scott and chauncey share their takeaways from the first full week of media availabilities and some whispers from another week of fall camp.
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Boscoe’s Boys
Camp Takeaways, and Depth Chart Takes Shape. GET EXCITED
This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network. [MUSIC] Boom, the boys are back and it is time for another week as we are closer and close. I believe, if I'm looking at everything correctly, this is the last week without college football until like January 10th, I think. I don't know if there's like a playoff game happening there, but I mean like really, it's the last week for a very long time where we will not have any games at all. I think week zero could be better. I think week zero should be better. That might be a topic for Friday as we try to continue on our Blitz Month track again. Still a couple guess I'm trying to get in some of the obvious ones before the season starts, but again, everyone's busy. It is tough. It is tough for some of these, still hopeful, still hopeful, but stay tuned on that. We got a great show going on before we get into it. We did see the coaches poll come out and K-State is sitting at number 17. Now I think this is a fine rank. I don't feel hard done by this. I enjoy talking about the coaches poll AP poll. I don't know if the AP poll will have us higher than 17th. I tend to think they might, but I'm cool with it. A pre-season top 20 ranking, there's only a handful of those in the history of K-State. Most of them in the late '90s, early 2000s, I believe, and I should have done research on this before I hit record on this episode, but I believe this is the highest ranked K-State has been in the pre-season coaches poll in the Chris Climate era. Last year would be the only one, and maybe I can pull that up here quickly as I'm talking about it. Utah was the top team in the conference sitting at 13. They were inside the top 15, and look, I understand why Utah is up there. Look, I think for everyone who wants to jockey for position in the Big 12, I understand why they might be up there. I do feel like there's been this coordinated effort by some of the folks, especially the Pac-12 legacy media, to pump them up a little bit. I'll be interested to see where they land in the AP poll. I would imagine they could be even higher there. We'll see what happens. Again, everything that is used to detract from KU talking about injuries and, "Oh, can they really bounce back?" I think you can say the same thing about Utah. It'll be interesting to see how their season goes. Last year, K-State started ranked 16th in the AP poll. Was it the same for the coaches? We're at 17, and the coaches pull last year, 16 this year. Again, same starting position we had last year. Again, I think that it's a good spot. I think that is a spot that's going to allow for the ability to rise before a conference play. Again, Oklahoma State 18, Arizona 21, KU 24, all of those are in position. Those three games are in position to create top 20 matchups if the other teams hold up their end of the bargain. Again, you look at Arizona 21. It's not going to take much movement as long as they win their first two games. It's not going to take much movement in front of them to hopefully get into the top 20 for that to be a top 20 matchup when K-State and Arizona face off on that Friday night Fox football debut. Oklahoma State 18, again, if they take down Utah, if they're undefeated when they come to Manhattan for what would be a matchup, hopefully knock on wood between two, four and O teams, that would be absolutely massive. That could be a top 15 matchup. Again, look, KU is, you guys will hear later this week my talk with Jimmy Gohen about the conference, the strength of schedule throughout the conference. KU very easily could be top 20, top 15 when we play them a little bit later in the season for homecoming. That could be a top 15 matchup right there. I think the potential for those three home games, Oklahoma State, Arizona and KU, I think all three of those have the potential to be top 20, top 15 games, which would, I think, result in a pretty extreme and a pretty wild atmosphere for the home conference games this upcoming season. So again, only six home games, but man, what are six home games it could be with three of those six possibly being top 20, top 15 type matchups. It'll be a lot of fun. This week, again, Blitz Month is continuing on. We have at least three, we'll get a fourth in there if we can't lock in one of our guests that we've been trying to for Friday. So already recorded. We got Jimmy Gohen, AKA KSU and her score fan coming to you guys tomorrow, Wednesday we're going to have Mason both, even though I think in Mason's episode and in Jimmy's, I think I referenced multiple times that being on Thursday, we're going to have that go on Wednesday instead. And then I'm not quite sure who will be Thursday. I have, you know, I have like five or six folks we're still going to talk to for Blitz Month. So it's all a matter of scheduling of who we get Thursday. And then again, Friday will either be a guest, not necessarily in the Blitz Month form or we'll get one of those Blitz months guests to continue to preview the case state season. So no shortage of guests and no shortage of content. Of course we are going five episodes this week. Today in the Monday episodes really going to be dedicated to the media, the press conferences and all the whispers we've been hearing out of camp. I believe we're starting to see the depth chart come into shape. And then there's a couple surprises, one on offense, one on defense that is going to maybe result in a shakeup I was not anticipating, but it sounds like it's all for good reasoning. So that's what this episode is going to be. We'll rock through it. I know I'll try to make this a quicker episode. We went over an hour with Jimmy that you guys will be able to listen tomorrow. Every second of that is gold, truly the best in the business is KSU underscore fan. I mentioned we recorded that one at Manhattan Brewery Brewing Company right in their tap room on points in Manhattan. So those are always some of the best episodes and they've been rocking with us since I think it was Blitz month 2022. Time absolutely flies. They've been rocking with us. We're rocking with them. They're truly the best brewery in the state of Kansas. I had delicious raspberry townie wheats, the lemon says on. I got a four pack of their Fowler beer, which is their Whit beer, which is made with the Kansas K state foundation wheat varietal, absolutely delicious, absolutely crisp. It's amazing. It truly doesn't matter what your taste is when it comes to beer. They have something for you. I promise you, it doesn't, whether you like hoppy stuff, whether you like multi stuff. If you like sours, if you like stouts, it doesn't matter. They have it all. They're truly the best brewery in the state of Kansas. I love them. They love me and you should love them as well. All right, we will get into it. We're going to start on the offensive side of the ball, lot of stuff on offense. We got Connor Riley, we had offensive players as well. I believe this upcoming week, we will get Joe Clanderman up at the podium and some defensive players in their own right. We heard some stuff about the defense as well. We're starting offense though, and look, I think the most interesting thing coming from the offense, and it's tons of praise from both Chris Klimann and Connor Riley about Andrew Lining. We've talked about it, his work in the spring and summer, I even went as far as either just last week or maybe the week before I can't keep track of it at this point. I went back on my original prediction of Taylor Portier starting at guard and put Andrew Lining in there. But it sounds like Taylor Portier has had a great start to camp as well, and he's being penciled in as that guard opposite of Hadley Panzer. Again, that's the first shake up that I came away from this past week with. I don't think that's a bad thing at all. Now, I think a lot of us are excited for Andrew Lining. He was a hype recruiting win at the time, beating Stanford, Northwestern. It was something that I think we all were excited for. And I think there is still reason to be excited for him. I think that he is still going to have a big season this year. I think he's going to be a no doubt starter next year, but it sounds like at least early on, at least probably through the non-conference. It's going to be Taylor Portier starting now. That's going to be an experienced voice. You're going to have two seniors on both sides of Sam Hecht at center. And I think that might be important because again, you got Hadley Panzer, who is going to be on his fourth year. He doesn't have a COVID year. Then you have Taylor Portier who's had medical red shirts, regular red shirts, and COVID on both sides of them. So it sounds like that will be your starting interior offensive line. Doesn't sound like Sam Hecht really has any competition or that's probably not fair. Sounds like he's entrenched himself and he has won the starting job at center. Michael Capriot sounds like he's the backup. It sounds like Hadley Panzer for, you know, some half, or Hadley Panzer and Andrew Langeng during, you know, three on two half-line stuff. They've snapped the ball, but it sounds like Sam Hecht isn't trenching that spot and that's really not anything to even worry too much about it. And it sounds like he'll be Sam Hecht, Michael Capriot, on the two deep when that's released here in a couple of weeks. When it comes to Andrew Langeng, he was, you know, talked about his practicing at both left and right guard, both left and right tackle, and then again getting a couple snaps during different team periods at center. And I do wonder, despite not being the starter, I think it will be very interesting to see the snap count between him and Taylor Portier. I wouldn't be shocked if you saw it through the first two, through the first three games, being close to even. I think obviously Andrew Langeng will come in anytime Taylor Portier needs time out, anytime that Hadley Panzer may have to step out for a play or two. So I think he might be the first guy off the bench and while there's some love given to Past Story by Chris Kliman, Chris Kliman gave a lot of love to him, but it sounded like, you know, Coach Connor Riley said, hey, Kilti's going to be our guy at left tackle. I wouldn't even be surprised if we saw a line game playing some tackle snaps, even before Past Story does as well. So I think that you could see a situation where in the first two, three games that Andrew Langeng gets 30, 40 snaps and so does Taylor Portier. I don't think that it is set in stone. I don't think Taylor Portier is going to be a guy that's playing 70, 80 snaps a game, whether he is the starter or the guy who's in rotation. I think that's the smart way to go. So that will be something to really keep an eye on, especially in that first game. Because knock on wood, God willing that it isn't a close game, it is hopefully a relatively stress free win, it will be interesting to see how much they are rotating the offensive line and what we see from Andrew Langeng and Taylor Portier in those situations. I do feel good about both of them. I know there's a sentiment by some folks out there that you just want your five and that's all you want. I'm not going to sit here and say that in my perfect world, that's what we do. But after talking with Connor Riley on and off the podcast now, I understand why he likes to rotate. I understand why that is his preference. Now you can disagree with this preference or not, but I don't think they're lying. I don't think they're rotating because they have to. I truly believe they're working their rotation because they feel that is the best way to set up this current team for success. And I believe them. I do. Maybe not full hearted because I've kind of been back and forth just in this episode. But I understand and I understand the vision. So that will be a big one to follow throughout early season and throughout rest of camp. And we'll see what we hear rest of the way as we're still three weeks away from kickoff. This episode is brought to you by our good friends at NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV. I'm sure by now you've all got back into your Sunday routines, but they could be even better. With NFL Sunday Ticket and YouTube TV, you get the most live NFL games all in one place every game every Sunday. And you can even watch up to four different games at once with multi view, one of my favorite inventions of this decade. It's exactly what you need to catch all the action. Make your Sundays more magical. And also YouTube TV is great. I got it this year. It's awesome. Sign up now at youtube.com/bsdevice and content restrictions apply local and national games on YouTube TV and if I'll send a ticket for out of market games excludes digital only games or more like two and a half weeks. So yeah, maybe the biggest surprise though. So you know, that's the depth chart shake up and it's making me come off of my prediction of Line Gang being the starter, but Joe Jackson got a ton of love, not only from Chris Klimann but from Dylan Edwards from Avery Johnson from DJ Giddens during their press availability. And I think that that might be the biggest surprise to come out of the press availability, the press conferences that were released. And again, I don't think we're going to be in a situation where, you know, every single game we're getting a bunch of three back rotation. It might just be certain situations. Maybe we'll see a return to that diamond formation and have Avery, DJ, Dylan, and Joe Jackson all in the field at once. But I was happy about that. That's a guy that is, you know, a highlight tape that I really enjoyed singing six foot. And I think he's around 200 pounds. I'm not sure what they have him listed at, but he's a guy who I think could step up into that role next year and be the Thunder to Dylan Edwards lightning. And that's like way too basic of a way to say it because again, we've seen DJ the quote unquote thunder breakaway and had big plays. It sounds like they're running Dylan Edwards right between the guards, not between the tackles between the guards right up the middle. And we'll talk about Dylan Edwards here in a second, but having that complimentary back next year, I think the line of succession in the running back room is right there all laid out for us to see. And if Joe Jackson, Joe Jackson can take that step up. If Joe Jackson can prove that, Hey, he can be spicy when he gets on the field when he gets his opportunities. And now again, I don't think he's going to get a bunch of opportunities. I don't think he's going to have, you know, like a hundred touches or anything like that. But if he can show his ability, that will give the confidence to Brian Anderson, that will give the confidence to Connor, right, and it's going to give the comments to coach Chris Kliman that they don't have to go out into the portal and get another running back. So if he can show those flashes, if he can show it not only throughout fall camp and when he gets his opportunities and games, but in practice throughout the year, that's going to allow the coaches to continue to fill the, you know, the gap from within. And that would be massive, not that they aren't capable of going out and finding good running backs in the portal. I mean, we've seen it, you know, we saw guys early on, we saw Dylan Edwards, even Trish on ward for what he was, he was able to fill a role. But if you can do that internally, if you can develop them from the beginning through their career, I always think that's probably for the best. So that's going to be another thing that's going to be fun to look into, to keep an eye on, and to really watch those added layers to the FCS game, you know, that first game. The hope is, hey, the hope with the opener versus FCS team is that you win, you win big, and you're able to take a look at some of these things that you maybe otherwise wouldn't if you're watching the entire play, if you're watching the entire game from a micro level. If you're up early, if you're up 28 points in the first quarter, you can then dial in and watch the individual alignment. You can be watching what Joe Jackson does when he gets out there, hopefully in the second half, you can watch the progression, maybe the battle go between Jacob Knuth and Taequann Robertson, which we're going to talk about here in a second. So I'm really hoping for a quick and easy blowout of UT Martin so we can see those things. One final thing before we get to, I hinted at the quarterback battle at QB2, Dylan Edwards, something that Connor Riley says, "Hey, we want him to be a complete back. Lots of praise for Dylan Edwards." But when Dylan Edwards was up giving his press availability from the podium, he said, "Hey, I like hearing that they think of me as a complete back, but I'm going to be a complete player, whether it's running back, whether it's receiver, whether it's kick or punt returner." I asked for a lot to be put on my plate, they're giving me a lot, and I want to prove that I can be the complete guy. Super mature, and I was very impressed with what he had to say. And again, there's a lot of hype for Dylan Edwards because of what he did in a couple of games at Colorado, what he was as a recruit, and all the fanfare around his recruitment. But he is a very mature guy from everything that I've seen since he came to K-State. And again, he's going to have the opportunities to make big plays. They're going to use him in five or six different ways, and I can't wait to see how they use them. And I like the idea of him saying, "I want to be a complete football player." And I think he is going to truly be a Swiss Army knife back there for us. And I think that is when K-State can be at his best when you have a weapon like that. Final thing with the running backs worth talking about, DJ said, "Hey, he's full go. He's wearing the red, no contact jersey just because they're saving all his hits for the upcoming season. He's trying to worry about -- we've said it before, just worth saying again. There is no worry. He has been 100% clear. They're just trying to limit the hits he takes because he is going to be the workhorse this upcoming season." Hinted at it earlier, and again, this is one of those surprises. Connor Riley said it is the most legitimate quarterback battle since he's been at K-State and it's 4 QB2 between Jacob Canuth and Taekwong Roberson. Look, I think when we got Roberson, I think I probably jumped the gun and thought, "Okay, this is a little bit of an indictment on Jacob Canuth." And I probably -- I don't know if I verbalized it. You guys know me. I make bombastic predictions and fire from the hip at all times. So I don't know if I verbalize the prediction, but in my head I was like, "Yeah, we probably won't see Jacob Canuth ever take a meaningful snap at quarterback for K-State." Well, it sounds like he's given Roberson anything and everything he can handle for this quarterback race. Roberson did come after spring ball. Jacob Canuth had a whole season with K-State plus spring ball. So you'd think at least in the playbook, he would have the upper hand. It sounds like he's having a good fall camp so far as well. That'll be an interesting one when the depth charts release here in a couple of weeks. Will it be Roberson or Canuth? Will it be Canuth and or Robinson? Will it be just one of those guys? It actually might be the first spot my eyes go when that depth chart is released is who's on that QB2 line. So worth noting. Will take away from the offensive side of the ball, Keegan Johnson looks noticeably bigger and stronger. He sounds very confident at the microphone. Chris Kahn, in a couple of times now, I think once a media day and once since, said if he can stay healthy, he can be one of, if not the best wide receivers in the conference. And I've started to hear those same whispers from those same people who last year really hyping up Keegan Johnson. And look, I'm someone who probably loves to hear the hype, but at the same time, I need to see it to believe it mode with him. But the hype is there. And here's the thing. If he has a big game, if the beginning of the season goes well for him, it'll be a fever pitch because case a fans want and desire and they just are longing for a big time, big play number one wide receiver. And I'm of the belief that no one will surpass Malik Knowles is 898 yards from scrimmage from the 2022 season. But if someone's going to do it, it's going to be Keegan Johnson. And if he gets things going, and again, he looks and sounds the part. Look out. He just needs to stay healthy and that's one we're all going to be knocking on wood all season long. So that was my takeaway for him. Now we'll give a shout out to Charlie Hustle. Look, this past weekend, this Thursday, Friday, Saturday, oh, just beautiful weather. It was false fall, fall. It just felt nice. I was rocking Charlie Hustle crew neck sweatshirts the entire weekend. It's going to get a little bit more seasonal, but don't worry, I have my K-State t-shirts as well as my Crown Town t-shirt stuff from the KC football collection and just the iconic Kansas City hearts. At this point, almost my entire wardrobe consists of Charlie Hustle, but I'm not mad about it. They have the best officially licensed K-State gear in the game and it is the most comfortable as well. They tune because their countdown to kick off is coming any day now and they have a brand new K-State bomber jacket, a brand new K-State hoodie and two new t-shirts, one of which is one of my all time favorites that they've put out. So shout out to Charlie Hustle. Keep your eyes on the lookout, follow them on social media so you can be among the first to see the new drops when they come. Charlie Hustle, vintage made fresh. Now with the defense, the biggest takeaway from last week, he both got shout outs from wide receivers and Avery Johnson, from Keegan Johnson and Avery Johnson. Keenan Garber and Jacob Parrish, I mean the buzz is palpable, it's through the roof. So it sounds like both of them got up to around 200 pounds. I don't know what their weight is officially but that's what Chris Cotton said, hey they both are close to 200 pounds and they're still among some of the fastest guys on the team. So if they were able to keep their level of athleticism coupled with increase in size and strength, both of these guys could be the real deal. Now neither one of them are as long as Julius Brents will Lee, which look, I didn't do any episodes outside of Blitz month last week after Will Lee and Will Howard had some interesting stuff to say. At this point, that's all old news, I'm not touching it. Both of them kind of look like asses when they said it. Yeah, I'm just going to leave it at that, but they don't have that sort of length. But if they have that speed, if they have that athleticism at that weight and strength, the ceiling is the roof as Michael Jordan said. There are some folks around the program, I texted one of them after some of this buzz is like, hey, you know, what do you think and there's talk about could they be all conference guys? Could they be NFL draft type of guys? The amount of buzz in the way Chris climbing lit up when talking about those two. I think we could see some very special things from those two. Again, I think the spots behind them are going to be up for grabs. I think you have guys like Justice James, who's been around, he brought in Jordan Dunbar from Rice, who I think is going to be a great number three. I've been excited for Donovan McIntosh since he committed. It sounds like there's a lot of buzz for his Sean Rice, a true freshman, it sounds like he was looking really good out there in practice, something that Drew Galloway brought up when we talked with him. So I think you have a good group of corners selfishly, you know, I'm hoping Jacob Parrish comes back next year, but I mean, we could be hearing both Jacob Parrish and Keenan Garber's names, you know, wrote off, read off, excuse me at the NFL draft next spring. So like I said, selfishly hoping Jacob Parrish comes back, but I think things could be very fun with those two at corner this year. Second thing on defense, and sadly, it sounds like a little bit due to some injury. It sounds like Austin Romaine is really gunning for that starting middle linebacker spot, vs. Alec Marenko. Now, Austin Romaine, he had, I think it was an honorable mention, defensive freshman of the year award from the coaches last year. And when he played, he played well. So I'm not discouraged by this, you know, Alec Marenko battled through injuries at New Mexico last year. I believe he played in every game last year, but he rarely was playing the entire game. So if, if Austin Romaine, if Romaine was able to cement himself as a legitimate middle linebacker, a legitimate starter in the big 12, it may work out for the best to have Alec Marenko being that guy who rotates in amongst there, instead of having to play, like we say 60, 70 snaps a game, he's flying closer to 20 to 30 snaps a game. I think that could be what's best for the defense, if you can depend on Romaine to be a legitimate, all, maybe not all conference player, but a legitimate big 12 starting linebackers. So keep a look out on that. I'm sure we'll hear more from Joe Clanderman this week, and from some of the defensive players as well. So that might be something to keep an ear out for rest of this week and rest of August as we build up to game, I think it'll be 19 days from when you guys are listening. 20 days from me recording it, so very exciting. The final thing, it feels like any time anyone mentions Chidiobias or whether it's Chris Kleinman at his press availability, or you talk to folks who have been to practice, it sounds like this guy could be a superstar. I think that they are going to be creative in finding extra snaps for him to be on the field, even if he's not the starter, but I'm starting to lean towards him being the starter opposite Brandon Mott. I was already in that camp, but I'm ready to go full bore in on it. I think he could have a very, very, very good year. I think he could be a very special player. I think he's going to be the next NFL draft pick coming off the edge for K-State. So that's one to keep an eye on, and if he is the starter, and if he does have a big year, really enjoy the time we get with Chidi, because he might be a guy who's here for maybe just two seasons, if he, two more seasons, so this year, next year, if he has his biggest season, as I think he could. Now obviously you want him for at least three, let him go after his junior year, but look, if you have possible greatness right there, you just got to let it roll. So we'll see, obviously that's some big talk from me, but the expectations and some of the stuff you're hearing from folks who have been lucky enough to see practice, everyone's loving them some Chidi, so keep an eye out on for him. That's all we have. Again, we got a nice long one tomorrow with Jimmy, so we'll just call it a day here. It is a great one though, I always enjoy talking with Jimmy, and I feel like he gave us a lot of great information, especially in diagnosing what the conference race could look like with strength of schedule, so be sure to tune into that one, be sure to tune in on Wednesday with Mason from K-State Online, and then we'll have another Blitz month for Thursday, and maybe Friday, or maybe I'll have someone else on Friday, again, I'm trying, trying to get some of these guests, so stay tuned, again thank you as always, we absolutely love you guys, and let's have ourselves a week, let's have ourselves a week. For Chauncey, the best dog in the world, my name's Scott McFarland, we here at Bosco's Boys love you, 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, 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, Fight, Fight, Fight, Fight, Fight, Fight, Fight, Fight, 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, go stay! [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Sports Social Podcast Network.