By D. Scott Fritchen
Courtesy of K-State Sports
It was just as you might expect. Avery Johnson entered the Vanier Family Football Complex after the team's sixth practice of training camp — its first practice in full pads — pulled up a chair, and excitedly began to talk. Johnson, the sophomore quarterback awaiting his first start in a season opener, was in high spirits.
"It's just really fun getting out there with the guys again," he says. "It's been really upbeat in practice. It's a lot of fun just getting our offense on the field and getting things rolling again. We have a lot of talented players, and the offensive line is doing a great job, and a lot of receivers are getting into the mix and Dylan Edwards, obviously, getting out there, him and DJ Giddens. It's been a lot of fun to just practice again.
"Offense was the topic of the day on Tuesday, as offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Conor Riley along with Avery Johnson, Keagan Johnson, Taylor Poitier, Dylan Edwards and DJ Giddens spoke with reporters immediately after practice.
"I wouldn't say we're a work in progress," Johnson says. "I'd say the spring was where we got some kinks out and added some new concepts and schemes and figured some things out, but now we know what we're supposed to do. We know our techniques, and what the coaches want from us. It's just going out and executing it."
K-State isn't far removed from putting together stellar offensive campaigns. The Wildcats' 34.6 points per game over the last two seasons ranked 19th in the nation and third among returning Big 12 teams. In 2022, K-State ranked second in school history in total offensive yards (5,863), third in rushing yards per carry (5.12), fourth in total rushing yards (2.,916), fifth in total yards per game (418.8), ninth in yards per play (6.12) and 10th in rushing touchdowns (32). Something just seems different about this cast — Avery Johnson, DJ Giddens, Dylan Edwards, Keagan Johnson, Jayce Brown, Jadon Jackson, and on, and on.
There's potential to be great.
The challenge could lie within finding balance within the playmakers.
"Even as we met as a staff, that's going to be one of our challenges — a challenge in a good way — is how do we utilize the skillset of so many people out there," Riley says. "It still comes down to who we can trust and who can that quarterback trust and who are we as coaches ultimately going to trust at their spot to be on time."
"We do have some mechanisms within our offense that not only can utilize the playmakers and skill-position players you know about but also maybe that freshman who has a skillset and maybe that third-and-seven to-10 package might be a little bit much for what his knowledge base is but maybe how can we get him a couple touches during the course of the game. Get them involved. Be a playmaker. In today's world, I do believe that's extremely important."
The guy who everybody wants to know about sits in front of a long table and wears a black top after practice. Although this is his first formal address with reporters, 5-foot-9, 165-pound Dylan Edwards, the sophomore transfer, needs no introduction. A year ago, he became the first player in seven seasons to score four touchdowns from scrimmage in his FBS debut and became the first true freshman in Colorado history with 250 rushing yards and 250 receiving yards in the same season.
And now he's here, and the pride of Derby, Kansas, smiles.
"It was a blessing coming in here and having all the excitement in the world coming into practice," he says. "It's been great. I'm trying to get used to it every day. It's just been fun."
K-State head coach Chris Klieman on Monday said that it seemed like Edwards was being shot out of a cannon with how fast his burst is when he runs. Riley on Tuesday said that "without divulging too much, we will get him involved and we are pressing and putting a ton on his plate right now. We're really putting a lot on his plate."
Edwards proved at Colorado that he was up for the task.
"He's just explosive with the ball in his hands," Johnson says. "We're trying our best to get him the ball in space and let him do his thing, whether that's out of the backfield or any type of motion, or even splitting him out and letting him play receiver. Just using him in any way we can so we can keep defenses on their toes."
Ask Taylor Poitier his thoughts on Edwards' potential impact and he shakes his head.
"Seeing how fast he is and how quick, his lateral quickness is insane, just seeing that on film and then on the field, I'm like, 'Give him the ball, shoot, he's going to go for six right there,'" Poitier says. "It's really cool having him. He's just a really good dude. He brings a lot of energy to the team and is a really high-spirited guy. Just seeing him move out there, he's so quick. I'm really excited he's here."
Seems like perfect chemistry with junior DJ Giddens, the 6-foot-1, 212-pounder in the backfield. Giddens ranks third in K-State history in rushing yards per carry (5.59) and is nearing 2,000 rushing yards in a career.
"It's been going good," Giddens says. "I've been trying to get him adjusted to it, but he's adjusted quick."
Meanwhile, Johnson might need a little adjusting with all the weapons at his disposal this fall. On paper, it appears this offense carries the capacity to be more explosive than previous units in recent history.
"We look really explosive at times," Johnson says. "We've just been trying to get the ball to our playmakers. We have a lot of playmakers and a lot of guys who can do special things with the ball in their hands. It's just my job to get it to them and let them do their thing."
That includes Keagan Johnson, a 6-foot, 206-pound junior who had 24 catches for 227 yards and two touchdowns in 11 games last season. It was Klieman who on Monday said that if Johnson could stay healthy, he could be among the best wide receivers in the Big 12. But there's more in the tank.
"Obviously, we still have Jayce Brown and Jadon Jackson, two guys who contributed last year who'll be back," Keagan Johnson says. "Then we have Dante Cephas, who's brought some good experience to the receiving room. I'm excited for him. And we have Tre Spivey, who's a super athletic guy, and he'll definitely help the receiver room this year. We have some big dudes like Andre Davis and then "Little Lockett" — Sterling Lockett — who'll provide some depth for us. I'm excited."
In reality, it comes back to installation, preparation, practice, and execution.
"We are very early in the evaluation process for those guys because we do go so heavy with our installation in those first five to six practices," Riley says. "In fact, just this morning we were looking at our install cut up and our schedule and it was a little bit less. You have to keep things in context and stay relative to say, 'Man, there's this young kid who's really flashing right now,' or maybe, 'He's making a few of the mistakes, but as we start slowing that down, now how much can they grow?'"
"Their growth is never linear and it's hard to explain to young kids, but there are going to be those ebbs and flows. We have a lion's share of our offense in already."
And that arrived with some valued assistance from new co-offensive coordinator Matt Wells, who will also serve as associate head coach and quarterbacks coach after two seasons on staff as advisor to the head coach and offensive analyst at Oklahoma.
"He's not only brought a ton of conceptual thoughts and some of his experience that fit within what we do, but he's brought a ton of perspective," Riley says. "This is a system that has evolved that I've been a part of since 2013 and just his perspective from having been a coordinator and having been a head coach and from his responsibilities at Oklahoma last year, saying, 'Why do we do this? Why do we do that? Can we be more efficient in how we communicate?' Conceptually, especially in the passing game, there's going to be some changes. It's something he's familiar with and Coach Matthew Middleton is familiar with as well."
Nobody is more familiar with offensive lines than Riley. Currently he has seven players in the mix for a starting position. That starts with Easton Kilty, Hadley Panzer, Sam Hecht, Taylor Poitier and Carver Willis. The other two?
"John Pastore is doing really well, and I believe Andrew Leingang is having the best camp he's had thus far," Riley says. "His versatility is phenomenal. He can bounce out and play left tackle, he can play right guard, he can play right tackle, and when we're in the half-line drill, I said, 'Get your rear in there and play center.'"
"I don't want to make comparisons, but when you look at the versatility of Cooper Beebe, his versatility is even more so because of him playing the center position. There's where we're at."
Avery Johnson made a point to squash any concern that K-State's offensive line might be subpar this fall.
"A lot of people think, 'Hey, we lost all these starters and we're not going to be able to block as well. How's K-State's offensive line going to look this year?'" Johnson said. "Those guys took it as a challenge, and they've done a great job and have worked and have stepped up to the plate."
Seems K-State has ample players eager to step up to the plate when their number is called in the fall.
But there might soon be a vision that's difficult to miss. Avery Johnson and Dylan Edwards sharing the same backfield for a play — something they did as children. And this, too, could be child's play.
"It's great playing next to him again," Edwards says. "It's a lot of speed in the backfield. Just very electrifying."
And just one play for an offense bursting with potential and that can cause concern for the rest of the Big 12.