The linebacker room is an interesting one. On one hand, they may have the most depth of any position on the team and are led by two of the Wildcats’ best players on the defensive side of the ball.
On the other hand, aside from the two returning starters, there are still a lot of unknowns that are promising, but not proven. In the 3-3-5 defense, linebacker is one of the toughest positions to play because you have more ground to cover in the passing game and are more likely to take on blocks from an offensive guard climbing to the second level.
Departures
From those who were regular contributors last season, K-State only lost two linebackers, one to graduation, and one to a Mormon mission. Linebacker Daniel Green was the leader of the defense last season and only played in the first three games because of season and career-ending injury. Jake Clifton was the other linebacker who departed this offseason to go on a multi-year Mormon mission after playing all three linebacker positions through his two seasons in Manhattan.
The loss of Clifton hurts because he was poised to be a starter this season.
Recruits/transfers in
K-State brought in two high school recruits, one junior college recruit, and one transfer portal player along with a current player switching from safety to linebacker. Jake Stonebraker is a 6-foot, 218-pound linebacker who was one of the first commits of the 2024 recruiting class and comes from Castle Rock, Colorado. He was a four-star according to ESPN but a three-star according to 247, On3, and Rivals. He had offers from K-State, Colorado, Nebraska, UNLV, and Central Michigan.
Boone Morris is a 6-foot-2, 233-pound linebacker who was a former UT-San Antonio commit who flipped to K-State in October 2023. He is a consensus three-star recruit from Mount Vernon, Texas who switched from defensive end to linebacker for his senior year. He had offers from Vanderbilt, Oklahoma State, Army, Navy, Air Force, Sam Houston State, and Texas State. Morris was an early enrollee for spring practices while Stonebraker arrived in early June.
Kaden McMahan is a 6-foot-4, 219-pound linebacker from Tyler Junior College who was a consensus three-star and the No. 82 junior college recruit in the nation according to On3. He had offers from Iowa State, TCU, Houston, and UT-San Antonio, and he was previously committed to TCU in December 2023. McMahan is a raw prospect who is a primed candidate to redshirt this season much like Rex Van Wyhe was last season. McMahan will be a sophomore this year and played at the same junior college as current players Daniel Cobbs and Justice James.
Kam Sallis is a 6-foot-1, 222-pound linebacker who switched from the safety room last season and redshirted last season.
Lastly, Alec Marenco is a 6-foot-2, 234-pound linebacker from El Paso, Texas, who transferred from the University of New Mexico and has one year of eligibility remaining. Marenco was ranked as a consensus three-star in the transfer portal and was considering Arizona and Auburn among other Big Ten and SEC schools. Marenco had 13 starts in the last two seasons at New Mexico and missed half the season in 2022 because of injury. He played three seasons at New Mexico and was a team captain this past season with 66 tackles, a forced fumble, and three pass deflections.
Projected starters
The two bonafide starters in the linebacker room are Austin Moore and Desmond Purnell. Moore came back for a sixth season after starting the previous two seasons and Purnell was the started this past season after having been a backup in 2022.
But the question remains, who will be starting in the middle for K-State? After the injury to Daniel Green last season, Austin Romaine took over as the starter for most of the season as a true freshman along with Beau Palmer. The other candidate to start is Marenco, who was a captain at New Mexico before transfering. Asa Newsome is also a candidate to start but he only played in four games last season due to a knee injury, but he showed promise as a true freshman. My prediction for who will be the starting linebackers when the defense takes the field for the first time against Tennessee-Martin is Austin Moore, Desmond Purnell, and Alec Marenco.
Season outlook
K-State has two linebackers in Moore and Purnell who are reliable and will continuously make plays. Marenco is going to be the third linebacker who starts, most likely, and if he gets through the season without injury he will perform well.
The depth behind the starters should be good with Austin Romaine and Beau Palmer getting a lot of game reps last season. Newsome is back practicing after having a knee injury early on last season. Rex Van Wyhe was a junior college linebacker who played in four games last season and was a backup.
If the top three linebackers remain healthy and can play a majority of snaps, the linebacker room will be in good shape.
