Playmaking Transfers Look to Help K-State’s Offense
Mar 31, 2023 | Football, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
All-American Deuce Vaughn is off to the NFL in April's draft, and additional skill players are gone, too. But early assessments suggest that Kansas State might have hit a pair of home runs with two Division I transfers in senior running back Treshaun Ward from Florida State and sophomore wide receiver Keagan Johnson from Iowa, as the Wildcats progress through spring practice.
"At the end of the day, it doesn't matter where any of us have come from," offensive coordinator Collin Klein said, "we're here now and we have this season and team that we're putting together, and it's just finding and making sure everybody is doing everything they can to make it the best they can.
"That's what they've done."
K-State comes off a 10-4 season with a Big 12 Championship win over No. 3 TCU and a New Year's Six Bowl with a battle against No. 5 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. The Wildcats, under fifth-year head coach Chris Klieman, have been successful with Division I transfers in the past, most recently cornerback Julius Brents, who is projected to go in the first two rounds of the draft.
Klieman's focus in deciding upon transfers entails getting playmakers with high-quality character who fit the program and who will be strong additions on and off the field for the Wildcats. Ward and Johnson fit the bill and are expected to be high-impact players on an offense that returns senior quarterback Will Howard and seven other starters, including the entire starting offensive line.
"His short-area quickness is outstanding," Klein said. "His ability to start-stop and find holes — if something changes in the blocking scheme and he has to make an unanticipated adjustment, it's impressive. He's able to start-stop very, very well. He's just a fantastic young man on top of that. His demeanor is outstanding, and his work ethic has been good.
"So glad he's here."
Ward had 188 carries for 1,241 yards and 12 touchdowns in 26 games in Tallahassee.
"He's very quick," running backs coach Brian Anderson said. "You can see that from his film at Florida State and making people miss at the line of scrimmage and third level. He has good patience and a sudden burst to him. I'm looking forward to getting him completely healthy in the summer and fall camp, and we can see how he continue to build upon what he's good at."
Ward, a native of Plant City, Florida, who listed as the No. 5 transfer running back in the FBS by 247Sports, continues to mend an apparent hand injury.
"He's very smooth and violent with his cuts and he gets vertical, and he gets vertical fast," offensive line coach Conor Riley said. "He has great vision and change of direction. This dude has some juice, he's got some vision, and he has great vertical cuts, and those shoulders are square when he's attacking the line of scrimmage."
Ward will likely be called upon to catch more balls out of the backfield than in previous years. He had 28 catches for 210 yards and one touchdown in three seasons at Florida State.
"Even though he's limited (currently) in how he catches the ball, you can see he has really soft hands and he does a really good job with the fundamental things of catching the ball," Anderson said. "I'm looking forward to getting him out there fulltime and seeing what he can do in space."
Johnson is a 6-foot, 196-pound sophomore out of Bellevue, Nebraska, who last season saw time in only two games as he missed 10 games due to injury, thus serving as his redshirt season. In 2021, he started nine games as a true freshman with 18 catches for 352 yards and two touchdowns, including a career-high 92 receiving yards and a touchdown on two receptions during his first-career start against Colorado State. His first-career catch was a 43-yard touchdown while he also had a career-long reception for 49 yards.
"Keagan Johnson has been probably ahead of the curve as far as where even we were hoping he would be from a learning operational standpoint," Klein said. "He's been able to contribute and make big-time plays.
"Even the last couple days in practice, his ability to get in and out of breaks is special, it really is. How he's been able to do that in such a short time with learning everything and being new in a new environment, he's able to create separation and get in and out of breaks, and he's been fun to watch."
On tape, it appears Johnson could become a yards-after-catch demon who might cause headaches for potential tacklers in the open field. He can catch in traffic and make people miss while moving up field.
"He's a hard worker and he's putting his best foot forward every single day," new K-State wide receivers coach Matthew Middleton said. "He's got great frame, he understands his strengths, he has really good speed and he's a strong pass catcher. Those things have shown up from the previous tape. We're hoping to develop and enhance that."
All-American Deuce Vaughn is off to the NFL in April's draft, and additional skill players are gone, too. But early assessments suggest that Kansas State might have hit a pair of home runs with two Division I transfers in senior running back Treshaun Ward from Florida State and sophomore wide receiver Keagan Johnson from Iowa, as the Wildcats progress through spring practice.
"At the end of the day, it doesn't matter where any of us have come from," offensive coordinator Collin Klein said, "we're here now and we have this season and team that we're putting together, and it's just finding and making sure everybody is doing everything they can to make it the best they can.
"That's what they've done."
K-State comes off a 10-4 season with a Big 12 Championship win over No. 3 TCU and a New Year's Six Bowl with a battle against No. 5 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. The Wildcats, under fifth-year head coach Chris Klieman, have been successful with Division I transfers in the past, most recently cornerback Julius Brents, who is projected to go in the first two rounds of the draft.
Klieman's focus in deciding upon transfers entails getting playmakers with high-quality character who fit the program and who will be strong additions on and off the field for the Wildcats. Ward and Johnson fit the bill and are expected to be high-impact players on an offense that returns senior quarterback Will Howard and seven other starters, including the entire starting offensive line.
Ward announced his decision to enter the transfer portal on January 4 and committed to K-State just six days later. Johnson announced his decision to enter the portal on December 1 and committed on December 11.You have to go through some stages to get to better stages 💜🤍🐕 #EMAW #Committed pic.twitter.com/XIHNalQMnU
— Treshaun Ward (@9mxvi_) January 10, 2023
The 5-foot-10, 194-pound Ward played in 10 games with six starts as the Seminoles' second-leading rusher with 649 yards and seven touchdowns on 95 carries en route to All-ACC Honorable Mention honors last season. He also caught six passes for 19 yards.Next chapter… #EMAW pic.twitter.com/OLsD2hm5YJ
— Keagan Johnson (@_keaganj) December 11, 2022
"His short-area quickness is outstanding," Klein said. "His ability to start-stop and find holes — if something changes in the blocking scheme and he has to make an unanticipated adjustment, it's impressive. He's able to start-stop very, very well. He's just a fantastic young man on top of that. His demeanor is outstanding, and his work ethic has been good.
"So glad he's here."
Ward had 188 carries for 1,241 yards and 12 touchdowns in 26 games in Tallahassee.
"He's very quick," running backs coach Brian Anderson said. "You can see that from his film at Florida State and making people miss at the line of scrimmage and third level. He has good patience and a sudden burst to him. I'm looking forward to getting him completely healthy in the summer and fall camp, and we can see how he continue to build upon what he's good at."
Ward, a native of Plant City, Florida, who listed as the No. 5 transfer running back in the FBS by 247Sports, continues to mend an apparent hand injury.
"He's very smooth and violent with his cuts and he gets vertical, and he gets vertical fast," offensive line coach Conor Riley said. "He has great vision and change of direction. This dude has some juice, he's got some vision, and he has great vertical cuts, and those shoulders are square when he's attacking the line of scrimmage."
Ward will likely be called upon to catch more balls out of the backfield than in previous years. He had 28 catches for 210 yards and one touchdown in three seasons at Florida State.
"Even though he's limited (currently) in how he catches the ball, you can see he has really soft hands and he does a really good job with the fundamental things of catching the ball," Anderson said. "I'm looking forward to getting him out there fulltime and seeing what he can do in space."
Johnson is a 6-foot, 196-pound sophomore out of Bellevue, Nebraska, who last season saw time in only two games as he missed 10 games due to injury, thus serving as his redshirt season. In 2021, he started nine games as a true freshman with 18 catches for 352 yards and two touchdowns, including a career-high 92 receiving yards and a touchdown on two receptions during his first-career start against Colorado State. His first-career catch was a 43-yard touchdown while he also had a career-long reception for 49 yards.
"Keagan Johnson has been probably ahead of the curve as far as where even we were hoping he would be from a learning operational standpoint," Klein said. "He's been able to contribute and make big-time plays.
"Even the last couple days in practice, his ability to get in and out of breaks is special, it really is. How he's been able to do that in such a short time with learning everything and being new in a new environment, he's able to create separation and get in and out of breaks, and he's been fun to watch."
On tape, it appears Johnson could become a yards-after-catch demon who might cause headaches for potential tacklers in the open field. He can catch in traffic and make people miss while moving up field.
"He's a hard worker and he's putting his best foot forward every single day," new K-State wide receivers coach Matthew Middleton said. "He's got great frame, he understands his strengths, he has really good speed and he's a strong pass catcher. Those things have shown up from the previous tape. We're hoping to develop and enhance that."
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