Kansas State University Athletics
SE: Breaking Down K-State’s 2022 Early Signees
Dec 16, 2021 | Football, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman said that "we were trying to hit a little bit of everything," and said that there were no surprises while sharing excitement as he announced the signing of 12 high school prospects and one community-college prospect during the 2022 early signing period on Wednesday.
"Obviously, we just have 13 guys, so we have more work to do, but we're excited about the guys we signed early," Klieman said in a news conference on Wednesday afternoon, adding, "We got a chance to visit with them and I know they're excited about the opportunity to get started here with us."
K-State signed three players from the state of Texas, and two from Kansas, Georgia, Nebraska and Oklahoma. Interestingly, the Wildcats have signed at least one player from the state of Georgia each of the past nine years.
The Wildcats' two early signees from the state of Kansas are wide receiver Sterling Lockett of Leawood and linebacker Tobi Osunsanmi of Wichita.
K-State signed a balanced class — seven on offense and six on defense — with particular emphasis at defensive back (four), offensive line (three), linebacker (two), and tight end (two). The Wildcats also signed one defensive end and one wide receiver.
"We were trying to hit a little bit of everything," Klieman said. "Across the offensive line, we wanted to continue to build with some length in getting some guys who were 6-foot-5 plus really helps us there, and we also got some height and some size at linebacker."
Signing some versatility for the offensive line was a key with the additions of Drake Bequeaith (6-6, 260), Jalen (6-6, 260) and John Pastore (6-6, 285).
"We think they have the ability to play tackle first and if not tackle then guard, as opposed to the flip side of them being guards and potentially becoming a tackle," Klieman said. "Cooper Beebe is a great example. Cooper is playing tackle. We brought him in thinking he was going to be a guard and then we were able to move him outside. The guys we're bringing in we hope have the potential to play tackle and if not we'll slide them into guard. Having the length with all three of those guys is important."
K-State's early signing class arrived exactly 20 days before the Wildcats, 7-5, complete their 2021 football season against LSU, 6-6, on January 4 in the TaxAct Texas Bowl at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.
Here are five things that we learned from early signing day:
1. Safety Kobe Savage should arrive from Tyler (Texas) Junior College ready to contribute for the Wildcats.
Rated as the sixth-best community-college safety by ESPN, 5-foot-10, 205-pound Kobe Savage is expected to enroll at K-State in January after visiting K-State last weekend. He finished his two seasons at Tyler with 100 tackles, including 2.0 tackles for a loss, to go along with 6 interceptions and 4 pass breakups. He earned first-team all-conference honors while amassing 70 tackles this past season. Klieman said that he liked Savage's versatility, his ability to play man-to-man coverage and to tackle in space.
"He has a great personality and you guys are really going to like him," Klieman said. "Just being around him this weekend, and talking with him a few times on the phone, he understands the game really well. He was the 'quarterback' of their defense, and they had had a lot of checks and adjustments. He had to be the guy that helped some of the younger guys line up. He can communicate, which I saw on film.
"In talking with Coach Joe Klanderman, we need guys that are confident and that have already been in a system where he's played a number of coverages and man-to-man situations and who pressures, and who has had a lot on his plate. That's why I think he's a guy who can help us immediately."
2. Sterling Lockett is expected to have a 'big impact' at the wide receiver position.
It was virtually predestined that Sterling Lockett was Manhattan bound. The 5-foot-10, 160-pound wide receiver out of Blue Valley (Kan.) High School is the 10th-rated player of the state of Kansas by ESPN and the son of former All-American Kevin Lockett, nephew of former All-American Aaron Lockett, and brother of current Seattle Seahawk Tyler Lockett.
"We're so excited to have Sterling here to continue the legacy of the Lockett family," Klieman said. "Sterling came to camp and did a phenomenal job for us in camp. He's a really great route runner, smooth, catches the ball really well. We'll utilize him in the slot."
Lockett had 65 catches for 1,018 yards and 10 touchdowns in his career, including five touchdown receptions as a senior. He also averaged 22.8 yards per kickoff return in the final two years of his high school career.
Asked if he believed that Sterling possessed the same upside as the rest of the Locketts, Klieman replied, "Yes, because of who Sterling is and his work ethic and passion and ability to understand the game and ability to always be working to improve."
"He just needs to be Sterling," Klieman said. "That's the biggest thing. But watching him in camp and seeing the explosiveness that Sterling has and having the ability to run routes and catch the football, we're excited about him and his future here. He'll have a big impact."
3. Offensive lineman Jalen Klemm, one of the top 20 players out of the state of Pennsylvania, comes from NFL roots.
K-State's highest-rated high school prospect in the early signing period, according to 247Sports, 6-foot-6, 260-pound offensive lineman Jalen Klemm was also the 51st-rated offensive tackle in the Class of 2022 by Rivals.com. Klemm visited K-State a couple of weeks ago. He was selected as a member of the U.S. Army Bowl and signed his letter-of-intent on Wednesday in the Alamodome in San Antonio, which is site of the game that will be played on January 8.
A native of Mars, Pennsylvania, Klemm is son of Adrian Klemm, who is the current offensive line coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and who was also a three-time Super Bowl champion as a player with the New England Patriots.
"Jalen is a coach's kid," Klieman said. "He's very athletic and really smart and physical. He's a big guy who's really going to help us on the offensive line. He and his mother came on their visit. Just like I would be, I want my son to be coached hard and treated right and fairly and to get into an environment where he can learn and be cared for and loved. That's the same thing his dad wanted.
"I had some good conversations with his dad. He knew we had a pedigree with getting NFL offensive linemen and I know that Coach Conor Riley did a phenomenal job with Jalen and hit it off with him. We were excited to sign him."
4. K-State still could get a few transfers.
The transfer portal appears to be here to stay in college football. As most K-Staters fully know, the Wildcats added some transfers while a few players opted to transfer to another school in the last year. It's expected that K-State could land a few transfers while also seeking out high school prospects that will be a fit for the program.
"Obviously, we'll look at it and we'll probably have to sign a few transfers, but we also see there are so many guys, especially with the COVID year we had and not being out on the road as much last spring, and we were only on the road two weeks this year, there's a lot of guys with really good senior evaluations out there that we've been communicating with that we know haven't signed," Klieman said. "We're going to go back out and see those guys and bring them in for visits in January. There will still be some high school kids we sign for sure."
5. The Wildcats will continue evaluating prospective quarterbacks and running backs.
K-State signed quarterback Jake Rubley in the Class of 2021. It signed Will Howard in the Class of 2020. Jaren Lewis came to K-State in the Class of 2019. The Wildcats have signed at least one quarterback each year under Klieman — and that's not expected to change.
"We will address (quarterback) before February," Klieman said. "It's one of those things where in communications that Collin Klein and I have had with a number of quarterbacks, there's a lot of guys that didn't sign early, and that's a product of kids having really good senior years that maybe nobody got a chance to see as juniors because of the COVID year. It's an area we'll address in January."
K-State will continue evaluating running backs as well following the departures of Joe Ervin and Jacardia Wright. However, finding a potential transfer to play behind All-American Deuce Vaughn could prove to be a difficult task. Finding a high school prospect seems more realistic.
"We definitely need to look at running backs," Klieman said. "I don't know if you know this, but we have a pretty good one, so it's not easy to go and try to find a transfer because they want to be the guy, and I'm going to shoot him straight, that we have a guy, and he's pretty dang talented, and by the way he's a first team All-American, so we have to look at some high school kids without question.
"That's something we'll do in January. We didn't answer that question now, but we will in January."
Klieman also opened the door to finding a few prospects at other spots by the start of the semester as well.
"We're always going to sign a quarterback in a class," he said. "Our goal is always to sign a quarterback. We need to get another linebacker, probably another safety. Those are things off the top of my head, but we have to see where this whole thing ends up here right before semester starts. If we can get a few guys here at semester we'd like to, if not we'll start hammering more of the high school guys until we get to the first February."
Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman said that "we were trying to hit a little bit of everything," and said that there were no surprises while sharing excitement as he announced the signing of 12 high school prospects and one community-college prospect during the 2022 early signing period on Wednesday.
"Obviously, we just have 13 guys, so we have more work to do, but we're excited about the guys we signed early," Klieman said in a news conference on Wednesday afternoon, adding, "We got a chance to visit with them and I know they're excited about the opportunity to get started here with us."
K-State signed three players from the state of Texas, and two from Kansas, Georgia, Nebraska and Oklahoma. Interestingly, the Wildcats have signed at least one player from the state of Georgia each of the past nine years.
The Wildcats' two early signees from the state of Kansas are wide receiver Sterling Lockett of Leawood and linebacker Tobi Osunsanmi of Wichita.
K-State signed a balanced class — seven on offense and six on defense — with particular emphasis at defensive back (four), offensive line (three), linebacker (two), and tight end (two). The Wildcats also signed one defensive end and one wide receiver.
"We were trying to hit a little bit of everything," Klieman said. "Across the offensive line, we wanted to continue to build with some length in getting some guys who were 6-foot-5 plus really helps us there, and we also got some height and some size at linebacker."
Signing some versatility for the offensive line was a key with the additions of Drake Bequeaith (6-6, 260), Jalen (6-6, 260) and John Pastore (6-6, 285).
"We think they have the ability to play tackle first and if not tackle then guard, as opposed to the flip side of them being guards and potentially becoming a tackle," Klieman said. "Cooper Beebe is a great example. Cooper is playing tackle. We brought him in thinking he was going to be a guard and then we were able to move him outside. The guys we're bringing in we hope have the potential to play tackle and if not we'll slide them into guard. Having the length with all three of those guys is important."
K-State's early signing class arrived exactly 20 days before the Wildcats, 7-5, complete their 2021 football season against LSU, 6-6, on January 4 in the TaxAct Texas Bowl at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.
Here are five things that we learned from early signing day:
1. Safety Kobe Savage should arrive from Tyler (Texas) Junior College ready to contribute for the Wildcats.
Rated as the sixth-best community-college safety by ESPN, 5-foot-10, 205-pound Kobe Savage is expected to enroll at K-State in January after visiting K-State last weekend. He finished his two seasons at Tyler with 100 tackles, including 2.0 tackles for a loss, to go along with 6 interceptions and 4 pass breakups. He earned first-team all-conference honors while amassing 70 tackles this past season. Klieman said that he liked Savage's versatility, his ability to play man-to-man coverage and to tackle in space.
"He has a great personality and you guys are really going to like him," Klieman said. "Just being around him this weekend, and talking with him a few times on the phone, he understands the game really well. He was the 'quarterback' of their defense, and they had had a lot of checks and adjustments. He had to be the guy that helped some of the younger guys line up. He can communicate, which I saw on film.
"In talking with Coach Joe Klanderman, we need guys that are confident and that have already been in a system where he's played a number of coverages and man-to-man situations and who pressures, and who has had a lot on his plate. That's why I think he's a guy who can help us immediately."
Rangy SAF from TX
— K-State Football (@KStateFB) December 15, 2021
Kobe Savage (@KobeSavage)
👤 https://t.co/yQtokgfEMV pic.twitter.com/QtFkgFyXoc
2. Sterling Lockett is expected to have a 'big impact' at the wide receiver position.
It was virtually predestined that Sterling Lockett was Manhattan bound. The 5-foot-10, 160-pound wide receiver out of Blue Valley (Kan.) High School is the 10th-rated player of the state of Kansas by ESPN and the son of former All-American Kevin Lockett, nephew of former All-American Aaron Lockett, and brother of current Seattle Seahawk Tyler Lockett.
"We're so excited to have Sterling here to continue the legacy of the Lockett family," Klieman said. "Sterling came to camp and did a phenomenal job for us in camp. He's a really great route runner, smooth, catches the ball really well. We'll utilize him in the slot."
Lockett had 65 catches for 1,018 yards and 10 touchdowns in his career, including five touchdown receptions as a senior. He also averaged 22.8 yards per kickoff return in the final two years of his high school career.
Asked if he believed that Sterling possessed the same upside as the rest of the Locketts, Klieman replied, "Yes, because of who Sterling is and his work ethic and passion and ability to understand the game and ability to always be working to improve."
"He just needs to be Sterling," Klieman said. "That's the biggest thing. But watching him in camp and seeing the explosiveness that Sterling has and having the ability to run routes and catch the football, we're excited about him and his future here. He'll have a big impact."
Shifty, smooth WR from Leawood, KS
— K-State Football (@KStateFB) December 15, 2021
Sterling Lockett (@LockettSterling)
👤 https://t.co/zegMn4pJao pic.twitter.com/eYuTPYRMwv
3. Offensive lineman Jalen Klemm, one of the top 20 players out of the state of Pennsylvania, comes from NFL roots.
K-State's highest-rated high school prospect in the early signing period, according to 247Sports, 6-foot-6, 260-pound offensive lineman Jalen Klemm was also the 51st-rated offensive tackle in the Class of 2022 by Rivals.com. Klemm visited K-State a couple of weeks ago. He was selected as a member of the U.S. Army Bowl and signed his letter-of-intent on Wednesday in the Alamodome in San Antonio, which is site of the game that will be played on January 8.
A native of Mars, Pennsylvania, Klemm is son of Adrian Klemm, who is the current offensive line coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and who was also a three-time Super Bowl champion as a player with the New England Patriots.
"Jalen is a coach's kid," Klieman said. "He's very athletic and really smart and physical. He's a big guy who's really going to help us on the offensive line. He and his mother came on their visit. Just like I would be, I want my son to be coached hard and treated right and fairly and to get into an environment where he can learn and be cared for and loved. That's the same thing his dad wanted.
"I had some good conversations with his dad. He knew we had a pedigree with getting NFL offensive linemen and I know that Coach Conor Riley did a phenomenal job with Jalen and hit it off with him. We were excited to sign him."
Cerebral OT from PA
— K-State Football (@KStateFB) December 15, 2021
Jalen Klemm (@JalenKlemm)
👤 https://t.co/Whd10iwz9g pic.twitter.com/MpuPGsVZr7
4. K-State still could get a few transfers.
The transfer portal appears to be here to stay in college football. As most K-Staters fully know, the Wildcats added some transfers while a few players opted to transfer to another school in the last year. It's expected that K-State could land a few transfers while also seeking out high school prospects that will be a fit for the program.
"Obviously, we'll look at it and we'll probably have to sign a few transfers, but we also see there are so many guys, especially with the COVID year we had and not being out on the road as much last spring, and we were only on the road two weeks this year, there's a lot of guys with really good senior evaluations out there that we've been communicating with that we know haven't signed," Klieman said. "We're going to go back out and see those guys and bring them in for visits in January. There will still be some high school kids we sign for sure."
5. The Wildcats will continue evaluating prospective quarterbacks and running backs.
K-State signed quarterback Jake Rubley in the Class of 2021. It signed Will Howard in the Class of 2020. Jaren Lewis came to K-State in the Class of 2019. The Wildcats have signed at least one quarterback each year under Klieman — and that's not expected to change.
"We will address (quarterback) before February," Klieman said. "It's one of those things where in communications that Collin Klein and I have had with a number of quarterbacks, there's a lot of guys that didn't sign early, and that's a product of kids having really good senior years that maybe nobody got a chance to see as juniors because of the COVID year. It's an area we'll address in January."
K-State will continue evaluating running backs as well following the departures of Joe Ervin and Jacardia Wright. However, finding a potential transfer to play behind All-American Deuce Vaughn could prove to be a difficult task. Finding a high school prospect seems more realistic.
"We definitely need to look at running backs," Klieman said. "I don't know if you know this, but we have a pretty good one, so it's not easy to go and try to find a transfer because they want to be the guy, and I'm going to shoot him straight, that we have a guy, and he's pretty dang talented, and by the way he's a first team All-American, so we have to look at some high school kids without question.
"That's something we'll do in January. We didn't answer that question now, but we will in January."
Klieman also opened the door to finding a few prospects at other spots by the start of the semester as well.
"We're always going to sign a quarterback in a class," he said. "Our goal is always to sign a quarterback. We need to get another linebacker, probably another safety. Those are things off the top of my head, but we have to see where this whole thing ends up here right before semester starts. If we can get a few guys here at semester we'd like to, if not we'll start hammering more of the high school guys until we get to the first February."
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