Kansas State football defense's main spring objective to build quality depth

MANHATTAN — The fact that Kansas State must replace more than half of the defensive starters from its 2022 Big 12 championship team could have been a cause for concern this spring.

But nobody at the Vanier Football Complex is pushing any panic buttons just yet, and for good reason. Not only do the Wildcats have capable replacements to fill their six vacancies on that side of the ball, but they have greater depth at just about every position.

Daniel Green's surprise decision to return as a super-senior at middle linebacker certainly bolstered that position group and Khalid Duke's move from strong-side linebacker to a more natural fit at defensive end will go a long way to offset the loss of Big 12 defensive player of the year Felix Anudike-Uzomah on the edge.

The nose tackle position definitely will have a new look with starter Eli Huggins and backup Robert Hentz out of eligibility, but defensive tackles coach Mike Tuiasosopo has at least three viable options ready to step in.

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The same is true at Sam linebacker, where position coach Steve Stanard rattled off a list of potential successors to Duke.

On the back end, there is no shortage of candidates, either, which is a good thing since defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman must plug in a pair of new cornerbacks, plus two of the three safeties.

Klanderman and his defensive staff — with the exception of assistant head coach Van Malone who is in charge of the cornerbacks — met with the media last week to share their thoughts near the midway point of spring practice. Here is a breakdown by position group, of what has transpired so far and what the 2023 season might have in store.

Kansas State will have some changes on the defensive line

The two biggest voids were the departure of Anudike-Uzomah, who left a year early for the NFL draft, and the underrated Huggins at the nose. After becoming a starter his sophomore year, Anudike-Uzomah was a true force, amassing 19.5 sacks and 25.5 tackles for loss over the past two seasons.

Still, the Wildcats have experienced depth at the two end spots in senior Brendan Mott and junior Nate Matlack, who split starts at the other end. It was a breakout year for Mott, who started nine games and had six sacks, while Matlack added two sacks despite being playing most of the season on a bad ankle.

"Nate had that high ankle the whole year and I appreciate him fighting through it," defensive ends coach Buddy Wyatt said. "He wasn't 100%, and he didn't have the year that I'm sure he wanted and that we wanted, but he kept fighting and he showed us his toughness.

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"So I'm sure he's looking at a breakout season this year."

The x-factor is Duke, a dangerous pass rusher who played end both as a true freshman and sophomore in the Wildcats' four-man front, but switched to linebacker in 2021 when they went with a 3-3-5 alignment.

His junior season ended early with a knee injury in the third game, but he returned last year two record 44 tackles with three sacks.

"He looks really natural at doing what he's doing right now. He's so explosive," Klanderman said of the 6-foot-4, 246-pound Duke. "Khalid is a dangerous, dangerous dude at defensive end.

"He's got incredible rush abilities, and he's got very heavy hands. He's tough. He gets off blocks really well. He's going to pick up hopefully where Felix left off next year."

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The Wildcats have much more to prove at nose tackle, but were encouraged last year by the progress of junior college transfer Uso Seumalo and then-redshirt freshman Damian Ilalio. They also are high on Jevon Banks, a junior transfer from Mississippi State.

Seumalo, a space-eater at 6-3, 345 pounds, played in all 14 games last year as a backup and made five tackles, including two for loss. Ilalio, a hometown Manhattan High product is considered the best technician by the staff, while Banks also relies on his quickness at 6-2, 295.

Much as Daniel Green's return as a super-senior this year was a godsend for the linebacker corps, Huggins' decision to do the same last season gave Tuiasosopo peace of mind. Huggins was the unsung hero on the line, freeing up others to make the splash plays.

"I know how I felt a year ago when (Huggins) came back, and I know how I feel today," Tuiasosopo said with a chuckle. "This year is the first year that I have not had a senior in my room, so all these guys that are underclassmen, they've got to grow up quickly.

"There is no way around it, and so we're finding a way and we're going to find a way and we'll be ready to run."

Seumalo, who played two seasons at Garden City Community College, is listed as senior on the roster, but because of the coronavirus pandemic, he will have one more year of eligibility left for 2024 if he should choose to return.

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A deep and talented linebacking corps

While Green battled injuries all last season, Austin Moore blossomed as a junior last year at weak-side linebacker, leading the team with 87 tackles, including 10 for loss, with an interception and two forced fumbles.

With both of them back and healthy, and with the continued improvement from younger players, Klanderman called it the strongest linebacking corps he has had in his five years at K-State.

"From an experience standpoint, from a knowledge of scheme standpoint, and I daresay from a leadership standpoint also," Klanderman said. "Those two guys are just incredible.

"When you talk about the Austin Moores, the Daniel Greens, but then you take some of these younger guys into the mix, too, that have incredible ability — a Jake Clifton, Tobi Osunsanmi and then guys like Des Purnell who found a role last year and have gotten so much better and so much more comfortable."

Sophomores Purnell and the versatile Clifton, along with the super-athletic Osunsanmi are the top candidates to hold down the Sam linebacker spot. Juniors Gavin Forsha and Beau Palmer, along with junior college transfers Terry Kirksey and Rex Van Wyhe, and true freshman Austin Romaine also are likely to find a place on the depth chart at the other two spots.

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Cornerback by committee

Julius Brents and Ekow Boye-Doe held down the starting cornerback spots and took most of the snaps the past two seasons, but with both of them gone Klanderman anticipates spreading the game repetitions out in 2023.

Jacob Parrish and Omar Daniels saw significant playing time as backups last year as freshmen, while junior college transfer Jordan Wright redshirted and is expected to be a factor in the fall. Senior Keenan Garber, who switched from wide receiver to corner at the end of last season, also is coming into his own, and the addition of top juco prospect Will Lee from national champion Iowa Western adds even more depth.

"I don't see it that way. I think it's going to be more corner by committee, and it's not because we don't have two guys that are alphas," Klanderman said. "I think it's because we've got several guys that are alphas.

"There's a number of guys that are all good enough to play in the Big 12, and it's just on us to find different roles and situations where we can use those guys, whether that's nickel packages, dime packages, things like that, where we can put those guys in and they can be cover guys, blitzers and underneath guys."

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Mixing and matching at safety

The Wildcats lost four key contributors at safety from last year in Drake Cheatum, Josh Hayes, Cincere Mason and TJ Smith, but the cupboard is hardly bare.

Senior Kobe Savage, a junior college transfer, was a star in the making before suffering an injury late in the season that has kept him out this spring as well. VJ Payne stepped into the starting lineup as a true freshman when Savage and Mason went down.

Nickendre Stiger, another juco transfer, played in just three games and preserved his redshirt year, and redshirt freshman Colby McCalister has gotten rave reviews from Klanderman since switching from corner to safety. So has North Dakota State transfer Marques Sigle, while early freshmen enrollees Kam Sallis and Wesley Fair also could work their way into the mix.

"In a three-safety deal, you'd love to have nine guys that you feel comfortable with, but in actuality there's some guys that probably we could dual-train, and if something were to happen you could slide people around a little bit," Klanderman said. "We can't run into situations and expect to be successful like we were a year ago at safety, where honestly the roof caved in a little bit on us with all the injuries that piled up there.

"We got extraordinarily thin at the end of the year, and hopefully we can get to the point where, at every position across the board, we're not running into that. That's the biggest thing we're trying to do right now."

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.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State football coaches beefing up defense for 2023 season