Take Two: Which Big 12 team will be most improved in 2016?
Take 1: Jake Trotter -- Kansas State
I’m going with the Wildcats here.
K-State won six games this past season, but this easily could’ve been a 4-8 team. In fact, without All-American kick returner Morgan Burns delivering some clutch touchdown returns, it probably would’ve been.
Down a pair of quarterbacks because of injuries, the Wildcats owned one of the worst passing offenses in the country. Joe Hubener completed just 47 percent of his passes and ranked 103rd nationally in passing EPA (expected points added). On the other side of the ball, the Wildcats were devastated by injuries, as both All-Big 12 defensive backs Dante Barnett and Danzel McDaniel were lost for the season.
Yet with Bill Snyder officially back on the sidelines for 2016, this program has the potential to return to the top half of the Big 12 standings, where the Wildcats had hovered the previous four years.
Defensively, K-State is loaded with budding standouts. Sophomore defensive tackle Will Geary and sophomore linebacker Elijah Lee each earned All-Big 12 recognition this past season. Defensive end Jordan Willis placed second in the league with 9½ sacks. Charmeachealle Moore had 17 tackles and a key fourth-down stop in K-State's regular-season finale against West Virginia. And cornerback Duke Shelley was one of the most impressive freshmen in the league.
All told, the Wildcats will be bringing back eight defensive starters, not including Barnett, who is expected to get an extra season of eligibility back. If Barnett returns, K-State will have the pieces to feature one of the conference's top defenses.
Offensively, the future is murkier. The Wildcats graduate four starters off a line that was the strength of the offense. And this past season, the Wildcats lacked firepower across the board at the skill positions.
Still, there's hope the offense could develop into a competent unit.
Running back Charles Jones was arguably the most improved player on the team, and gave the Wildcats a spark out of the backfield. Fellow running back Dalvin Warmack finally showed up in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl with a couple of dynamic plays. They both return.
At receiver, Deante Burton gradually made strides and broke out with a 135-yard receiving game against West Virginia. He has the speed to be a game-breaker. The Wildcats also have several young wideouts coming up that they believe are promising, notably Denzel Goolsby, Zach Reuter and Isaiah Zuber.
Up front, K-State also still has Dalton Risner, who is one of the best young centers in the country.
Of course, none of this will matter much if the Wildcats don't get better quarterback play. But last spring, Snyder (not one for hyperbole) compared Alex Delton to a young Ell Roberson. And Jesse Ertz was the Week 1 starter. The Wildcats expect to have both back next season. If one of the two emerges, the Wildcats could be salty.
And quite improved in 2016.
Take 2: Max Olson -- Texas
I'm a little reluctant to go with the Longhorns, simply because they might only be good for a two-win improvement and the schedule in 2016 is too similar to the one that ended at 5-7 this season.
But the growth potential of this team is easy to see. Charlie Strong might have finally solved some of his glaring issues on offense with the hiring of Sterlin Gilbert, who'll get to blow up this Texas offense and rebuild it with the kind of cohesive vision it obviously has lacked in Strong's first two years.
I can't tell you who Gilbert's quarterback will be. He probably couldn’t tell you at this point, either. I do think there's enough talent at running back with D’Onta Foreman, Chris Warren and Kirk Johnson and on the offensive line (Connor Williams, Patrick Vahe, Kent Perkins) to take a big step in the right direction. There’s a real identity problem with that unit, but two strong recruiting classes have provided enough pieces to construct something exciting.
Defensively, the Longhorns have Malik Jefferson and his posse of impressive sophomores leading the way. Texas didn’t lose many seniors and has a core group of youngsters featuring Jefferson, Holton Hill, Davante Davis, Kris Boyd, Anthony Wheeler, Edwin Freeman, DeShon Elliott, P.J. Locke and Charles Omenihu (the list goes on) that displayed serious potential in 2015. The defensive line is a concern, though Poona Ford looks like the real deal at defensive tackle.
The schedule ought to be a little bit easier. Baylor, TCU and Notre Dame each have to visit Austin this time, and Cal should be a more winnable game with Jared Goff gone to the NFL.
Strong was just a few plays away from a seven-win season in 2015. A jump to seven or eight wins is necessary – and saying it’s going to happen requires a leap of faith on a few issues – but they should have enough talent to get the job done.
http://espn.go.com/blog/big12/post/_/id/108794/take-two-what-big-12-team-will-be-most-improved-in-2016
