you can see some of those wholesale changes when you switch out to the twos and the threes. So I'm hoping we see that. I'm hoping we allow some of those young guys to get in there. And again, I think you're going to see whether or not he's in the starting lineup. I think this is going to be the breakout year for Andrew Leinginging. I think this could be a breakout year. We see a lot of John Pastore in the rotation. So we'll see what happens, but that has to be my number one storyline during pre-season camp is the offensive line. And who's going to make up that starting five? The next storyline that I have, and it really is what I probably perceive as the most open because I think deep down, I think there's maybe five, six contenders, four, two starting spots. So unlike the interior offensive line where I think it's three guys battling for two spots, I think there's six guys who could compete for starting defensive end. I think you have all sorts of fun players here where you have, and it might be a little bit closer to five guys competing for two spots. But I think you legitimately have six guys who are going to play and contribute here on the edge this season. Because you have Brendan Mott and Cody Suffle being both of which there were whispers about in the winter after the bowl game of, okay, are they going to come back? You know, could Brendan Mott be looking to go elsewhere? Could he be trying to start a professional football career? Could Cody Suffle being be looking to start his career outside of football? What's going on with these two? Well, both of them ended up coming back. I would say since Brendan Mott went to big 12 media days, I would imagine the vibe is that the expectation, or I guess the expectation is not the vibe. It's the expectation is he would be one of those starting defensive ends. So I might be overselling it just a little bit, but I do think that you have those two who will be contending for it. You brought in Travis Bates, who's one of the most highly regarded, highly sought after edge players in the portal, especially of the FCS guys looking to move up. I think he could be a big-time contributor. He was an all-conference guy. He was a freshman all-American before he came over. He's a sophomore. You have the freshmen in Jordan Allen, C-D-O-B-A's, or who, again, they're getting a ton of hype as redshirt freshmen. So I think you have that group of five really contending for that starting spot. You do have Toby Osensami, who moved from linebacker to edge. I think he is going to, I don't think he's ever going to be in every down type of a guy, but he's so athletic and he has so much speed that if he can get used to playing with a hand in the ground or help two hands in the ground and getting off the ball and having that good speed rush on the outside edge, I think he will be a contributor in jet packages and NASCAR packages and some of these specialty passing situations as we saw even last year. I think having that be his sole focus and having him be with the edges instead of kind of splitting time with the outside backers and the defensive ends, I think that could be big time for him. And beyond even that, you're hearing good things about Donovan Ryman and Ryan Davis. Both of those are getting their bodies into shape. So you can start seeing them project as future contributors, future depth pieces at defensive ends. So this will be something to really keep an eye on. I think that if you were to make me again, make a prediction before camp even starts, I think it's going to be Brendan Modigan. I think I don't think they would have brought him two big 12 media days if the idea, if the goal wasn't for him to be one of those starters and again, if you go back to last year, this was one of my favorite talking points all off season last year was Brendan Mott was the returning leader in sacks for the big 12 from the previous year. Brendan Mott had more sacks in the big 12 than anyone else who was coming into 2023. Now, a lot of that had to do with so much of a focus being on Felix, Ian, you DK, you Zama. It allowed Brendan Mott to get a lot more sacks. I think he probably didn't quite live up to what we hoped we were going to see last year now. It's come out after the fact that guy was battling through a lot of injuries. So if he can stay healthy, if he can get a good running mate on the other side of the edge, because again, it's not shade to anyone who left, but you didn't have a good running mate on the other side of things. Things didn't quite work out amongst the defensive ends when it came to getting pressure. Now, you have guys who are highly sought of who have been developing inside of the program in Jordan Allen, Chidiobias, or you have Travis Bates who came in who was a highly sought after guy in the portal. You have Cody Suffle being who, you know, is coming through another off season who truly said, hey, I don't need to be here. He could have left. He could have started his life outside of football, but he chose to come back. And I think that gives a certain drive for a player. So I'm hoping that we see two guys who can really contribute. Hopefully it opens stuff up for Brendan Ma on the other side. So if I had to say, like I would go Brendan Ma, I'd probably go Chidiobias or right now on the one line. And I think stuff will be in the Bates on the two line. Jordan Allen nipping on the heels, maybe even having an or next to the name. It could be Mott or Bates. It could be Bates or Stuffle being on the one line. And then you have Jordan Allen and Toby OBA's or on the two, maybe you have the or line on the two. So you get all six of those guys in there. But I think all six are going to be big time contributors. So how much of it is, okay, who's starting, you know, everyone wants to talk about starting. But that's a spot that they're going to rotate a lot. They love rotating the entire defensive line. So I think all six of those guys are going to have their moments. I think all six of those guys will have multiple sacks this year. I don't know if any of them are going to get to double digits. It might be a situation where you have one or two guys at five or six, one or two guys at three or four and one or two guys at two. I think maybe that could be the situation. But all of those guys, all six of those guys, have the ability to be multi sack games and have multi sack games. It's just going to be a matter of who gets the most opportunity and what packages they're used in. I'm pretty high on the defensive ends. And truthfully, I'm pretty high on the entire team. You know, I think that the starting 11 on both sides and the top depth pieces I feel good about again, I think this is a very rare camp season for K state that we're coming into it. And it's not like you're returning all the starters. You have a good amount of starters on both sides of the ball. But the heir apparent was known at every single spot. Again, we knew Avery Johnson was going to step in and be that guy. We knew that Garrett Oakley was going to step in and be that guy on the offensive side of the ball. You know, Nate left on offense. Guess what we are on defense. We knew we had young defensive ends that were going to step in. You had Kobe Savage leave. Hey, we knew we could go out and get a great defensive back in the portal. Every departure that you had, whether it was graduation, whether it was NFL, whether it was transferring out, K state knew exactly what they needed to do to fill that spot. And I think they did a great job. So it will be interesting to see who emerges as the top two defensive ends coming out of camp. But I'm also going to be interested in maybe hearing how they're going to use all those guys. And we might get to that at the end of this episode. Before we keep it going, this podcast is brought to you by our friends at Charlie Hustle. Charlie Hustle specialized and vintage inspired in hometown collegiate gear. And they produce the best K state gear in the game, officially licensed K state gear in the game. Shop Charlie Hustle's K state collection and show off your purple pride in style and comfort. Shop online at Charlie Hustle. Or one of their store locations in Kansas City, Charlie Hustle, vintage made fresh. All right, so then the next storyline and we're staying on that side of the ball. And I already kind of flirted with it because I think that outside of defensive end, I think you know who the other nine starters are going to be. Now, there's always surprises. You could see some different stuff happening. But I'm really interested what's going to happen depth wise, you know, in the back eight, because even at interior defensive line, I think we know Uso is going to be the number one. I think Damian Alaleo is going to be the number two. And then you have Malcolm Alcorn Crowder who is going to be that specialty type of player who's going to come in in different situations. And maybe by the end of the year, he is in every down type of nose guard. But I think having, you know, your traditional two guy rotation and then you have Malcolm Alcorn Crowder who's coming in probably in past rush situations or hypothetically for four down situations, I think you know exactly what you're going to get there. I think the picture depth wise at linebacker and in the secondary, that is a little bit more up in the air. And I think that's going to be a fun storyline to follow. Again, it's a lot of fun when the storylines are, okay, who are going to be the depth guys versus starters? And again, I could have had this as one of the storylines as a whole, is who's going to be the guy who comes out of nowhere. Again, I could feel confident that if you gave me a depth chart to fill out offense and defense, and heck, even special teams, I'm pretty sure I would walk away feeling almost a hundred percent confident and who's going to be on that one line. Chances are there's going to be a camp surprise. There's going to be someone who pops up and it's just like, hey, no, this guy needs to be a starter. But you feel pretty confident. You feel that you could feel pretty good outside again. Outside of those defensive ends, I think anything could happen there. But at linebacker, I think we all feel offense can be desperate now, Alec Marenko and Austin Moore. And I think behind them, especially with Jake Clifton's exit, I think he really looked to Austin Romain to be that guy who steps up and provides good depth, especially at the Mike linebacker. I think that's where he, well, it's not, I think I know that's some moments where it's like, oh, okay, that's a true freshman out there. But I think at the same time, he provided some flashes where you felt really good. And again, this is gear two in the system. We've seen linebackers again, and that's a spot where there's been a lot of turnover. And some folks will disagree. That's fine. I'm not trying to pretend like I'm some authority on what is correct and what is wrong. But I believe all in all, year in, year out, despite some of the turnover, despite some of the injuries, I feel like we've had relatively solid play from linebackers as a whole. Again, just like every position group, they've had their bad games. They've had their great games. But I think more often than not, they do the job they are asked of. So can you see Austin Romaine continue to step up? Asa Newsom was one of the most hyped young guys coming into last season. Some folks were even saying, hey, he could be the starter instead of Desmond Purnell. He looks good early. He did suffer an injury. Can he bounce back and provide that electric depth on the outside? And then really after that, it's, okay, who can provide more depth? I know Bo Palmer is more of an inside guy. So will he make an appearance on the depth chart? I'm not sure. Maybe you'll see Austin Romaine or Bo Palmer on that first depth chart at my climb backer. He's an upperclassman. He got Terry Kirkstein, Rexman Y, who are in year two in the program. You have Cam Salas and Tyson Struber, who are making the transition from safety down to linebacker. That's an evolution that we've seen made multiple times at K-State in the Chris Climate era. So we'll see how that goes for them. And then you have the True Freshman, Boone Morrison, Jake Stonebreaker. Again, two guys who I think are going to be players at K-State before it's all said and done. Could it be in year one as True Freshman? So that's really what you're gonna be looking at behind the starters at linebacker. Corners, again, you know it's gonna be Keenan Garber. You know it's going to be Jacob Parrish, two guys that you feel very dependable with on the outside again. You have to have a short memory because at corner you know you're gonna get, you're gonna give it up one play and then you gotta go and take it back. But I think you feel really good with those two. Then who's going to be part of that three-man rotation? I think every year with Chris Kleinman's teams, we've seen early four or five guys in the non-con maybe through the first four or five games, but by the end of the season, it usually gets to about a three-man rotation. Last year was the two returning starters and Will Lee, you know, will give him a booster pack Lee. So who's gonna be that third guy? I'd love to see Jordan Dunbar be that guy, played very well at Rice, had some accolades at Rice. I think he's a junior so he's an upperclassman. You have Justice James and Tyler Nellum, who are seniors who have experience in the program. Can they be those guys? I think when it's all said and done, it might be those two guys on the two line for that first depth chart, but I think Jordan Dunbar will get there by the end of the season. And then you have two exciting underclassmen. You got Thomas, K.J. Thomas and Donovan McIntosh. And I think the depth at the corner, you're gonna see those two really press. I think Donovan, McIntosh and Thomas, I think both of those guys are going to provide youth athleticism, they both have length. I think both of these guys will be starters for K State. They're going to push those upperclassmen. And look, if Tyler Nellum and if Justice James, if they're not up to Smith, I think McIntosh and Thomas will push those guys. I don't think Chris Common has a problem in creating that competition all season long. So I think you're gonna see those two guys really press and try to get into the rotation. Ultimately though, I think Jordan Dunbar will be that guy by the end of the season. But again, could Jacob Parrish be looking to go to the NFL after this? So this is Keenan Garber's final year. So I think the hope is Dunbar maybe pushes into that starting role next year, maybe alongside Parrish. We'll see if James and Nellum come back for their super senior season. But I do think McIntosh and Thomas are gonna provide that depth next year for you as you then look to develop that next set of cornerbacks. Keep that door revolving, a super fast guys with length. And then finally, safety. I think you have three future NFL guys at safety with Vijay Payne, Marky Segal, who Chris Common is called the best safety he's had at K-State, and then Jordan Riley. I think all three of those guys could hear their names called eventually for the NFL. So I don't think that there's going to be any competition on who's starting. Now, behind them, I think Colby McAllister has cemented himself to be on that two line who's going to be alongside him. He got Strap Thomas, Dante Strap Thomas, who's a Juco guy that they picked up late. He loves to hit, you know. So he's going to be someone who looks to factor in in the depth chart. Jack Faber and Daniel Cobb's played some last year. They'll all be vying for depth spots. And then you also have one of my favorite guys from his class, Wesley Fair, from Wichita Collegiate. Super good athlete. Can he get involved there? I'm sure we're going to see him on special teams this year. How much actual safety will he play again? I think he eventually will be someone who gets into that rotation. I don't know if it's this year, but again, that's exciting. That's the exciting part about these depth battles. When you have a handful of guys all vying for that number two spot, it creates that competition. And again, if some of these guys rise to the competition, look, it could start off as a battle for number two. But again, there's enough talent behind these presumed starters that if any of these guys kind of wrestle in their laurels through camp, they could find themselves being the victim of that July, August surprise when that first depth chart comes out before the game versus UT Martin. So no one can be asleep at the wheel at the start of camp. And it's really going to be a more general one because I don't really know how much of a position battle, depth chart battle is really going to be at play. But it's going to be how will the past catchers truly evolve coming into the season. Over the last 10 months, I have been big on the big Garrett Oakley train. I've even said, hey, when you look at his measurables, there's a chance he could get drafted higher than Benson. Now Benson ended up going into second round. Benson had absolutely killer senior bowl and combine the measurables. So I don't know if that'll end up being true, but he has the height, he has the speed. If he can develop that strength and really be a big time pass catcher, that would be absolutely massive. I truly believe Oakley will get drafted in the NFL. I think we are going to go on this run of K-State tight ends getting drafted. He'll have another gear before that happens. But I'd love to hear that he's making big strides during pre-season camp. I know at times he's had some injuries. He's been plagued by injuries a little bit. So staying healthy is going to be big for him throughout August to get ready for those games. But I think that if he has a good camp, I think we could see some sports center top 10 type plays from him in the non-conference. I think that Garrett Oakley is maybe the player who could take this offense from being good to sustaining the greatness that we've seen over the last handful of years in the Chris Common era. I think that he is maybe the biggest linchpin to that. So how can he develop? Again, I think the evolution of Jay Sproun, I think Keegan Johnson against staying healthy. I think those are going to be your number one and number two wide receivers. And I think their continued development, their continued chemistry with Avery is going to be massive. And then the assumption, I think Dante Cephas will be that guy, can he get back to that Kent State sort of Dante Cephas? It was not great at Penn State, but again, I think Drew Allers and Trash Quarterback, they fired their offensive coordinator. So hopefully with Avery Johnson, hopefully with Connor Riley and Matt Wells. And hopefully back under the tutelage of Matthew Middleton, who was the guy who helped him break out at Kent State, hopefully we can get him back to what he was and that would also be massive. I think for the most part, that's going to be your three. If you want to talk about position battle, could Jay Jackson get involved there? I think it's more likely Jay Jackson is on the outside looking in, but he is that fourth guy rotationally. And I would say, amongst those four wide receivers, Garrett Oakley, and then your two running backs with Dylan Edwards and DJ Giddens, I would imagine, I would imagine that's your top six in most receiving categories. Can a guy like Trace Spivey get involved and get into the rotation making a five man rotation? Is some of this sturling locket hype for real? I've heard his name pop up a couple times, you know, down in big 12 media days. NCAA football gave him a ton of speed, which is funny, but you know, I would love it if sturling proved me wrong and could get in the rotation. Again, I think that, you know, under calling Klein's offense, he only saw like a three man rotation wide receiver. I know a lot of folks are like, okay, you know, he's gone, we're going to see more, I don't. Because again, another thing you've got to be listening for is how much is Dylan Edwards going to be lining up in the slot? How often are we going in two tight end sets again? I think everything about this offense and part of what makes this offense great, you know, two tight ends using the running backs. I just don't think it lends itself to having a deep rotation at wide receiver. So, you know, I think you have, you feel pretty confident, your four man can trace Spivey, make it a five man rotation there. But again, you have viable tight ends. Can Will Anseo, can Metzger really take a step up and be that second pass catching threat at tight end? Maybe Will Swanson steps it up in his final season and becomes more of a pass catching threat than he's been historically with K-State. I just don't think a lot of that lends to much more than a four, maybe at times five man rotation at wide receiver, but amongst those guys, amongst those four wide receivers, amongst the running backs, amongst the tight ends, what's their evolution look like? Can they take everything to the next level? Because if you can continue to take the baseline where you're at last year, which was solid, especially at K-State, where it's been a long time. It's been since, you know, Byron Pringle that you had a NFL threat at wide receiver and Ben Senate really the first NFL caliber tight end we've had in a long time. In Garrett Oakley played well, but can everyone take that next step? If you pair that with what Avery Johnson's gonna be able to give you in the pass and gain, being able to keep plays alive with his feet and make it so safeties and linebackers have to have one eye on him, I think that could really take things to the next level. We got two more left and it's not really position battles. It's more macro type thoughts, but the next one is what sort of smoker, what sort of whispers are we going to hear with different systems, different formations? I think formation on defense and I think system on offense. There have been whispers, there has been some smoke, there has been some scuttle butt, as you will, about seeing a little bit more foreman in different situations. And could it be passing situations? Hey, you know, some of our best pass wrestlers might be handing the ground type guys instead of blitzers. Could you see, you know, a four to five in some situations where, hey, we're going to drop our linebackers, we're going to have five defensive backs and we're going to pin our ears back and have four angry dogs going at you. You know, three defense events have one slide inside. Could you see in situations for some of these running teams? Could you see maybe four down and then maybe switching out one of those safeties for an extra linebacker when you're going up against an Ollie Gordon, if you're going up against, you know, KU with a backup quarterback trying to run triple option type stuff. Could you see that evolution and see Malcolm Alcorn Crowder playing more of a three tech in some of those situations versus a straight up nose or an off center defensive tackle? So those are going to be some of those whispers I'm going to be looking for, seeing if we hear. On the offensive side of the ball, I think for the most part, it's going to be okay. Are they changing up the route tree? Are they going to change up some of the passing systems, some of the fundamental stuff that they work on there? Because Chris Kliman has said, you know, in almost every radio interview, big 12 media day, talks about getting more efficient in the passing game, changing up the passing game a little bit. Something we've heard whispers about, are they going to get out of some of these option concepts, which have been around, it went from Courtney Messingham, it sounds like Chris Kliman kept some of those option systems around, are they going to move away from that and make it a little bit more, hey, go be an athlete, go beat the guy, here's your route, go execute it. So those are going to be the system and formation things that I'll be dialed in on, I'll be interested to hear what sort of that type of stuff floats out of camp. I don't think there'll be anything that is explicitly said in any media availability. I think they're going to try to keep some of that stuff relatively under wraps, but those are some things that I think we could be seeing this upcoming season, things I'll be listening for over the next five weeks as we're getting ready for that week one game. And the final thing that makes it into this list and it's going to make into anyone's list who does something like this and I better collectively hear you guys all knocking on wood, but can they come out of this relatively unscathed when it comes to substantial injuries? All across the college football landscape, pro football landscape, high school football landscape, practices in July and August are going to result in trajectory, changing injuries, it's going to happen. Hopefully not at case, again, knock on what it doesn't, but that's going to be the thing. You hope you don't log on Twitter, log on the message boards and you see, oh man, so and so how this is substantial injury could be season ending or, oh, you won't get them back to a big 12-player halfway through the season. That completely changes things up and you got to hope that doesn't happen at case state. We've had our fair share, we've had a couple, especially in the trenches at times. Hopefully this is one of those years where it doesn't happen, but it has to be forefront. And it won't be fun. Sometimes we find some stuff out that we'll have to keep quiet, because again, you don't want some of the stuff leaking out before it needs to. So hopefully that is something we don't have to deal with with case state this year. Again, it's going to happen to someone. It'll probably happen to a handful of teams in the big 12. You just got to hope you're not that team, especially when it could be such a special season. So some other things that I thought about putting on here, but I didn't was, okay, what's the quarterback depth going to look like? I'm really fascinated. What can Blake Barnett get up to? How much can he digest of the playbook? Because look, this is nothing against Jacob Knuth. This is nothing against Roberson, who was brought in to be the backup. But in a hypothetical world where you had to go out and win a game without Avery, especially later in the season, I would love to see Blake Barnett get out there and become truly almost a triple option type team of Dylan Edwards and DJ Get-Ins and being able to do stuff in motion with Jay Brown and Keegan Johnson. Because that guy, I have no doubt that he'll be able to toss the ball around, but that guy is someone who is a pure athlete who broke all of Christian McCaffrey's touchdown records in Colorado as a high school player. He's gritty, he won a state championship on a broken foot. So he's someone who I'm really going to be interested in. I know he wasn't able to do much in the spring because he was still coming back from that injury. He sustained in the state championship game a few months before spring ball started, but I'll be dialed in. I'm really hoping for big things from him. And I hope that, I hope he is the heir apparent. I hope after Avery Johnson has two All-American seasons at K-State leading us to back to back, big tall championships before he's the number one overall pick in the, what would that be? The 2026 NFL draft. I hope they're handing over the keys to Blake Barnett who then has a couple of big years before they handed off to Dylan Duff. I hope that we're in one of those situations where big 12 fans are just pissed off because they continue to hand it off to future All-Conference guys, future NFL guys. Going from Will Howard to Avery Johnson to Blake Barnett to Dylan Duff. I hope that is a progression that K-State fans, when the history books are written, they're saying, man, what a run of quarterbacks that these guys had. And I hope it starts here. I hope it starts with a big spring from Blake Barnett. And again, I don't think he's going to be the backup quarterback this year. He may not even play at all this year. Hopefully he doesn't. Hopefully Avery's healthy. Hopefully we get Roberson in there. Maybe even a little Jacob Knuth and some throw away games. Maybe Blake Barnett does get in there. But I'm hoping to hear big things from him because I do think he has an electric athletic ability. So I hope we hear good things about him. And then you'll also be interested to hear, okay, maybe there's a little bit of a competition at Hunter. Does anything change your special teams? I think special teams is the most overrated thing. And I think K-State fans overrated by a ton because ultimately if you have a good offense and defense, you're not having to worry about special teams. It can help you in the margins. There are times where it can win or lose you a game, but it's not something that's gonna eat me up. It's not gonna be something that I'm really dialed in on in July and August. Hopefully I don't have to eat those words. Come September and October. So I would love to hear from you guys. Please tweet at me @scottwildcat@baskasboys and let me know what sort of storylines you'll be listening for, hoping to hear, hoping not to hear throughout August as camp gets started. That's all we have for this episode again. We will have episodes for you guys on Tuesday and Wednesday before we wrap up the Behind Enemy Line series on Thursday with Cincinnati and Friday with Iowa State. And then we're getting into Blitz Month next week because it will be game month with the season starting in August. So we'll get our Blitz Month going in August as we have the last few years. Make sure to tweet at me @scottwildcat@baskasboys. We'll also have a Q&A episode next week as well. So if you wanna get ahead of the game, use #askbasko. We will find that question. Well, we will be doing that on August 1st next week. So yeah, we will, yeah, we'll have asked Basko on the 1st, on the 2nd, we'll have a Blitz Month episode. Maybe on the 31st as well. Still working out the timeline for all of the Blitz Month guests. So stay tuned on all of that. But that's all we have for this Monday. I hope you have a great week. I hope you had a great weekend as well. So Fort Chauncey, the best dog in the world. My name is Scott McFarland. We love you guys and go cats. ♪ Hail to the purple ♪ ♪ Hail to the white ♪ ♪ Wildcat in spirit ♪ ♪ Wildcat in fight ♪ ♪ Hail Alma Mater ♪ ♪ From sea to sea ♪ ♪ Onward forever ♪ ♪ Hail victory ♪ ♪ Barram, barram, barram, barram ♪ ♪ Fight ♪ ♪ You can stay wildcats ♪ ♪ For Alma Mater fights ♪ ♪ Glory in the combat ♪ ♪ For the purple and the white ♪ ♪ Faithful to our colors ♪ ♪ We will ever be ♪ ♪ A fighting ♪ ♪ Ever fighting for a wildcat ♪ ♪ Victory ♪ ♪ Fight, fight, fight, fight ♪ ♪ You can stay wildcats ♪ ♪ For Alma Mater fight, fight, fight, fight ♪ ♪ Glory in the combat for the purple and the white ♪ ♪ Faithful to our colors we will ever be ♪ ♪ By ever fighting for a wild gat day ♪ ♪ Glory, go stay ♪ (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language)