Kansas
Starting options abound on Kansas State football’s first official depth chart of 2024
Kansas State football coach Chris Klieman on the team’s strengths
Kansas State football coach Chris Klieman assesses the Wildcats’ strength heading into the 2024 season opener.
K-State Athletics
MANHATTAN — Until now, we could only speculate on how Kansas State football’s depth chart would look heading into the 2024 season.
But coach Chris Klieman provided some clarity on Monday, as the Wildcats released their first official two-deep with the opener scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
Here are a few observations.
Kansas State football QB Avery Johnson cool and calm ahead of season opener
Kansas State football WR Sterling Lockett is ready to add to the family legacy
Kansas State football creative with extra positions
K-State frequently has listed 12 players on its offensive depth chart to allow for either a fullback or third wide receivers. Now, suddenly, there are 13 positions on offense, and 12 on defense.
Adding names to the list no doubt keeps more players happy, but also illustrates the Wildcats’ depth at several positions.
On offense, there now are two tight ends and two running backs to go with three wide receivers, while the defense lists three defensive ends. There is no shortage of players in the mix.
The tight end expansion allows for both sophomore Garrett Oakley and senior Will Swanson to claim starter status, while at running back junior DJ Giddens and sophomore Colorado transfer Dylan Edwards can say the same.
The three starters now listed at defensive end — the Wildcats’ base defensive is two ends and a nose tackle up front — are super-senior Brendan Mott, senior Cody Stufflebean and either Austin Peay transfer Travis Bates or redshirt freshman Chiddi Obiazor.
Veterans dominate the Wildcats’ top roster spots
The Wildcats boast experience at just about every position, as evidenced by a depth chart that names no freshmen and only six sophomores as potential starters.
And of the sophomores — Oakley at tight end, Avery Johnson at quarterback, Edwards at running back, Jayce Brown at receiver, Bates at defensive end and Austin Romaine at middle linebacker — all had significant roles last year with the Wildcats. All except for Bates, a transfer who started as a redshirt freshman at Austin Peay.
But the Wildcats have high hopes for last year’s freshmen, most of whom redshirted. The depth chart includes eight redshirt freshmen.
Damian Ilalio nailes down nose tackle job
One surprise, and it wasn’t entirely unexpected, was the emergence of junior Damian Ilalio as the starting nose tackle ahead of super-senior Uso Seumalo.
Ilalio, a Manhattan High School product, drew praise from his coaches throughout the spring and fall, while returning starter Seumalo missed most of the spring with an injury.
While both will see significant playing time, Ilalio has separated himself with his leadership ability.
We have some answers on special teams
There was not much news coming out of preseason camp with regards to specialists, but now we have an idea at last.
To nobody’s surprise, senior Chris Tennant is back to handle kickoffs, field goals and extra points, but redshirt freshman Simon McClannan has won the punting job.
The Wildcats also list a number of playmakers in the return game, with Edwards, Brown and receiver Keagan Johnson still battling for kickoff return duties, while Edwards or sophomore receiver Sterling Lockett will field punts.
Kansas State football’s first official 2024 depth chart
OFFENSE
WR — Keagan Johnson; Jadon Jackson or Ty Bowman
TE —Garrett Oakley, Brayden Loftin
LT — Easton Kilty, John Pastore
LG — Hadley Panzer, Andrew Leingang
C — Sam Hecht, Michael Capria
RG — Taylor Poitier or Andrew Leingang; Alex Key
RT — Carver Willis, Drake Bequeaith
TE — Will Swanson; Will Anciaux or Andrew Metzger
QB — Avery Johnson; Ta’Quan Roberson or Jacob Knuth
RB — DJ Giddens, Joe Jackson
RB — Dylan Edwards, La’James White
WR — Jayce Brown, Sterling Lockett
WR — Dante Cephas, Tre Spivey
DEFENSE
DE — Brendan Mott; Tobi Osunsanmior Ryan Davis
NG — Damian Ilalio, Uso Seumalo, Asher Tomaczewski
DE — Travis Bates or Chiddi Obiazor
DE — Cody Stufflebean, Jordan Allen
SLB — Desmond Purnell, Asa Newsom
MLB — Austin Romaine, Beau Palmer, Terry Kirksey
WLB — Austin Moore, Rex Van Wyhe, Zach Wittenberg
CB — Jacob Parrish, Justice James
SS — VJ Payne; Colby McCalister or Wesley Fair
JS — Jordan Riley, Jack Fabris
FS — Marques Sigle; Nickendre Stiger or Daniel Cobbs
CB — Keenan Garber; Jordan Dunbar or Donovan McIntosh
SPECIAL TEAMS
PK — Chris Tennant, Leyton Simmering
P — Simon McClannan, Teagan Cobb
LS — Mason Olguin, Keane Bessert
KR — Dylan Edwards or Jayce Brown or Keagan Johnson
PR — Dylan Edwards or Sterling Lockett
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.
The Detroit Tigers were beaten by the Kansas City Royals 5-1 on Saturday night.
Michael Wacha pitched seven scoreless innings, Bobby Witt Jr. hit an inside-the-park home run on a grounder and Michael Massey had a three-run homer for the Royals, who will go for the series sweep on Sunday night.
Witt hit the ball down the right-field line in the first inning that bounced off the wall and eluded right fielder Kerry Carpenter. Witt motored around the bases and beat the relay throw to the plate for a two-run homer.
It was the Royals’ first inside-the-park home run since Witt did it in August 2023.
Carpenter left the game later with left shoulder soreness.
Wacha (4-2) gave up two hits, walked two and struck out six. It was his longest scoreless outing since throwing eight scoreless innings against the Chicago White Sox on April 11.
Burch Smith (0-2) took the loss. He retired only one of the four batters he faced, allowing two runs on three hits in one-third of an inning.
Massey’s homer in the fourth inning came with runners on first and third with two outs. He lined the ball over the right-center field fence for his third homer of the season.
Wacha had at least one strikeout in each of his first four innings. The Tigers loaded the bases in the fifth on a double, a walk and a hit batter, but Wacha got Matt Vierling to ground out to end the inning.
The Tigers scored in the eighth on a two-out double by Riley Greene.
Up next
The teams conclude the three-game series Sunday. The Tigers have not announced a starter, though manager AJ Hinch said it will be a bullpen game. Kansas City will send LHP Noah Cameron (2-2, 5.40 ERA) to the mound.
Bullet point summary by AI
- The Chiefs are exploring long-term solutions at tight end beyond Travis Kelce’s expected 2026 retirement.
- One potential move involves targeting a veteran player from a team transitioning to a new starter at the position.
- The deal’s structure hinges on future playoff performance, creating a high-stakes incentive for both franchises.
While the 2026 draft is just in the books, it’s never too early to start thinking about the 2027 season — and if there’s one team that’s already looking that far ahead, it’s the Kansas City Chiefs.
Star tight end Travis Kelce is almost certainly retiring after the 2026 campaign despite an inflated new deal, and looking at the Chiefs’ depth chart, backup Noah Gray is not starting-caliber material. You could argue the team can scout for star talent in next year’s draft, but that would come with significant risk and opportunity cost if a prospect isn’t immediately NFL-ready.
Instead, there’s a potential solution general manager Brett Veach can utilize by acquiring an excess asset from another team.
This Chiefs-Bears trade solves Kansas City’s Travis Kelce problem
The Chicago Bears are clearly moving forward with 2025 first-round pick Colston Loveland as their TE1, in addition to taking blocking specialist Sam Roush out of Stanford in this year’s draft. All of which leaves backup — and previous starter — Cole Kmet on the outside looking in. The 27-year-old still has a lot of high-quality football left to play, and he’d certainly sign off on the opportunity to get starting snaps for a team with a championship window still wide open.
The problem is going to be convincing Chicago to pick up the phone in the first place. Kmet signed a restructured deal in April which disincentivizes the Bears from moving him until next year. A pre-June 1 deal would cost Chicago $4.1 million against the salary cap, while any swap after that date only saves the team $1.4 million.
So, with the present season not really an option, these two teams would need to be negotiating with next year in mind as Kmet is projected to cost the Bears $15.4 million against the cap in 2027. That’s the incentive Chicago needs to move him.
At the moment, Kmet is worth a conditional 2027 fifth-round pick — which may sound cheap, but the devil is in the details. Chicago will certainly dictate that an escalator be attached to the pick: For example, if Kansas City misses the playoffs in 2027, then it remains a fifth-rounder but may be deferred until 2028. If they qualify for the postseason then it could stay in 2027. A championship could push it up a round or two (though that would be a tough sell for the Chiefs).
Kmet has topped 500 receiving yards in three of his six seasons in Chicago, so there’s a good reason for Kansas City to inquire about his availability. The Bears, in turn, used a third-round pick to select Stanford’s Sam Roush – signaling they too are preparing for Kmet’s eventual departure.
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Stormont Vail Healthcare is in a legal battle with the state government, alleging the Medicaid program was wrong to refuse payment for the hospitalization of a pregnant patient with complications.
At issue is a disagreement between the Topeka hospital and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment over whether inpatient health care services were medically necessary for the Medicaid patient’s last two weeks of pregnancy.
The Kansas Court of Appeals did not resolve that dispute, but it did side with Stormont Vail in a May 8 decision. The unanimous three-judge panel reversed a decision by Shawnee County District Court Judge Thomas Luedke and vacated an order from KDHE’s State Appeals Committee. The matter now goes back to the appeals committee for reconsideration.
The appellate panel was comprised of Judges Jacy Hurst, Thomas Malone and Stephen Hill, which heard oral arguments on Aug. 5. Hurst wrote the court’s opinion.
The lawsuit stems from a 2018 case of a pregnant patient, who is not named in appellate court documents. She was 28 years old at the time and had an intellectual disability among other complications, including rapid weight loss caused by hyperemesis gravidarum.
The woman was originally admitted at Newman Regional Health in Emporia before she was transferred to Stormont Vail. Part of the hospitalization during her third trimester was covered.
But the final two weeks were not because Sunflower Health Plan, one of the managed care organizations in the state’s privatized Medicaid program known as KanCare, refused to reimburse for the patient’s continued hospitalization through the day the child was born via cesarean section.
“We are here because the Kansas Medicaid program has wrongfully refused to pay for some of an inpatient hospitalization while a Medicaid beneficiary was at Stormont Vail,” said Amanda Wilwert, an attorney for the hospital, during oral arguments. “Stormont believes the inpatient care was medically necessary as defined by the Kansas Medicaid regulations.”
Court records and oral arguments show the state expected Stormont Vail to look into having a home health agency care for the patient in Emporia instead of continued hospitalization — even though home health generally does not take care of pregnant patients and her doctors believed the expectant mother was not stable enough to discharge.
“The way it’s supposed to work,” said Darren Sharp, an attorney representing KDHE, “is the managed care organization, in this case Sunflower Health, on behalf of KDHE reviews the medical records, asks about the appropriate level of care and whether there’s any other interventions that would be more cost effective or appropriate depending on the level of or depending on the patient’s records and the patient’s status.”
Sharp argued medical records showed the patients was getting better because of total parenteral nutrition, or TPN.
“This is when a tube, a PICC, is inserted and your minerals and your electrolytes and all of your nutrition is then intravenously provided,” Sharp said.
He said the treatment “was eliminating her vomiting, her diarrhea, she had no fever, her glucose levels were stabilized.”
In their ruling, the judges indicated the KDHE appeals committee primarily cared about the cost saving of using home health versus hospitalization while disregarding the treating physician for insufficient reasons and ignoring evidence on potential benefits or harms to the patient.
But the judges declined to resolve the dispute. Rather, unless the decision is appealed to the Kansas Supreme Court, the matter goes back to the KDHE administrative process.
There, the agency’s appeals committee must reconsider the case consistent with the Court of Appeal’s ruling. The published decision sets new precedent interpreting state laws and regulations on the Medicaid program.
“While this court provides no opinion on whether the disputed inpatient healthcare services met the definition of medical necessity,” Hurst wrote, “the record shows that some of the (appeals committee’s) factual findings were not supported by the record as a whole and that the (appeals committee) inaccurately applied the law when it failed to consider (the patient’s) individual characteristics and assess the harms and benefits of the healthcare intervention.
“In making a medical necessity determination, the reviewing agency must make an individualized determination based on the record as a whole.”
Jason Alatidd is a Statehouse reporter for The Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jalatidd@usatodayco.com. Follow him on X @Jason_Alatidd.
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