Since John Hubert graduated following the 2013 season, the K-State running back field has been a revolving mess. Basically, Charles Jones has been the primary back each of the last two seasons, but he’s never been able to make a name for himself or really take a firm hold on the job. In 2014, Jones split time with DeMarcus Robinson and both had fewer carries than Jake Waters, and he was injured for half the season. In 2015 Jones split time with Justin Silmon, who actually looked better than Jones before getting pulled for lacking knowledge of the playbook and blocking schemes, and Dalvin Warmack, who came to K-State with lots of praise, but hasn’t been able to push to the head of the pack. And in 2016, the field gets no less murky.

The Mess

Charles Jones returns for his senior season as the leader of the very tight pack at running back. He will start the season on the Doak Walker award watch list, but Jones has barely broken 1,000 yards in his career, when the best K-State backs have gotten close or passed that mark at least once in a season. He finally notched one, the only in his career, 100 yard game in 2015, and main claim to fame is running the Wildcat package. His chief rivals are, just as in 2015, Justin Silmon and Dalvin Warmack. Silmon, a junior, broke on to the scene with a 119 yard game against Louisiana Tech, and then subsequently faded right back into the shadows behind Jones, but did manage at least one carry in every game. Warmack, a sophomore, saw some action in reserve early, but then got lost as the Wildcat season did. Warmack did see action in each of the Wildcats final three games, including notching two carries for eight yards and two receptions for 27 yards in a promise-showing performance in the Liberty Bowl.

Added to the mess, according to K-State Co-OC Dana Dimel, is RS freshman Alex Barnes. Barnes came in to K-State highly regarded in the Kansas prep ranks, and red-shirt his first season at K-State. But Barnes is big, and apparently has really been pushing ahead in the summer and early fall camp.

Also in the mix, fullback Winston Dimel. Dimel was the third-leading non-QB runner for K-State in 2015, and the leading TD runner (non-QB). Dimel will likely pick up a few more carries in 2016 as the sole option at fullback, and as an obvious threat in both the run and pass game.

Others

Well, the only other options we haven’t already mentioned are true freshmen Tyler Burns and Mike McCoy. Burns is coming off a greyshirt season, and played well in the Spring Game back in April. McCoy was a late addition to the 2015 K-State recruiting class, and will very likely take a redshirt season to get college academics under his belt. RS freshman Terrance Richards is the final RB listed on the K-State roster. Richards is a legacy, and his father played his senior season for Bill Snyder in 1989.

Outlook

While the o-line might have more questions based on replacing personnel, the running back corps will continue to be the biggest unit of flux, and likely the biggest source of frustration for Wildcat fans, in 2016. Expect, again, to see Jones come out as the starter for game one, but also expect to see the carries get shuffled around if one guy gets hot for a game. The K-State offense will have a hard time again if one or more of these guys can’t step up and be a consistent threat to run the ball, and if this unit has as much trouble getting past 1,000 yards as it did last year, behind a more experienced o-line, it will be a long and tough season.

Previously...

Brace yourselves! Kansas State football is nearly here! We are just pre-teen numbers away from kickoff, as demonstrated by BracketCat’s countdown profiles of #13 wide receiver Steven West, another #13 in defensive back Ryan Mack, and #12 defensive back AJ Parker.

The 2016 Position Preview also ticks down to kickoff with JT VanGilder’s look at the offensive line.

Football

With Dante Barnett returning from a season lost to injury and Duke Shelley lighting it up, the secondary is looking strong this year. If transfers Cedric Dozier (Cal) and D.J. Reed (Cerritos College) can make significant contributions, this could be one of the best secondaries of the Snyder 2.0 era (Ken Corbitt, Topeka Capital-Journal).

Dozier, who used his time at Cal mostly to get his degree, is ready to focus more heavily on football. Meanwhile, Reed got to start opposite Shelley at a recent public scrimmage and sets high expectations for himself.

Others expected to contend for a spot in the secondary include junior Cre Moore, senior Jesse Mack, and junior college transfer Jordan Noil.

Speaking of defensive backs, Shelley made Max Olson’s list of the best cornerbacks in the Big 12 (ESPN).

Is 2016 the year of the quarterback in the Big 12? Nine teams in the conference return a starter at the position, although many, including Kansas State and Texas, will be looking to upgrade from 2015, and Jesse Ertz should be a step up in quality and effectiveness for the Wildcats (Chuck Carlton, Dallas Morning News).

The lone team not returning a starter at quarterback is TCU. But the Frogs may get Kenny Hill under center and probably won’t miss a beat.

You can add this to the latest set of pre-season power rankings we’ll mostly just ignore. Kansas State is bringing up the bottom, with only Iowa State and Kansas ranked lower. Yay Big 12 North! Then again, flying under the radar is just how Bill Snyder likes it (Brayden Conover, SportsBlog).

Basketball

The basketball team just returned from a tour of Europe. Their 10-day sojourn in Italy and Switzerland included actual basketball mixed in with sightseeing, an experience freshman Brian Patrick described as “once in a lifetime.”

From Bruce Weber’s perspective, the trip was a microcosm of an actual basketball season, including having to deal with adversity. The trip began with Delta’s now infamous systems glitch and a 40-hour chain of airports, hotels, and delays that undoubtedly led to the Wildcats losing the first game. But the team ultimately rebounded to win a couple of games and fought hard against a Kosovo national team loaded with veteran professionals, which presented a unique opportunity and challenge for the Wildcats.

Real practice begins in 43 days.

Track and Field

The Kansas State campaign at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio is over. The last Wildcat still in contention was Canada’s Alyx Treasure. She failed to clear the bar at 1.93m, the Olympic standard mark she’d reached earlier in Manhattan this year. She ultimately finished 17th in the standings, with Ruth Beitia of Spain having a monster leap of 1.97m to take gold.

Although no medals were won, this was a good Olympiad for current and former Wildcats. Confirming Kansas State’s stature as High Jump U, two Wildcats (Treasure and Erik Kynard, Jr) made the high jump finals. Hurdlers Balazs Baji and Jeffrey Julmis made the semifinals of the 110m event, and Akela Jones and Shadae Lawrence had top-25 finishes in the heptathlon and the discus throw.

Volleyball

The VolleyCats held their annual Purple-White scrimmage at Ahearn Field House last night, with Team White winning all four sets.

Team White featured Katie Brand with 46 assists, while teammate Bryna Vogel had 16 digs. Alyssa Schultejans played for both teams and totaled 13 digs, while Kylee Zumach, back from a knee injury and playing for Team Purple, had the only double-double of the night (15 digs, 13 kills).

The team travels to Honolulu, Hawaii next week for the season opener against Arizona on Friday at the Wahine Invitational.

Yesterday we had ALL THE CONTENT for your reading pleasure! Wildcat00 started the content train by introducing you to Wildcat Olympian: Balazs Baji. Gracey followed by previewing the Men’s Basketball trip to Europe which was supposed to start yesterday, but due a flight cancellation in Atlanta, will start today.

Of course we can’t forget about The Countdown which started with Terrance Richards, and day 25, and was followed by the favorite to start in the backfield, number 24: Charles Jones.

With the season right around the corner, (seriously guys we only have three Saturdays left without college football) K-State’s fan appreciation day will begin this Saturday at 5pm. (Capital Journal, staff reports)

Think back to last year. A QB battle took place and it stared Jessie Ertz, Alex Delton, and Joe Hubener. Fast forward a year, and because of all the injuries last season the same cast of characters are back to compete again for the QB1 position. (Kellis Robinett, Wichita Eagle)

Jesse Ertz might be the player who has the most to prove, especially after going down with a season ending knee injury following the first snap of the season. (Derek Smith, Junction City Daily Union)

In expansion news, several LGBT groups sent a letter to Big 12 officials urging the conference not to admit BYU due to their views on LGBT individuals. Coincidentally, (or not depending on your views of the world) soon after the news of the letter broke Houston tweeted the following:

These items are just two more twists in the tale of Big 12 expansion.(Jake Trotter ESPN.com)

Finally, with all the talk of Big 12 expansion comes the talk of Big 12 contraction, so of course speculation is coming out about how teams would fare in other conferences. This week it’s Oklahoma and how they’d fare in the SEC. (Jake Trotter, ESPN.com)

Finally, it’s time for the discussion question of the day:

I heard an interesting theory yesterday regarding expansion. The theory is as follows:

The Big 12 approaches ESPN, and Fox in March/April about creating a conference network and is told there isn’t a market for new conference network. Last month, the ACC announces they are creating a new conference network. This pisses off the Big 12 teams and officials and they start expansion talks to try and turn up the heat on Fox and ESPN because the networks lied to them about the conference networks. By using the escalators built into the contracts the Big 12 thinks they can get more money from the networks this way since they wouldn’t help with the conference network.

With all that said here is the question for discussion: What is the Big 12’s end game, and are they willing to go through with inviting sub-par football teams to simply force ESPN, and Fox to pay the conference more money?

#58 Trent Tanking Redshirt Junior 6-2 | 220 Holton, Kan. Bio

Position: Linebacker Previous College: None Projection: Second-String Status: On Scholarship

Trenton Andrew Tanking (b. Nov. 19, 1994) is a former walk-on linebacker who has been a major factor on multiple special teams units during the last two seasons. He also spent all of last season listed as a backup linebacker.

He will continue to provide special teams support in 2016 while competing for more playing time at linebacker.

Tanking, who started for the White team in two spring games before sitting out this spring with an undisclosed injury, played in all 13 games in 2014 as a backup linebacker and special teams standout after a redshirt season.

He recorded nine tackles and was fifth on the team with seven special teams tackles. All came on kickoff coverage.

He also carded a career-high two tackles — both coming behind the line of scrimmage — against Oklahoma State.

In 2015, Tanking saw time in eight contests, totaling seven special teams tackles. He had five stops on kickoff coverage and two on punts. Tanking tied his career high with two tackles against both West Virginia and in the 2016 AutoZone Liberty Bowl against Arkansas, and also had tackles against South Dakota, UTSA and Iowa State.

Tanking played under former Kansas State linebacker Brooks Barta at Holton High School. He was named the Kansas 4A Defensive Player of the Year, and to The Topeka Capital-Journal and VarsityKansas.com Top 11 teams.

He led the Wildcats to a 2012 Kansas Class 4A state championship, and was named a first-team All-Kansas Class 4A performer at linebacker as a senior by VarsityKansas.com and the Capital-Journal.

Tanking was chosen to play in the 2013 Kansas Shrine Bowl; named an all-league performer at linebacker as a sophomore, junior and senior; and was an honorable mention All-Kansas 4A pick at linebacker in 2010 and 2011.

A three-time all-county selection at linebacker, Tanking helped Holton to earn three consecutive league titles.

He also was a three-year letterman for the Wildcats basketball team, and an all-league and all-county pick at guard as a junior. He earned a 4.0 GPA, graduated summa cum laude and also was a FBLA Regional Champion.

Blake Hickey True Freshman 6-4 | 285 Godley, Texas Bio

Position: Offensive Line Previous College: None Projection: Off Team Status: On Scholarship

Blake Ryan Hickey (b. May 20, 1998) was the lone high school signee on the offensive line in the class of 2016.

He's also apparently already left the team, allegedly due to homesickness involving a girlfriend back in Texas. (Keep in mind this is all social media and message board speculation/innuendo, but there seems to be some smoke...)

That said, we've had kids "leave" the team before and still end up on the fall roster that year or the next, so on the off chance that he hasn't left the fold permanently, here's a quickie profile of Hickey's high school accomplishments.

A four-year letter-winner for Godley High School, including the final two years under head coach Duke Dalton, Hickey was rated the 43rd-best offensive guard in the class of 2016 by Scout.com — including a No. 8 ranking in the state of Texas — while ESPN ranked him No. 69.

A three-time first-team all-district performer who was named the District 4-4A Offensive Lineman of the Year as both a junior and senior, Hickey also was named a two-time Texas Associated Press Sports Editors Class 4A all-state honoree, including earning first-team accolades as a senior, while he also was a two-time all-area pick.

Hickey helped the Wildcats to earn a 3-2 record in district play as a senior, earning them a trip to the state playoffs.

He also participated in track and field, and played baseball and basketball. He was an all-district pick in basketball as a freshman and named the sixth man of the year as a sophomore. See his high school football highlights below:

Henry Childs, former tight end for Kansas State, passed away unexpectedly at the age of 65 in his hometown from a heart attack. Not only was Childs considered one of the best to play at Kansas State, his career in the National Football League was quite accomplished as well.

Under head coach Vince Gibson, Childs had an incredible stay at Kansas State before entering into the NFL Draft in 1974. To this day, Childs is one of 28 players in Wildcat history with over 1,000 receiving yards in his career. The impact he had on the offense was immense and at tight end, he provided consistency and power.

While Childs was drafted in 1974 by the Atlanta Falcons, he never actually played for them before joining the powerful New Orleans Saints. Alongside Archie Manning, Childs was quickly brought up to speed and by 1977 was Manning’s favorite target leading the team with nine touchdowns that season. Not only was that a franchise record, no one touched that record for 26 years! Later in his career Childs was selected for the Pro Bowl in 1979. Henry Childs paved the way for the New Orleans Saints to become well known for versatile and reliable tight ends being targets for their offense.

Henry Childs went on to play for the Los Angeles Rams and Green Bay Packers later in his career and finished in 1984. Ten years later, Childs was selected for the New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame, which is just another one of his great accomplishments that keeps him still in the top ten of Saints history.

Kansas State issued a statement yesterday regarding the passing of Henry Childs that you can read here. Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Henry Childs. Rest in peace.