Five observations from Kansas State’s first open football practice of training camp

Kansas State held its second football practice of the summer on Thursday, and media members were allowed to watch the first 45 minutes of action.

Here are some observations from preseason training camp:

The Wildcats are throwing more short passes

It’s hard to know exactly what this means, but Avery Johnson and the rest of K-State’s quarterbacks went nearly an hour without attempting a single pass to a wide receiver.

Perhaps that means the Wildcats are preparing to utilize more short passes to running backs and tight ends than they have in the past. Or maybe it just means that they saved all of their downfield throws for the second half of practice.

In any case, some of the drills and passing plays were new for the Wildcats.

K-State dedicated several minutes to jet sweeps in which the quarterback simply flipped the ball forward a few inches as a running back was zooming in front of him. That play has long been popular in the NFL, and perhaps we will see it in Conor Riley’s playbook this season.

Johnson showed a good connection with Colorado transfer Dylan Edwards on that play, as well as on screen passes.

The Wildcats also got their tight ends involved on short crossing routes.

Again, it’s hard to know what it means in the grand scheme of things, but this was a day for gaining yards without throwing it deep.

Need for speed

Forgive the title of this section. It’s a bit misleading, because the Wildcats don’t appear to need speed at the moment.

In fact, K-State players look much faster than they did last season.

Johnson can take off and run whenever he wants to at quarterback. There is also no drop off from DJ Giddens at running back. When the ball goes to Joe Jackson, La’James White and Edwards they all keep getting upfield just as quickly as the proven starter.

Keenan Garber is one of the fastest players on defense, and there are plenty of K-State wide receivers ready to challenge him.

Head coach Chris Klieman has prioritized speed in recruiting and it is beginning to show.

More attention to detail

There is no longer a limit on the number of assistant coaches that are allowed to teach during practice, and that made a noticeable difference on Thursday.

In previous years, Riley was left alone to coach the offensive line by himself and on-field coaches had to take turns coaching special teams. Those days are over. Now, offensive analyst Drew Liddle is assisting with the front five and special teams quality control coach Nate Kaczor is hands-on with kickers and punters.

Extra manpower brought more order to practice, and everyone seemed more comfortable out there.

For now, the Wildcats appear healthy

Not that you would expect to see many injured players on Day 2 of training camp, but it is still worth noting that the K-State football roster is virtually at full strength right now.

A few players (Giddens, cornerback Kanijal Thomas and safety Colby McCalister) wore red, no-contact jerseys as they recover from offseason injuries. But they all practiced and appeared to be running at full speed.

This was a welcome change from spring practice, when it felt like half the team was on the sideline.

K-State has upgraded its QB room behind Avery Johnson

The Wildcats struggled to throw the ball when Johnson wasn’t on the field during spring practice.

At that time, K-State was lacking a proven backup quarterback and one of its youngest passers was sidelined with an injury. And it showed.

Things have changed since then, for the better. K-State added Connecticut transfer Ta’Quan Roberson to the mix and freshman Blake Barnett is now healthy. Both quarterbacks looked comfortable in the pocket on Thursday.

Roberson made the right reads and routinely hit his targets on short passes. Barnett clearly paid attention during the spring, because he knew exactly how to handle reps at this practice and looked sharp with some of his throws. Jacob Knuth also had some good moments.

For now, it seems like the QB hierarchy is Johnson followed by Roberson, Knuth and Barnett. But there could be more competition than originally expected for the No. 2 and No. 3 spots.