When NC State defensive coordinator Tony Gibson was preparing his team for its matchup against Kansas State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl, Gibson, one of the nation’s best DCs, thought hard about Avery Johnson. He knew that Johnson was fast, but once the game got rolling, Gibson realized game film didn’t do justice to just how fast the Wildcats’ young quarterback really is.

“He’s really dangerous,” Gibson told The Athletic. “He’s got elite speed. That kid can freakin’ go. He is like fast fast. We got guys that can run, and he killed us in the bowl game. He’s gonna be a handful for people to defend.”

Making his first college start, Johnson, a true freshman, threw two touchdown passes and ran for a third, along with 71 yards on the ground to win MVP honors while leading Kansas State to a 28-19 victory.

Gibson had a front-row seat for some of the fastest quarterbacks the game has ever seen when he was a defensive assistant at West Virginia and Michigan — that’s when he’d see Pat White and Denard Robinson at practice every day.

“I don’t know if he’s in that category, but he’s right there,” Gibson said.

It’s worth noting that both of those dynamic dual-threat quarterbacks had breakout seasons in their second year of college football. Don’t be shocked if Johnson makes a similar impact at Kansas State in his second year and helps his team make a run at the College Football Playoff in 2024. The Wildcats were picked to finish second, behind Utah, in the Big 12’s preseason poll. Kansas State’s schedule sets up quite well for its CFP hopes. The Wildcats don’t face Utah in the regular season and the three teams picked to finish third, fourth and fifth — Oklahoma State, Kansas and Arizona — all have to visit the Little Apple this fall.

Last season, Kansas State ranked second in the Big 12 in scoring (37.1 points per game) and proved lethal in the red zone, ranking first in the Big 12 and No. 2 in the country by scoring touchdowns on 78.6 percent of trips inside the 20. Those numbers figure to increase with Johnson’s development to complement a gifted running back combination of DJ Giddens, a 212-pound junior who ran for 1,226 yards and 10 touchdowns, and speedy Colorado transfer Dylan Edwards.

Johnson averaged almost 12 yards per carry on third downs in 2023. In his first significant action last season, he completed eight of nine passes against Texas Tech and ran for five touchdowns.

Kansas State coach Chris Klieman has been a big believer in Johnson long before the Wichita native ever suited up for the Wildcats. It’s why folks inside the program last winter saw Johnson as the future and present of the program — which explained why Will Howard, the veteran quarterback who in 2022 led the team to the Big 12 title, entered the portal in December and transferred to Ohio State.

Johnson’s year watching Howard was invaluable, especially as he observed Howard’s leadership abilities and how he studied film.

“He helped me in so many ways,” Johnson said.

When Johnson was growing up, Oregon was the flashy program with the exciting style and cool uniforms that cracked into the mainstream. Johnson grew up a Kansas State fan but loved the way Marcus Mariota played. Johnson has the style and, more importantly, game to potentially do something similar for the Wildcats. The quarterback with the golden locks flowing out the back of his helmet is now driving around in a lavender Corvette as part of his latest NIL deal.

Klieman said he knew Johnson was indeed ready for that moment last year to lead the Wildcats in the bowl game against NC State. He believes Johnson has “the it factor,” which makes him such a rare talent because he also has uncommon maturity for his age to go with his drive and athleticism. Johnson was the first top-ranked player from Kansas to sign with the Wildcats in 19 years, picking the Wildcats over Oregon and Washington, among many others.

“We saw enough last year that we knew he was gonna be the guy long-term for us,” he said. “It was his time. I told him when we recruited him that he was gonna be the face of the program and it came up late in his first year where he ended up truly being the face. I’m excited because he’s taken that mantle really well. For a young player, he’s been a great leader.

“You can tell the guys that have an ‘it factor.’ The confidence but not arrogance. I believe, and he believes, that he should be the best quarterback in this league. Now he has to go out and prove it.”

Klieman, who won four FCS national titles at North Dakota State, said Johnson is the best competitor he’s been around since Easton Stick, the veteran L.A. Chargers backup quarterback who led the Bison to those four championships.

This offseason, Johnson really worked on becoming a better leader and better passer.

“Last year it was about putting my head down to work, and now my name holds a little more weight. But now it’s just about staying humble and putting in the work day in and day out,” Johnson said.

A year ago, he had just 174 pounds on his 6-foot-3 frame. Johnson says that he’s now at 195 and that he feels just as fast as he was when he was 21 pounds lighter.

“My top speed has stayed around 22 (miles per hour) every time,” Johnson said.

He’s always been the fastest one on the field. He first started working on his speed in second grade by running hills, skipping up and down and doing overspeed training with his now longtime trainer Brian Butler. In eighth grade, Johnson began working with private quarterback coach Justin Hoover. Johnson is proud to say that because of NIL, he can now pay for his trainers on his own.

“When you run a 4.3 (40), I don’t think people realize just how good he is at throwing the football,” said Hoover, who also has spent a decade as one of the coaches of the Elite 11 quarterback event, where Johnson shined two summers ago.

Hoover said Johnson’s ability to handle so many different arm angles and his knack for finding space is what makes his arm talent stand out.

“I hate it for him and I know that he doesn’t care that people take away from just how good of a passer he is, and how good he is going to be,” Hoover said.

In limited action last season, Johnson completed 37 of 66 passes for 479 yards with five touchdown passes and zero interceptions to go with seven rushing TDs and almost 300 yards on the ground.

New Wildcats quarterbacks coach Matt Wells had another wiry young QB back when he was the head coach at Utah State and helped develop Jordan Love into a first-round NFL Draft pick and franchise player for the Green Bay Packers. Wells told The Athletic he sees some similarities with Love and Johnson.

“Avery’s got elite speed and is uber-talented,” Wells said. “He’s accurate and has great anticipation. The biggest parallel that I see is their hunger to be great at an early age. Jordan had that at Utah State and was always a guy who came in, studied and grinded in his own way, quietly behind the scenes. I see a lot of the same things in Avery.”

This offseason, Johnson worked on widening his base, and he tweaked his arm action a bit to smooth out his motion, hoping to better sync it up with the rest of his body.

“I do think the ball is coming out of his hand differently,” Hoover said. “He’s worked hard. I think he wants to prove he can beat people with his arm.”

He also sounds eager to prove that he’s even faster than some think. Earlier this month, Hoover had Johnson and another one of his proteges, New York Giants quarterback Drew Lock, in for a session. As they were warming up, Lock asked Johnson about the new college football video game. Hoover said the Wildcats quarterback was mad because Johnson was listed as the 10th-fastest guy on the Kansas State roster.

Lock thought Johnson was joking when he told him he was the fastest player on the team. Johnson wasn’t joking.

“No, seriously, I am the fastest guy,” he said.

Rival coaches won’t doubt that.

(Top photo of Avery Johnson: Julio Aguilar / Getty)