K-State Football Recruiting: 2022 National Signing Day Primer

We’re getting this to you a little late, but tomorrow is the start of the early signing period for football, meaning it’s National Signing Day (part one).

The 2022 class has been fairly quiet, at least in the star-power category. The 16 young men currently committed to Kansas State and Chris Klieman are a solid bunch (consensus 3-stars across the board), but there’s not really a “wow” commit like last year.

The class (currently) leans solidly towards the defense, with nine of the 16 expected to end up on that side of the ball as a Wildcat. Among them are five who will likely appear in the defensive backfield (replacing transfer and graduation attrition), a linebacker, and three that are currently expected to play along the defensive line, including the massive Vaai (Uso) Seumalo, who is coming to K-State from Garden City CC. Of the other six, three are offensive linemen, two are tight ends, and two are expected to be at receiver, including K-State legacy Sterling Lockett.

(Position, hometown, and height & weight are from Rivals’/247s databases; ratings are 247/Rivals/ESPN)

• Brayden Loftin, TE, Council Bluff, IA, 6’5”, 207, 0.8498, 5.5, 75
• Colby McCalister, DB, Friendswood, TX, 5’11”, 180, 0.8398, 5.4, 77
• Donovan Rieman, DE/Edge, Enid, OK, 6’4”, 230, 0.8561, 5.7, 76
• Drake Bequeaith, OT, Grapevine, TX, 6’5”, 255, 0.8464, 5.5, 75
• Garrett Oakley, TE, Columbus, NE, 6’5”, 210, 0.8337, 5.3, 76
• Jake Clifton, LB, Owasso, OK, 6’3”, 205, 0.8485, 5.5, 76
• Jalen Klemm, OT, Gibsonia, PA, 6’5”, 262, 0.8739, 5.7, NR
• John Pastore, OL, Erie, CO, 6’6”, 270, 0.8472, 5.5, 77
• Jordan Perry, ATH, Jefferson, GA, 6’2”, 180, 0.8466, 5.5, 74
• Kobe Savage, S, Paris, TX (Tyler JC), 5’11”, 185, 0.8400, 0, 74 (ESPN JC50)
• Silas Etter, ATH, Eudora, KS, 6’3”, 210, 0.8438, 5.6, 75
• Sterling Lockett, WR, Overland Park, KS, 5’10”, 155, 0.8254, 5.4, 74
• Tobi Osunsanmi, LB, Wichita, KS, 6’3”, 210, 0.8628, 5.4, 77
• Tyson Struber, ATH, Galva, KS, 6’2”, 188, 0.8464, 5.5, 75
• Vaai (Uso) Seumalo, DT, Maunaloa, HI (Garden City CC), 6’4”, 305, 0.8412, 5.4, 76 (ESPN JC50)
• VJ Payne, DB, Buford, GA, 6’2”, 190, 0.8531, 5.5, 75

No high school running backs were expected in this class, but with the recent transfers of Joe Ervin and Jacardia Wright (and possibly another), it’s possible the K-State staff adds another athlete to the running back room. Also, the K-State staff would still like to add a high school QB, but have been unsuccessful wooing any of their preferred targets.

Another big miss from the staff is that just four Kansans are on this list, and Klieman’s staff missed out on all of the top seven recruits (in either 247 or Rivals rankings) from the Sunflower state. The lone undecided prospect in that group in Hays’ Gavin Meyers, who has long been expected to commit to Nebraska, but hasn’t officially pulled the trigger on the Cornhuskers. However, the Wildcats did get back into Oklahoma, pulling two from the Sooner state, and kept up their string pipeline to Georgia with two current commits, and another one or two possible before the class is complete.

The last week has been hot for the Wildcats on the recruiting trail, with three commits since December 9th, including the late flip of JUCO safety Kobe Savage from earlier today. It’s possible that a couple more names appear on this list on Wednesday, but at 16 the class is in decent shape, and is about where Klieman expects to be before adding guys from the transfer portal. So expect there to be several transfer additions before the start of the next school semester, including the expected addition of a transfer quarterback.

One other fun note, Drake Bequeaith’s twin brother Dylan will also be coming to K-State but as a preferred walk-on at fullback.