SE: Hubert Adds Weight, Feels Prepared for Bigger Season
Jul 31, 2019 | Football, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
Wyatt Hubert updated his closet this summer. He had to. His old clothes barely fit.
"I've started to move up to a double (extra-large) instead of a single X. It's usually a tight squeeze in quite a bit of (my old) clothes, but that's alright," K-State's sophomore defensive end said. "That's part of it."
That's part of what comes with putting on 20 pounds of muscle during the offseason.
Hubert said he started last season at 245 pounds. He ended it with Freshman All-America honors from USA TODAY Sports. At Big 12 Media Days on July 16 in Arlington, Texas, the Topeka native said he was at 265 pounds. And he looked it. One turn too quick might have torn his black sport jacket, Hulk-style.
"My goal was only 10 to 15 pounds, or whatever suited me best," Hubert said, "and here I am now, a healthy 20 pounds later."
The weight gain was one thing. Hubert's improvements in other areas — speed, agility and strength, for instance — were quite another.
To put on the healthy weight, Hubert said he followed a "very detailed" nutrition plan designed by Scott Trausch, the team's sport dietician/nutritionist. In short, Hubert said he cut back on fried, fatty foods, and upped his protein intake to anywhere between 100-150 grams of protein per day.
What the Shawnee Heights High School product did not expect was how well he would carry the new weight.
Sure, his lifting maxes increased, which he expected. But Hubert said he also went from a 31-inch vertical to 34.5. Even more, he said he cut his short shuttle time from 4.3 seconds to 4.07. For comparison, that short shuttle time would have ranked No. 1 among defensive linemen and No. 5 among all defensive players at the 2019 NFL Combine.
"Putting on 20 pounds and doing that was something I didn't think I could do. That was something that shocked me," he said. "That puts me up there with the top short shuttle times in K-State history for defensive linemen. Obviously, just comparing my times and my measurables to NFL Combine and Pro Day results as well, that's something that's always motivated me."
These improvements were not immediate, either. In some cases, Hubert said he got worse before he got better. He credited the end result to Director of Strength and Conditioning Chris Dawson and his staff.
"I did move faster at the end results of our measurables and our timing, but it was a little hard adjusting to it (at first)," he said, as K-State reports to fall camp on Thursday. "Once I started putting on more weight, I realized my get-off (speed) did get a little bit slower, but that was something that (got better) with adjusting to and adapting to carrying different weight. In the long run, I've adjusted back to that and it's been really beneficial."
Hubert said he expects it to benefit him and his team on Saturdays soon.
As a redshirt freshman, Hubert relied mostly on speed, quickness and a nonstop motor to disrupt offenses. It worked, too. In 12 games and seven starts, he racked up 34 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks.
Those numbers might be a drop in the bucket of what he can do now.
"I feel a lot more prepared. I've gotten faster, quicker. That's obviously going to help my game, at the end of the day," he said. "Playing defensive end at 245 in the Big 12 was good because I could move fast and just run for days and days, especially with Big 12 offenses being quick tempo and hurry up. But being at 265 compared to 245, you can handle and keep your gap a lot easier in the run games, especially going up against 300-plus pound offensive linemen.
"That's just something I've really noticed, especially in spring time. It's definitely slowed the game down for me and allowed me to perform better."
Those expectations, externally and internally, are already there. Recently, Hubert was one of 92 players in the nation to be named to the watch list for the 2019 Bronko Nagurski Award as the nation's most outstanding defensive player.
Don't expect any hype to get to Hubert's head, however, K-State head coach Chris Klieman said.
"Wyatt would be the first one to tell you he hasn't scratched the surface on the type of football player he can become," Klieman said, as K-State nears its season opener against Nicholls on Saturday, August 31. "I'm looking for an All-Big 12 caliber season out of him, but it doesn't just happen on Saturdays. I see the way he works. If he works as hard as he did in the spring, Monday through Friday, he'll have a successful season."
Wyatt Hubert updated his closet this summer. He had to. His old clothes barely fit.
"I've started to move up to a double (extra-large) instead of a single X. It's usually a tight squeeze in quite a bit of (my old) clothes, but that's alright," K-State's sophomore defensive end said. "That's part of it."
That's part of what comes with putting on 20 pounds of muscle during the offseason.
Hubert said he started last season at 245 pounds. He ended it with Freshman All-America honors from USA TODAY Sports. At Big 12 Media Days on July 16 in Arlington, Texas, the Topeka native said he was at 265 pounds. And he looked it. One turn too quick might have torn his black sport jacket, Hulk-style.
"My goal was only 10 to 15 pounds, or whatever suited me best," Hubert said, "and here I am now, a healthy 20 pounds later."
The weight gain was one thing. Hubert's improvements in other areas — speed, agility and strength, for instance — were quite another.
To put on the healthy weight, Hubert said he followed a "very detailed" nutrition plan designed by Scott Trausch, the team's sport dietician/nutritionist. In short, Hubert said he cut back on fried, fatty foods, and upped his protein intake to anywhere between 100-150 grams of protein per day.
What the Shawnee Heights High School product did not expect was how well he would carry the new weight.
Sure, his lifting maxes increased, which he expected. But Hubert said he also went from a 31-inch vertical to 34.5. Even more, he said he cut his short shuttle time from 4.3 seconds to 4.07. For comparison, that short shuttle time would have ranked No. 1 among defensive linemen and No. 5 among all defensive players at the 2019 NFL Combine.
"Putting on 20 pounds and doing that was something I didn't think I could do. That was something that shocked me," he said. "That puts me up there with the top short shuttle times in K-State history for defensive linemen. Obviously, just comparing my times and my measurables to NFL Combine and Pro Day results as well, that's something that's always motivated me."
These improvements were not immediate, either. In some cases, Hubert said he got worse before he got better. He credited the end result to Director of Strength and Conditioning Chris Dawson and his staff.
"I did move faster at the end results of our measurables and our timing, but it was a little hard adjusting to it (at first)," he said, as K-State reports to fall camp on Thursday. "Once I started putting on more weight, I realized my get-off (speed) did get a little bit slower, but that was something that (got better) with adjusting to and adapting to carrying different weight. In the long run, I've adjusted back to that and it's been really beneficial."
Hubert said he expects it to benefit him and his team on Saturdays soon.
As a redshirt freshman, Hubert relied mostly on speed, quickness and a nonstop motor to disrupt offenses. It worked, too. In 12 games and seven starts, he racked up 34 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks.
Those numbers might be a drop in the bucket of what he can do now.
"I feel a lot more prepared. I've gotten faster, quicker. That's obviously going to help my game, at the end of the day," he said. "Playing defensive end at 245 in the Big 12 was good because I could move fast and just run for days and days, especially with Big 12 offenses being quick tempo and hurry up. But being at 265 compared to 245, you can handle and keep your gap a lot easier in the run games, especially going up against 300-plus pound offensive linemen.
"That's just something I've really noticed, especially in spring time. It's definitely slowed the game down for me and allowed me to perform better."
Those expectations, externally and internally, are already there. Recently, Hubert was one of 92 players in the nation to be named to the watch list for the 2019 Bronko Nagurski Award as the nation's most outstanding defensive player.
Don't expect any hype to get to Hubert's head, however, K-State head coach Chris Klieman said.
"Wyatt would be the first one to tell you he hasn't scratched the surface on the type of football player he can become," Klieman said, as K-State nears its season opener against Nicholls on Saturday, August 31. "I'm looking for an All-Big 12 caliber season out of him, but it doesn't just happen on Saturdays. I see the way he works. If he works as hard as he did in the spring, Monday through Friday, he'll have a successful season."
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