Goal No. 5: BE TOUGH. Mentally and physically.

#5 Da’Quan Patton

Redshirt Junior | 6-1 | 227 lbs. | Cedar Park, Texas

Courtesy Kansas State Athletics

• Position: Linebacker
• Previous College: Trinity Valley (Texas) Community College
• Projection: Starter
• Status: On Scholarship

Da’Quan Ryland Patton (b. Feb. 4, 1997) is a dynamic linebacker who was a community college All-American in 2016.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in sociology and criminology in December 2018.

Patton redshirted in 2017 and competed for immediate playing time in 2018, helping to fill the void left by two graduated starting linebackers.

He was one of the tackling leaders as a starter for the White team in the 2018 spring game, totaling five solo and two assisted tackles, as well as one tackle for loss.

Patton then started all 12 games in 2018, leading the team with 70 tackles to go along with three tackles for loss and a pair of pass breakups. He tallied at least four tackles in 11 games, featured by a season-high nine stops against both West Virginia and Kansas.

Patton also had eight tackles against Texas and Oklahoma, while he had seven at Baylor and Iowa State. He registered tackles for loss against Texas, Baylor and Texas Tech, and his pass breakups came in consecutive games against Kansas and Texas Tech.

As a prep, Patton lettered three years under head coach Vincent Rooney at Vista Ridge High School, where he recorded second-team all-state honors as a senior in 2014 from the Texas Associated Press Sports Writers, while he was named the District 25-5A Defensive Most Valuable Player and also tallied all-district honors as a sophomore and junior.

He tallied 157 career tackles, 13 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, one interception, five forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries and two blocked kicks in high school.

Patton helped the Rangers to earn an 8-3 record as a senior in 2014 by totaling 100 tackles, 11 tackles for loss and three sacks; collected 75 tackles and three picks as a junior; and had 28 stops as a sophomore.

He then played two seasons under head coach Brad Smiley at Trinity Valley, where he was rated the fifth-best community college outside linebacker in the nation in the Class of 2017 by ESPN, while he also was regarded as the 13th-best community college prospect in the state of Texas by 247Sports.

Patton capped his career by earning second-team National Junior College Athletic Association All-American honors as a sophomore in 2016, in addition to Southwest Junior College Football Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Year and first-team all-conference accolades.

He recorded 89 tackles, six tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and one interception as a sophomore.

Patton carded four double-digit-tackle games, including a career-high 11 stops with a sack at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, and also had 10 tackles and a sack against Navarro College, plus another 10 stops, a career-high 2.5 tackles for loss and an interception at Tyler Junior College.

In all, he totaled 123 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks in his JUCO career, helping his teams to compile an 18-4 overall record, a pair of league titles and a C.H.A.M.P.S. Heart of Texas Bowl victory in 2016.