Glenn Gronkowski and Winston Dimel: A Perfect Combination

It's almost hard to believe it's been a dozen years since the Wildcats trotted out the infamous "Nick, Vic, and Thick" formation -- fullbacks Nick Hoheisel, Victor Mann, and Ayo Saba all in the backfield together. Kansas State hasn't featured the fullback much since then, partially owing to Ron Prince not really recruiting any during his tenure.

But last year, Glenn Gronkowski arrived on the scene and the coaching staff turned him into a loaded weapon. The bloodline is strong with that one. This year, he's joined by Winston Dimel, who's more of a running fullback, and we've seen both lined up at the same time on several occasions.

We're on the Free Justin Silmon train, and we're not trying to take anything away from the walk-on. But there are going to be times when the Wildcat rushing attack just needs to beat the opposing defense into submission, and in that light we'd really like to see more of Gronk and Dimel together in the backfield. Use of the punishing bulldozer running attack used to be a staple of the Wildcat offense, and these guys are the perfect complement to one another.

Gronk is more a receiver than a rusher, as his usage patterns have shown. But placed in a two-fullback set, he'd almost certainly get a few more carries; indeed, he's already nearly doubled his total rushing yardage from last year. Dimel, meanwhile, has already demonstrated his pass-catching abilities with 80 yards on two receptions last week. He's also been tasked with carrying the ball more than Gronkowski did all of last year; Dimel has picked up 16 carries in just two games, four times as many as the all-conference fullback had in 2014.

What we'd really like to see on short-yardage plays is one of these bulldozers plowing into the line in front of the other. It doesn't even matter which one has the ball, as we saw in the touchdown scored by Joe Hubener against UTSA last weekend. Hubener went into the line ahead of his dual steamrollers and they simply pushed their quarterback through the pile.

What do you think, readers? Are there any more Wonder Twin combinations on this team that you think are the perfect pair?