Kansas State linebacker Daniel Green absent from depth chart with injury as UCF looms
One of the best linebackers in the Big 12 is not expected to be in uniform for Kansas State this weekend.
Daniel Green, a senior leader who has made 232 tackles during his long college football career, is not listed on the team’s depth chart this week. That means he is unlikely to play for the Wildcats when they take on the UCF Knights at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
His absence from the depth chart comes as a surprise when you consider that he led K-State with nine tackles during a 30-27 loss at Missouri over the weekend. But he was clearly fighting through an upper-body injury in the second half and was struggling to move his right arm.
Turns out, he sustained an injury to his right shoulder at some point during the action and he will now miss future games because of it. It is unclear how long Green will be sidelined, but a source with knowledge of his injury said the Wildcats fear he could be out for the remainder of the season.
K-State football coach Chris Klieman is expected to provide an update on Green’s status during his weekly news conference on Tuesday.
An injury of any kind will come as unfortunate news for Green, who surprised many last winter when he decided to return to college as a “super senior” rather than make a run at the NFL Draft.
One of the main reasons he chose to stay in school: to put previous injuries behind him and finish out his college career healthy.
“After a senior season plagued by injury and not being 100% for most of the year,” Green said in January, “I want to finish my college career playing my best ball.”
Without Green, the Wildcats are expected to turn to freshman Austin Romaine at middle linebacker against UCF. Romaine is a 6-foot-2 and 238-pound freshman out of Hillsboro, Missouri. Beau Palmer, a junior out of Overland Park, is listed as his backup.
Romaine has made three tackles this season. He didn’t record any stats against Missouri but did see some action while Green was dealing with his injury.
Jake Clifton would normally step up and start in place of Green in this situation, but he is also currently sidelined with an injury. K-State will put its linebacker depth to the test in its Big 12 opener.
There was one other notable change on K-State’s depth chart this week.
Christian Duffie, a senior offensive lineman who missed the first three games of the season with an injury, is now listed as the backup right tackle behind Carver Willis.
On Saturday, Klieman was optimistic about Duffie’s chances of playing against the Knights. This is another sign that he is nearing a return.
