NOTE: Kansas State has elected to advance players’ classification even though the 2020 season did not affect eligibility. Those who wish to take advantage of this extra year will be listed as a (“super”) senior again after their original eligibility would have been exhausted.

#22 Daniel Green

Redshirt Junior | 6-3 | 234 lbs. | Portland, Oregon

Courtesy Kansas State Athletics

• Position: Linebacker
• Previous College: None
• Projection: Starter
• Status: On Scholarship

Daniel X. Green (b. Jan. 8, 1999) is an athletic linebacker majoring in sociology who looks to break through as a full-time starter in 2021 after two years spent primarily as a reserve.

Originally announced as part of the 2017 class, Green was a promising, physical defensive end/linebacker prospect from Oregon who was a bit of a February Signing Day surprise.

The four-star linebacker selected K-State over offers from Mississippi, Oregon State and Utah. But academic eligibility issues kept him from enrolling until spring 2018 as a grayshirt.

He redshirted in 2018 and spent the 2019 season getting his feet wet at the Division I level.

Green played in all 13 games in 2019 as a reserve linebacker and on special teams, making an immediate impact while totaling 34 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and two sacks. He also chipped in three pass breakups, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

Green carded a season-high seven tackles at Mississippi State, a game that featured a fumble recovery that led to a K-State touchdown to put the Wildcats up by two scores.

He also had five stops and a sack against TCU, while he registered four tackles, a sack and a forced fumble against Bowling Green.

Green served as part of the regular linebacker rotation for all 10 regular season games in 2020, with starts at Iowa State and Baylor, and he set career highs with 39 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks on the year.

He registered 13 tackles at Baylor, the most by a Wildcat since 2017; set career highs in tackles for loss (2.5) and sacks (1.5) against the Bears; and also had a sack at TCU.

Green recorded seven tackles at West Virginia, which included one for a loss. He broke up passes in his two starts at Iowa State and Baylor.

Green prepped at Madison High School under head coach Don Johnson Jr.

With the Senators, he earned second-team all-state honors from The Oregonian, while he also was a two-time first-team all-conference honoree.

Green was named one of the top 250 prospects in the Class of 2017 by Rivals.

The organization also viewed him as the 10th-best inside linebacker in the nation and the third-best player in the state of Oregon.

Many remain high on his defensive potential, including Ian Boyd of SportsTreatise:

Green is a really solid inside backer prospect who likes to play with some depth and then play downhill once he’s diagnosed the play. I think that could get him into trouble if the Wildcats defensive line can’t keep him covered up, or he’s facing a team with a really quality tackle or fullback who can get out on him 4 yards past the line of scrimmage.

That said, he’s really sudden and powerful coming downhill, and he’s pretty hard to block once he’s aiming for the ball. He also can blitz with some thunder and pursue the ball outside of the tackle box. With some refinement, he might be a really good player.