Depth at positions of need on defense addressed
MANHATTAN — Kansas State football came out of spring practice last month with a few lingering question marks on defense, most notably centered on depth at select positions.
The consensus among coaches was that the spring revealed a wealth of depth and talent, albeit young, at defensive end and safety. The Wildcats also made strides at cornerback behind presumptive starters Jacob Parrish and Keenan Garber.
On the flip side, a lack of numbers at nose tackle and middle linebacker, where injuries kept several regulars off the field throughout the spring, raised some red flags. At the very least, it forced coach Chris Klieman and defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman to scour the transfer portal for reinforcements.
“If history has taught us anything, it’s that Murphy’s Law is always knocking on the door and so we thought linebacker was our deepest position last year,” Klanderman said last month. “We played the last four games of the season (with) three linebackers, so yeah, we’re going to be in the portal.”
The good news for the Wildcats is that between the end spring drills and school letting out for the summer, they have addressed both of the most glaring needs, one through the transfer portal and the other with re-recruitment.
On April 30, they signed Alec
Marenco, a veteran middle linebacker from New Mexico, who has one season of eligibility left. He led the Lobos in tackles last year with 63.
At nose tackle, 6-foot-6, 295-pound Butler Community College transfer Malcolm Alcorn-Crowder signed with KState in December. He recorded 28 tackles, 10 for loss, with 7.0 sacks in just nine games for the Grizzlies in 2023 but was not enrolled this spring as he worked through academic issues.
At linebacker, the Wildcats return a pair of steady starters in super-senior Austin Moore at the Will, or weak-side spot, while Desmond Purnell had a breakout sophomore season on the strong side. The Big 12 coaches rewarded both of them with all-conference recognition, Moore on the second team and Purnell as an honorable mention.
But once super-senior Daniel Green's season ended with an injury in the third game, Mike linebacker became an ongoing concern. Jake Clifton, the Wildcats' most versatile backer was the first choice to take over in the middle. But injuries limited him to eight games, forcing true freshman Austin Romaine and former walk-on Beau Palmer into starting roles.
During the spring, both Clifton and Palmer were sidelined again with injuries, and Clifton subsequently announced that he is stepping away from the team to serve an LDS church mission. Adding Marenco to the roster should alleviate some of that stress.
At the outside linebacker positions, junior college transfer Rex Van Wyhe and redshirt freshman Asa Newsom will provide the depth. Van Wyhe appeared in four games to preserve his redshirt, while Newsom already had cracked the rotation as a true freshman before an injury forced him to redshirt.
The situation at nose tackle was not as dire, but when starter Uso Seumalo missed most of spring practice, it left valuable backup Damian Ilalio, now a junior, as the only experienced option. Jevon Banks, who also saw significant action as an undersized nose, has since transferred to UConn.
With Seumalo, Ilalio and AlcornCrowder ready to go in the fall, the interior line should be all right. But with the shortage of bodies in the spring, the coaches also experimented by moving some of their talented young defensive ends inside in a four-man front.
“We had some plans and some things, but we had some injuries, and we weren't able to do it all,” Klieman said. “But you saw some things over spring where we'd have four d-linemen and really three d-ends and one d-tackle.”
In addition to Seumalo, Moore and Purnell, returning defensive starters from last year's 9-4 team include supersenior end Brendan Mott, cornerbacks Jacob Parrish and Keenan Garber, and safeties Marques Sigle and VJ Payne.
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.