Kansas State returns 11 starters this season, with five on offense and six on defense. Only a few transfers are expected to earn first-team roles, as Chris Klieman and Co. expect their younger players to step up. Can Kansas State’s top 10 returning players lead their squad to a Big 12 Championship in 2024?
Kansas State Wildcats Top 10 Returners in 2024
10) Brendan Mott, EDGE
Entering his third season, Brendan Mott is primed for a breakout campaign. In 2022, he generated six sacks, and although that number fell to just one in 2023, he still earned an All-Big 12 honorable mention. With Khalid Duke gone and the 6’3″ and 240-pound Uso Seumalo occupying the interior, Mott should return to his 6+ sack glory in 2024.
9) Desmond Purnell and Austin Moore, LBs
The Wildcats return a pair of standout linebackers in redshirt junior Desmond Purnell and redshirt senior Austin Moore. Purnell earned an All-Big 12 honorable mention nod after posting 52 tackles, 4.5 TLFs, one INT, three forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries, splitting his time between the defensive line, slot, and box.
Meanwhile, Moore led the team in tackles (63) and TFLs (12.5), leading to a second-team all-conference selection. With both of them back, fifth-year defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman doesn’t have to worry about the second level of his unit in 2024.
8) Hadley Panzer and Easton Kilty, OL
The offensive line has routinely been a strong suit for the Wildcats, and that should prove no different in 2024. Easton Kilty transfers in from North Dakota, where he was a three-year starter (2021-22 at RG; 2023 at LT) and an honorable mention All-MVFC player.
Hadley Panzer is a homegrown bulldozer, starting at right guard the last two seasons. However, he’ll kick inside to center in 2024, where his movement skills, leadership, and football IQ will translate well.
7) Jayce Brown and Dante Cephas, WRs
Kansas State found a three-star gem in Jayce Brown. He started the final six games of his true freshman season, putting up an impressive 27-437-3 receiving line. The Wildcats will rely on him to consistently separate for first-year starting QB Avery Johnson. Yet, he’s not the only K-State WR to know.
Dante Cephas, fresh off a disappointing 22-246-2 performance at Penn State, reunites with WRs coach Matthew Middleton this season. They spent time together at Kent State when Cephas garnered back-to-back first-team All-MAC recognition in 2021-22 and made the 2023 Biletnikoff Award and Senior Bowl watch lists. He has a WR1 background, and the Wildcats believe he can return to form in Manhattan.
6) Dylan Edwards, RB
After a promising true freshman season (76-321-1 rushing line and 36-299-4 receiving line), Dylan Edwards entered the transfer portal.
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A Kansas native, he was committed to the Wildcats for a month before pledging his services to Notre Dame and ultimately flipping to Deion Sanders’ squad. Now officially a Wildcat, Edwards walks into a backfield with over 100 carries up for grabs after Treshaun Ward transferred to Boston College.
DJ Giddens in the clear RB1, but at 5’9″ and 170 pounds, Edwards can be the lightning to Giddens’ thunder — and provide flashes of Deuce Vaughn at the same time.
5) Marques Sigle, DB
Following three years at FCS powerhouse North Dakota State, Marques Sigle transferred to Kansas State and instantly earned a starting role in the slot. What’s most interesting about that, is he started a whopping zero games with the Bison. In his first season with the Wildcats, he tied for the team-high in tackles (63) while notching nine PBUs, one INT, and even a blocked field goal — quite literally doing it all.
4) VJ Payne, S
Whether in the box, slot, or deep safety, VJ Payne delivers pain all over the field at a devastating 6’3″ and 206 pounds. In 2023, he manufactured 57 tackles, three TFLs, one INT, and three PBUs, setting the tone as Kansas State’s resident bone-rattler. But Payne doesn’t just lay the boom — he reliably wraps up and fills empty gaps in the run game.
3) Jacob Parrish, CB
Klanderman has high expectations for returning CBs Jacob Parrish and Keenan Garber, saying they are “as good of a duo as there will be in this league.” Parrish stepped onto campus as a three-star true freshman in 2022 and hit the ground running. He flashed his potential in a rotational role, but he exploded last season, snatching four INTs and breaking up nine other passes.
While he’s the unquestioned CB1, Garber is a strong running mate, recording a pick (which he returned for a 45-yard TD) and four PBUs in 2023 after transitioning from WR to CB the season before. Another year of training at the position should only result in increased on-field production.
2) Avery Johnson, QB
Kansas State’s Big 12 title — and CFP — hopes rest on the shoulders of true sophomore Avery Johnson. The rising QB saw some action behind Will Howard last year, and although he only completed 37 of his 66 pass attempts, he threw five TDs to zero INTs. But Johnson’s game-altering ability doesn’t lie solely with his arm.
He took 52 carries for 296 yards and seven scores (five in one game against Texas Tech), highlighting the dual-threat prowess fans are expecting and defenses are dreading.
1) DJ Giddens, RB
DJ Giddens burst onto the scene by averaging 5.8 yards per carry as a freshman in 2022, but he stole the show in 2023, rushing for 1,226 yards and 10 TDs and taking 29 receptions for 323 yards and three more scores.
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The Big 12 felt Giddens’ wrath down the stretch last season as he trampled Baylor (115 yards), Kansas (102), and Iowa State (114). Even the ACC caught a stray, as the sophomore back took 28 carries for 151 yards and a dive past the pylon against NC State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
If Johnson reaches his potential, the Wildcats will have one of the most lethal QB-RB duos in the nation.
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