By Jackson Schneider
MANHATTAN, Kan. - With just 16 days until Kansas State opens its 2021 football season, Head Coach Chris Klieman opened a portion of practice to members of the media Thursday.
Through stretching, and individual position drills, it was impossible to evaluate players or full position groups with anything other than the eye test, but the Wildcats and several of their new faces passed the exam.
Transfer tight end Daniel Imatorbhebhe was a name that drew significant interest from the media personalities watching from the stands. His size and physique helping him to stand above the rest in terms of "how they look in uniform."
The 6-4, 240-pound transfer by way of USC and Illinois is expected to make an instant impact in an offense that heavily involves his position.
Another name that has stirred up a flurry of interest is true-freshman running back D.J. Giddens, a native of Junction City. Giddens, who rushed for 1,255 yards in his senior season with the Blue Jays will blueshirt for the Cats, meaning his scholarship won't count against the 25 allotted to K-State in the class of 2021. Instead, his number will count in the class of 2022.
In the past few weeks, Giddens has earned praise from both Chris Klieman and starting quarterback Skylar Thompson, and his 6-1, 207-pound frame could be a lottery find for a Wildcat offense with an already competitive running back room.
There's no word yet on exactly how much fans can expect to see him on the field in the coming season, but as a local product, there will certainly be a lot to look forward to.
Senior wide receiver Chabastin Taylor was present on the field as well, which should be encouraging for K-State fans, as Taylor had surgery in December for a torn ACL suffered in 2020.
Taylor caught 19 passes and started nine games a season ago, but will be expected to pick up a larger workload in the coming months, as Kansas State looks to improve on an abysmal passing attack from last year.
In 2020, the Wildcats receiver room was unproductive, and in some cases, completely absent from the offensive attack, leaving running back Deuce Vaughn and tight end Briley Moore to do the lion's share in the receiving game. The return of Taylor, and in addition a healthy Malik Knowles should do wonders for K-State.
Kansas State will look forward to being full-strength when it opens the 2021 season in AT&T Stadium against the Stanford Cardinal on FS1.