Kansas State Football: Depth Charting – Offensive Tackle

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It’s that time of year again. Kansas State Football’s official countdown to kickoff stands at 15 days, 2 hours, 49 minutes, 3 seconds, and counting. While it seems impossible because of the sweltering heat wave I’ve been suffering through down here in Athens, Georgia, fall is supposedly right around the corner. I’ve got a little over two weeks to talk about the Kansas State roster before we all get a chance to see the team in action. I’m going to start going back through the position reviews I published earlier in the summer and start speculating on a depth chart that will inevitably be proven wrong on September 5th.

Just a reminder that I don’t live in Manhattan anymore. I’m not at practice, and I mostly have the same information everyone else does. Don’t take any of these depth charts as “insider” information. I’m going to put them together based on the information available and make some relatively informed guesses based on press conferences, news releases, etc.

Offensive Tackle

I’m Afraid I’ve Got Some Bad News

Needless to say, losing the preseason 1st-team All-Big 12 tackle in August is less than ideal. The offensive line was already in question because of roster turnover and some evaluation misses by the previous staff. Losing offensive line coach Connor Riley appears to have been a bigger problem than some people anticipated. When you recruit developmental players, they need to be…developed. The transfer portal is a perilous place to search for offensive linemen. This is not directed at anyone on the roster in particular, but teams have to overpay for functional offensive linemen. Do you guys remember Terrence Enos, JB Nelson, Amos Talalele, or Brandon Sneh? Me either, but I’m guessing they received a not-insubstantial amount of money for what ended up being a very insubstantial amount of work in 2025. Kansas State took offensive linemen from the portal in 2025, and George Fitzpatrick is the only player remaining. Unfortunately, as the above tweet indicates, he’s out for the season after not hitting enough recovery benchmarks from whatever horrific medical issue he was stricken with last preseason. You can’t consider Fitzgerald a miss; it’s just terrible luck for everyone involved, but the return on investment from the other 4 guys was the equivalent of raking money into a pile and setting it on fire, maybe worse, because at least a pile of burning money can keep you warm.

The new coaching staff, already facing a rebuild on the offensive line, is now without its top two options at left tackle. Options are limited, but here’s my depth chart for offensive tackle.

Depth Chart

Left Tackle

1. Oliver Miller – 6’6”, 295 – 1st Year
2. Tyler Johnson – 6’6”, 315 – 3rd Year
3. Keegan Collins – 6’6”, 295 – 1st Year

Right Tackle

1. Gus Hawkins – 6’7”, 307 – 3rd Year
2. Ryan Howard – 6’7”, 295 – 3rd Year
3. Keegan Collins – 6’6”, 295 – 1st Year

Thoughts

By my calculations, Kansas State’s starting tackles will have exactly 123 combined offensive snaps under their belts when they take the field against Nicholls State. Pastore was supposed to be the veteran anchor of the offensive line; now it sounds like class of 2026 recruit Oliver Miller is going to be protecting Avery’s blind side this season. That’s probably both the best short- and long-term option. He was going to play some this year, possibly at right tackle, anyway; now he’s going to play starter-level snaps. Having him start as a first-year player wasn’t the plan, but on the bright side, if he can hold up this season, the Wildcats will have their starting left tackle secured for the foreseeable future. I’ve been critical of the previous staff not getting enough guys they recruited on the field. At some point, a player isn’t going to develop any further without playing in actual football games. That won’t be an issue for Miller.

Miller was a high 3* recruit out of Cherry Creek High School in Colorado. He has prototypical length at 6’6” and has slimmed down to 295 after being listed at 310 as a recruit. Coach Klein wants athletic tackles; Trey Zuhn III held down the left side of his offensive line at Texas A&M last season and ended up as a first-team All-SEC selection and a 3rd round draft pick by the Oakland Raiders. Zahn’s calling card is pass protection, and based on the players the current Kansas State coaching staff has recruited, pass protection is at the top of their “want” list at left tackle, which is why Miller was a priority recruit in 2025. Hats off to former offensive line coach (and new tight end coach) Brian Lepak for landing Miller even after Auburn and Ohio State both made late runs to try and dislodge the long-time K-State recruit.

My guess is that Auburn transfer Tyler Johnson slots in as the backup left tackle. He didn’t play a ton of snaps in his three seasons at Auburn, but at least he brings good size at 6’6”, 315, and some experience, even if the majority was on special teams. He’s probably better suited on the right because of his strength as a run blocker, but if Miller has to miss any snaps, expect Johnson to be the next man up.

Gus Hawkins came into the spring practice as my favorite to win the right tackle job, and it sounds like he’s done exactly that. The former 4* recruit is right on schedule heading into his third year in the program. I’m a little surprised his name isn’t mentioned more as a potential fill-in at left tackle, but he wasn’t one of the three names listed by Coach Klein yesterday. He’s NFL-sized already at an athletic 6’7”, 307, and paired with Miller, he gives Coach Klein the athletic bookends he covets. I’m sure Coach Klein and offensive line coach Mike Schmidt would prefer if they had a little more experience to go along with the athleticism, but the only way to get experience is to play when you don’t have experience. If nothing else, the Wildcats are going to break the portal feedback loop where high school recruits get portaled over because of a lack of experience, experience they can only gain by not getting portaled over in the first place.

I’ve got third-year player Ryan Howard penciled in as the backup right tackle, but he’s most likely the 4th tackle off the bench, with Johnson as the primary backup at both tackle spots. Howard’s one of those aforementioned former high school recruits that needs to get on the field. He hasn’t logged a snap yet in his two seasons in Manhattan. Kansas State is still a player development program, and players like Howard need to develop. This team will not reach its full potential trying to recruit linemen out of the portal. The instant impact guys are few and far between and often out of 95% of college programs’ price range, and the market for run-of-the-mill backups is absurd. If Coach Schmidt can return the Wildcats to their offensive linemen development tradition, it will help both on the field and with the budget. The more offensive linemen you can develop in-house, the more money you have to spend elsewhere on the roster.

Finally, I added 2026 recruit Keegan Collins to both tackle spots. He was another priority recruit for the 2026 class and was actually rated slightly ahead of Oliver Miller by the recruiting services. Like Miller, he’s supposed to excel in pass protection. He’s currently listed at 6’6”, 290, which is a little on the light side, but workable. Tyler Johnson and Ryan Howard are older and more physically developed, but in my opinion, Collins has a higher ceiling than both. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him move up the depth chart as the ceiling progresses and make a run at the 4th slot in the rotation.

Overall

Losing Pastore hurts. It hurts reeeeeal bad. I like Oliver Miller; he could hold down the left side of the Kansas State offensive line for multiple seasons, but he’s going to need help this season. One player who may get more run with Pastore on the shelf is tight end Will Anciaux. I have a feeling Coach Klein will help Miller a good bit. Garrett Oakley could fill the role, but I get the notion that the coaching staff is more interested in him catching passes than chipping defensive ends. Lincoln Cure needs to make plays downfield as well and isn’t known for his blocking anyway. That leaves 6’6”, 245-pound Anciaux the third tight end and best blocking option. I’m not sure how many three-tight-end sets Coach Klein and offensive coordinator Sean Gleason have in the playbook, but they may want to dog-ear that page. It could come in handy, especially when the opposing defense has a stud defensive end lined up across from a 1st-year left tackle.

On the right side, Hawkins has all the physical characteristics of a future professional. Now he needs to play with the attitude and confidence of a future professional. He’s exactly where he needs to be in terms of development for an offensive lineman as a 3rd-year starter. I think he’s going to surprise some folks in the Big 12 this season and be one of the best returning linemen in the conference in 2027.

Depth is obviously a concern, but Johnson is on par with what most teams have in terms of a third tackle. If he stayed at Auburn, that was probably going to be the role he played for the Tigers. If Miller, Hawkins, and Johnson all remain healthy, I’m still cautiously optimistic that losing Pastore and Fitzpatrick won’t derail the season.

I’m just thankful this team is starting with Nicholls State in Manhattan, and not Iowa State in Ireland. The Wildcats will be clear favorites in their first four games. If they can take care of business while breaking in two new starters at tackle, hopefully they’ll both be up to speed by the time the Houston game rolls around on October 10th. That’s the first game where not having Pastore could mean the difference between a win and a loss.

I really hope that last sentence doesn’t come back to haunt me.

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