Kansas State University Athletics
‘This Year, We Have Numbers’
Apr 05, 2024 | Football, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Moments after Kansas State defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman lauded the defensive end room for showing the most improvement on defense in spring practice — "They were chickens with their heads cut off on Day 1 and they're now turning into consistent playmakers," Klanderman said — Buddy Wyatt stood surrounded by reporters in the Vanier Family Football Complex wearing a wide grin.
Once the media throng dissipated, Wyatt, who's entering his sixth season as K-State defensive ends coach and carries more than three decades of coaching experience, let out a sigh.
"I'm fired up," Wyatt said. "We lost some really good guys, but, man, I'm excited about our younger guys. I mean, they're still growing. Man, they have a chance to be really good if they continue to develop."
Khalid Duke (declared for NFL Draft), Nate Matlack (transferred to Pittsburgh), and Jace Friesen (played in 32 games, primarily on special teams) are gone.
Understandably, returning seniors Brendan Mott (23 starts) and Cody Stufflebean (has appeared in 27 games) garnered plenty of praise for their leadership — Mott was an All-Big 12 performer in 2023 with seven career sacks; Stufflebean has been a regular in the rotation in both 2022 and 2023.
"Stufflebean and Mott are my two leaders in that room," Wyatt said.
The 6-foot-5, 240-pound Mott is limited in spring practice due to a hamstring injury while 6-foot-4, 252-pound Stufflebean is "a strong kid, and he's moving extremely well" after leaning up and cutting body fat during the offseason.
"I'm hoping he can improve his pass rush a little bit, but I know he can play the run," Wyatt said. "That's what he does very well. He's done a good job in the offseason getting himself ready for that."
What has perhaps equally impressed Klanderman and Wyatt this spring has been the steady emergence of younger and less-experienced defensive ends. Chiddi Obiazor is a 6-foot-6, 267-pound mammoth who played three games last season to retain his redshirt status. Jordan Allen and Ryan Davis did not play, and both redshirted last year as well. Donovan Rieman played in five games last season. Throw in the addition of sophomore Tobi Osunsanmi (he moved from linebacker to defensive end) and sophomore Travis Bates (a transfer from Austin Peay who earned Freshman All-America honors), and depth isn't a concern.
Rather, the challenge becomes exactly how many of these able-bodied players will see the field in 2024.
As Wyatt puts it: "It's going to be a juggling act."
"The last couple years we've been really thin at defensive end," Wyatt continued. "This year, we have numbers. I like to put a lot of people on the field."
It's still early, but an abundance of skillsets could possibly open a path for situational substitutions.
"As we've been developing this 3-down package, we've noticed that we need several different things out of that position," Wyatt said. "Obviously, they have to have pass-rush ability, and we need guys who can be strong at the point of attack in the run game, and we have guys who can do that. We feel comfortable that we'll be able to put a rush package out there when it's third down and they'll get after the quarterback, and we can put a group out there on goal-line (situations) that'll be big and strong enough to keep them out of the end zone."
Obiazor (Eden Prairie, Minnesota), Allen (Olathe, Kansas) and Davis (Glendale, Arizona) give Wyatt three defensive ends who ranked top-150 nationally at their position. Sometimes a recruiting class features one player who pans out at a given position. K-State apparently has three with Obiazor, who arrived prior to last spring, slightly ahead of the other two due to his knowledge and on-field experience.
"The defensive end class a year ago (Obiazor, Allen and Davis) has a chance to be really special," Wyatt said. "We have some really good players who are big, fast and humble guys. It's exciting to see those guys get better. Chiddi stood out a year ago because he got here in the spring. The other two guys didn't get here until the summer. Now they've all had the opportunity to learn the scheme, how we practice and our expectations."
Another player of particular intrigue is Osunsanmi. Wyatt brags how the 6-foot-3 Osunsanmi has improved his weight from 233 to 245 pounds. Osunsanmi, a native of Wichita who won the state title in the 4x100 and played basketball at Wichita East High School, saw time in all 13 games last season as a reserve linebacker, a rush end on passing downs, and on special teams.
"Tobi brings us some juice off the edge, and he's stronger and more stout against the run than you'd think," Wyatt said. "Tobi has a chance to be a really special pass-rush guy. He really does. And he's still learning the ins and outs of playing defensive end. I've been impressed with Tobi's ability to play the run. I knew he could rush the quarterback. I've been more impressed with his physicality.
"Tobi has a huge frame. He's strong and stout, and he can carry a lot of weight. He can be an every-down player for us at defensive end. You look at some of the guys we've had in the past, and they weren't even as big as Tobi is right now."
Meanwhile, the player who most remains under the radar is Bates, the 6-foot-3, 236-pound native of Tomball, Texas, who played in 10 games with nine starts and posted 32 tackles, including 5.5 tackles for loss with 3.0 sacks, two pass breakups and one blocked kick. He earned Freshman All-America honors from Phil Steele.
"He's a very mature young man," Wyatt said. "He comes in and he's picked up the system really well. He's a really, really hard worker. He probably has a little bit more pass-rush ability than I thought he would, which is really good."
Klanderman calls the defensive end position "deep and diverse."
"We have a good mixture of younger guys who are extraordinarily talented," Klanderman added. "We absolutely hit a grand slam with a class of defensive ends a year ago with Chiddi, Jordan Allen and Ryan Davis. All three of those guys are going to be stars in this program. I'm not bashful about saying that.
"When you combine those guys with Cody Stufflebean and Brendan Mott, I'm really excited about where that position is at. We're trying to find ways to get more of those guys involved in what we're doing because that room is going to be one of our more talented rooms on defense, for sure."
Asked whether this has the chance to be among the best defensive end groups in the Big 12 in 2024, Wyatt grinned again.
"I don't know what everybody else in the Big 12 has at defensive end," he said, "but our group has a chance to be as good as we've had here in a while."
It certainly appears to be a defensive end group that could have K-State fans smiling in the fall.
Moments after Kansas State defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman lauded the defensive end room for showing the most improvement on defense in spring practice — "They were chickens with their heads cut off on Day 1 and they're now turning into consistent playmakers," Klanderman said — Buddy Wyatt stood surrounded by reporters in the Vanier Family Football Complex wearing a wide grin.
Once the media throng dissipated, Wyatt, who's entering his sixth season as K-State defensive ends coach and carries more than three decades of coaching experience, let out a sigh.
"I'm fired up," Wyatt said. "We lost some really good guys, but, man, I'm excited about our younger guys. I mean, they're still growing. Man, they have a chance to be really good if they continue to develop."
Khalid Duke (declared for NFL Draft), Nate Matlack (transferred to Pittsburgh), and Jace Friesen (played in 32 games, primarily on special teams) are gone.
Understandably, returning seniors Brendan Mott (23 starts) and Cody Stufflebean (has appeared in 27 games) garnered plenty of praise for their leadership — Mott was an All-Big 12 performer in 2023 with seven career sacks; Stufflebean has been a regular in the rotation in both 2022 and 2023.
"Stufflebean and Mott are my two leaders in that room," Wyatt said.
The 6-foot-5, 240-pound Mott is limited in spring practice due to a hamstring injury while 6-foot-4, 252-pound Stufflebean is "a strong kid, and he's moving extremely well" after leaning up and cutting body fat during the offseason.
"I'm hoping he can improve his pass rush a little bit, but I know he can play the run," Wyatt said. "That's what he does very well. He's done a good job in the offseason getting himself ready for that."
What has perhaps equally impressed Klanderman and Wyatt this spring has been the steady emergence of younger and less-experienced defensive ends. Chiddi Obiazor is a 6-foot-6, 267-pound mammoth who played three games last season to retain his redshirt status. Jordan Allen and Ryan Davis did not play, and both redshirted last year as well. Donovan Rieman played in five games last season. Throw in the addition of sophomore Tobi Osunsanmi (he moved from linebacker to defensive end) and sophomore Travis Bates (a transfer from Austin Peay who earned Freshman All-America honors), and depth isn't a concern.
Rather, the challenge becomes exactly how many of these able-bodied players will see the field in 2024.
As Wyatt puts it: "It's going to be a juggling act."
"The last couple years we've been really thin at defensive end," Wyatt continued. "This year, we have numbers. I like to put a lot of people on the field."
It's still early, but an abundance of skillsets could possibly open a path for situational substitutions.
"As we've been developing this 3-down package, we've noticed that we need several different things out of that position," Wyatt said. "Obviously, they have to have pass-rush ability, and we need guys who can be strong at the point of attack in the run game, and we have guys who can do that. We feel comfortable that we'll be able to put a rush package out there when it's third down and they'll get after the quarterback, and we can put a group out there on goal-line (situations) that'll be big and strong enough to keep them out of the end zone."
Obiazor (Eden Prairie, Minnesota), Allen (Olathe, Kansas) and Davis (Glendale, Arizona) give Wyatt three defensive ends who ranked top-150 nationally at their position. Sometimes a recruiting class features one player who pans out at a given position. K-State apparently has three with Obiazor, who arrived prior to last spring, slightly ahead of the other two due to his knowledge and on-field experience.
"The defensive end class a year ago (Obiazor, Allen and Davis) has a chance to be really special," Wyatt said. "We have some really good players who are big, fast and humble guys. It's exciting to see those guys get better. Chiddi stood out a year ago because he got here in the spring. The other two guys didn't get here until the summer. Now they've all had the opportunity to learn the scheme, how we practice and our expectations."
Another player of particular intrigue is Osunsanmi. Wyatt brags how the 6-foot-3 Osunsanmi has improved his weight from 233 to 245 pounds. Osunsanmi, a native of Wichita who won the state title in the 4x100 and played basketball at Wichita East High School, saw time in all 13 games last season as a reserve linebacker, a rush end on passing downs, and on special teams.
"Tobi brings us some juice off the edge, and he's stronger and more stout against the run than you'd think," Wyatt said. "Tobi has a chance to be a really special pass-rush guy. He really does. And he's still learning the ins and outs of playing defensive end. I've been impressed with Tobi's ability to play the run. I knew he could rush the quarterback. I've been more impressed with his physicality.
"Tobi has a huge frame. He's strong and stout, and he can carry a lot of weight. He can be an every-down player for us at defensive end. You look at some of the guys we've had in the past, and they weren't even as big as Tobi is right now."
Meanwhile, the player who most remains under the radar is Bates, the 6-foot-3, 236-pound native of Tomball, Texas, who played in 10 games with nine starts and posted 32 tackles, including 5.5 tackles for loss with 3.0 sacks, two pass breakups and one blocked kick. He earned Freshman All-America honors from Phil Steele.
"He's a very mature young man," Wyatt said. "He comes in and he's picked up the system really well. He's a really, really hard worker. He probably has a little bit more pass-rush ability than I thought he would, which is really good."
Klanderman calls the defensive end position "deep and diverse."
"We have a good mixture of younger guys who are extraordinarily talented," Klanderman added. "We absolutely hit a grand slam with a class of defensive ends a year ago with Chiddi, Jordan Allen and Ryan Davis. All three of those guys are going to be stars in this program. I'm not bashful about saying that.
"When you combine those guys with Cody Stufflebean and Brendan Mott, I'm really excited about where that position is at. We're trying to find ways to get more of those guys involved in what we're doing because that room is going to be one of our more talented rooms on defense, for sure."
Asked whether this has the chance to be among the best defensive end groups in the Big 12 in 2024, Wyatt grinned again.
"I don't know what everybody else in the Big 12 has at defensive end," he said, "but our group has a chance to be as good as we've had here in a while."
It certainly appears to be a defensive end group that could have K-State fans smiling in the fall.
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