Three observations from spring football practice with the Kansas State Wildcats

The Kansas State football team allowed reporters to watch the first few portions of a spring practice on Tuesday morning.

Here are three things that caught my eye during the Wildcats’ workout:

New practice facility is a big upgrade for K-State

The Wildcats began practicing in a brand new, state-of-the-art facility late last year, but everyone on the team is still excited about their new surroundings.

Head coach Chris Klieman gave reporters a mini tour of the place while players went through stretches on Tuesday. After he was done pointing out some glamorous features and explaining how K-State utilizes two full-size fields during practices he only had one thing left to share.

“Isn’t this place great?” he asked.

It is no doubt an upgrade. Everything from the lighting to the field turf is better here than the team’s old indoor facility, which hummed with loud white noise every time the power was flipped on.

K-State’s new practice facility features an indoor field connected to an outdoor field. On Tuesday, the offense spent most of its time practicing inside while the defense worked outside in the sun. But the entire team gathered together in the same spot for warm ups and scrimmages.

An elevated balcony is conveniently located between the two fields so coaches can watch all the action from above.

It sure seems like the Wildcats are putting their extra room to good use.

Depth won’t be a problem at quarterback

K-State has more than one quality passer on its roster heading into the 2023 football season.

That much was obvious on Tuesday as returning starter Will Howard was far from the only quarterback zipping passes to receivers and tight ends.

Jake Rubley, a former four-star recruit, looked much improved as a passer and appeared to be throwing the ball harder than he had in the past. He operated as the clear No. 2 option behind Howard. But there wasn’t much of a drop off after him, either. Redshirt freshman Adryan Lara and Maize product Avery Johnson also threw several nice passes during drills.

Johnson, in particular, looked good throwing the deep ball to receivers on longer routes.

That is a change from recent seasons when K-State fans had reservations about the position beyond previous starters Skylar Thompson and Adrian Martinez.

The future seems bright at quarterback, regardless of who takes over the starting spot after Howard leaves college.

Some of their receivers are also showing off some talent. That position will look different next season without Malik Knowles and Kade Warner. But RJ Garcia, Sterling Lockett, freshman Andre Davis and Iowa transfer Keagan Johnson all seem capable of making a bigger impact.

The Wildcats are healthier this spring

Spring practice was a bit of a mess for K-State last season in terms of injuries.

So many key players were sidelined that the Wildcats had to ask offensive linemen and long snappers to fill in on defense just so they could get through practice.

That is not the case this time around. Some key players, such as safety Kobe Savage, receiver Jadon Jackson and defensive end Brendan Mott. But most of the roster was on the field for practice on Tuesday.

Even a few players who were expected to miss time this spring were in full uniform. K-State fans will be happy to know that tight end Ben Sinnott, running back DJ Giddens, offensive lineman Taylor Poitier and Florida State transfer Treshaun Ward were all practicing after starting the month as spectators.