I thought it would be interesting to "attempt" to compare the 2012 K-State offense with the 2017 K-State offense.
Of course, we can't make a true comparison until after the 2017 season plays out.
In 2012, opposing defenses knew what K-State was going to do, but had a heck of a time trying to stop the Cats. K-State's offense wasn't quite the same down the stretch run after the nagging injuries began to add up on Klein.
As for 2017, we can only predict the kind of season that the Wildcat offense will achieve.
Offensive Line:
'Yukon' Cornelius Lucas, BJ Finney, Puetz, Taylor, Rooks (Whitehair & Stiverson were redshirt freshmen) = a very solid offensive line.
Given 4 returning starters on the O-line in 2017 (including both tackles & center), I really like this year's unit. Arguements could be made for both units. Can't ignore the fact that Lucas, Finney, & Whitehair are all in the NFL (though Finney was a sophomore & Whitehair was a red-shirt freshman in 2012). Lets the call the O-line a PUSH.
Wide Receivers:
2012: Tyler Lockett (Soph), Chris Harper (Sr), Tramaine Thompson (Jr)
That's a very good line-up.
2017: Pringle, Strickland, Heath, Sutton, Zuber, Harris....
If you believe Strickland is going to have a good year and Pringle will pick-up where he left off last season..... that's a very good line-up too. Pringle got off to a slow start last season, he recorded 631 receiving yards (his last 3 games, were his best).
I was going to give the edge to the 2012 team because of Lockett, then again, Lockett was only a sophomore. Harper led the team with 857 receiving yards, Lockett recorded 687 receiving yards.
The other thing you have to consider, is a Healthy Ertz a better passer than Klein?
PUSH
Fullback:
Braden Wilson vs Winston Dimel
Wilson was a heck of a blocker... he had 6 carries and 5 receptions in his senior campaign.
Dimel is also a heck of a blockere, but I don't like Winston Dimel in the WildCat. Dimel is more of a threat to run and catch the ball in comparison to Braden.
I gotta give a slight edge to Dimel.
Slight Advantage 2017
Tight-end:
Tannahill vs Valentine
Tannahill caught 23 passes for 284 yards in his senior season.
Valentine caught 2 passes last season.
K-State's tight-end is more about blocking than catching, still I give Tannahill a slight edge.
Here's hoping that Valentine shines in 2017.
Slight Advantage 2012
Running Back:
Hubert rushed for 947 yards on 189 carries (5.01 ypc) and rushed for 15 TDs. (Klein had 920 rushing yards). Jon was a very good running back.
If Alex Barnes stays healthy and gets 189 carries, he will crush 1,000 yards. Silmon and Warmack are good players too. And if half the hype is true, Mike McCoy, is going to be a beast.
Advantage 2017
Quarterback:
For the purpose of this comparison, I'm going to "assume" that Ertz' is 100% and he has good summer workouts.
Collin Klein was a beast running the ball (power football). Collin may not have been fast, but he wasn't exactly slow either. Collin had tremendous patience running the ball and always seem to be able to lean for an extra 2 or 3 yards. Everyone knew Collin was going to run the ball, but could not stop him. Tremendous leader and warrior.
Jesse Ertz also showed some patience running the ball last season. He has deceptive speed (faster than Collin in the open field). Ertz is a different type of runner in the open field and has a heck of a stiff arm (ha). He did some Houdini stuff when it looked like he was dead to rights.
Still if you were going strickly with running the football, it would be hard not to take Klein.
But but but.... Collin was an average passer.
We still don't know for sure how good of a passer Ertz is... Jesse looked good in the Bowl game with a rested shoulder.
Since I'm already assuming, I'm going to assume that Jesse will be a very effective passer in 2017.
Like Collin, Jesse is a tremendous leader.
If a defense has to respect the pass.... Barnes & Jesse are going to run to daylight.
PUSH (I could eat crow on this one... or not).
In closing, the 2017 offense has the opportunity to be as good (if not better) than the 2012 offense.
If the injury bug stays away, I believe the 2017 version will be better.
PS> There were at least 4 or 5 plays in the bowl game against Oregon in 2012 that I thought Collin should have ran the ball instead of trying to pass it. It was like Collin was not being Collin. The Oregon coaches said the thing that scared them most about K-State, was Klein running the ball, but he never got it going against the ducks.
GO STATE !!
Of course, we can't make a true comparison until after the 2017 season plays out.
In 2012, opposing defenses knew what K-State was going to do, but had a heck of a time trying to stop the Cats. K-State's offense wasn't quite the same down the stretch run after the nagging injuries began to add up on Klein.
As for 2017, we can only predict the kind of season that the Wildcat offense will achieve.
Offensive Line:
'Yukon' Cornelius Lucas, BJ Finney, Puetz, Taylor, Rooks (Whitehair & Stiverson were redshirt freshmen) = a very solid offensive line.
Given 4 returning starters on the O-line in 2017 (including both tackles & center), I really like this year's unit. Arguements could be made for both units. Can't ignore the fact that Lucas, Finney, & Whitehair are all in the NFL (though Finney was a sophomore & Whitehair was a red-shirt freshman in 2012). Lets the call the O-line a PUSH.
Wide Receivers:
2012: Tyler Lockett (Soph), Chris Harper (Sr), Tramaine Thompson (Jr)
That's a very good line-up.
2017: Pringle, Strickland, Heath, Sutton, Zuber, Harris....
If you believe Strickland is going to have a good year and Pringle will pick-up where he left off last season..... that's a very good line-up too. Pringle got off to a slow start last season, he recorded 631 receiving yards (his last 3 games, were his best).
I was going to give the edge to the 2012 team because of Lockett, then again, Lockett was only a sophomore. Harper led the team with 857 receiving yards, Lockett recorded 687 receiving yards.
The other thing you have to consider, is a Healthy Ertz a better passer than Klein?
PUSH
Fullback:
Braden Wilson vs Winston Dimel
Wilson was a heck of a blocker... he had 6 carries and 5 receptions in his senior campaign.
Dimel is also a heck of a blockere, but I don't like Winston Dimel in the WildCat. Dimel is more of a threat to run and catch the ball in comparison to Braden.
I gotta give a slight edge to Dimel.
Slight Advantage 2017
Tight-end:
Tannahill vs Valentine
Tannahill caught 23 passes for 284 yards in his senior season.
Valentine caught 2 passes last season.
K-State's tight-end is more about blocking than catching, still I give Tannahill a slight edge.
Here's hoping that Valentine shines in 2017.
Slight Advantage 2012
Running Back:
Hubert rushed for 947 yards on 189 carries (5.01 ypc) and rushed for 15 TDs. (Klein had 920 rushing yards). Jon was a very good running back.
If Alex Barnes stays healthy and gets 189 carries, he will crush 1,000 yards. Silmon and Warmack are good players too. And if half the hype is true, Mike McCoy, is going to be a beast.
Advantage 2017
Quarterback:
For the purpose of this comparison, I'm going to "assume" that Ertz' is 100% and he has good summer workouts.
Collin Klein was a beast running the ball (power football). Collin may not have been fast, but he wasn't exactly slow either. Collin had tremendous patience running the ball and always seem to be able to lean for an extra 2 or 3 yards. Everyone knew Collin was going to run the ball, but could not stop him. Tremendous leader and warrior.
Jesse Ertz also showed some patience running the ball last season. He has deceptive speed (faster than Collin in the open field). Ertz is a different type of runner in the open field and has a heck of a stiff arm (ha). He did some Houdini stuff when it looked like he was dead to rights.
Still if you were going strickly with running the football, it would be hard not to take Klein.
But but but.... Collin was an average passer.
We still don't know for sure how good of a passer Ertz is... Jesse looked good in the Bowl game with a rested shoulder.
Since I'm already assuming, I'm going to assume that Jesse will be a very effective passer in 2017.
Like Collin, Jesse is a tremendous leader.
If a defense has to respect the pass.... Barnes & Jesse are going to run to daylight.
PUSH (I could eat crow on this one... or not).
In closing, the 2017 offense has the opportunity to be as good (if not better) than the 2012 offense.
If the injury bug stays away, I believe the 2017 version will be better.
PS> There were at least 4 or 5 plays in the bowl game against Oregon in 2012 that I thought Collin should have ran the ball instead of trying to pass it. It was like Collin was not being Collin. The Oregon coaches said the thing that scared them most about K-State, was Klein running the ball, but he never got it going against the ducks.
GO STATE !!
