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.

Goal No. 2: UNSELFISHNESS. There is no “I” in TEAM.

#2 Jake Rubley

True Freshman | 6-3 | 209 lbs. | Highlands Ranch, Colorado

Courtesy Kansas State Athletics

• Position: Quarterback
• Previous College: None
• Projection: Redshirt
• Status: On Scholarship

Jake Rubley (b. July 15, 2002) is a four-star pro-style quarterback from Highlands Ranch High School in Colorado (with a tiny detour) who is KSU’s biggest recruit since Jake Waters.

Although Rubley likely will play in no more than four games in 2021 to preserve his redshirt, he is talented enough to play key snaps. In a worst-case scenario (think both Jesse Ertz and Alex Delton going down in the first two games of 2015!) that sees Skylar Thompson and Will Howard unavailable, he would be a dramatic upgrade from Joe Hubener and Kody Cook.

Rubley, who plans on majoring in business administration, played his first three years of high school for the Falcons under head coach and father T.J. Rubley, who played collegiately at Tulsa before being selected by the Los Angeles Rams in the 1992 NFL Draft.

Jake Rubley was rated as the 25th-best overall prospect in the Class of 2021 by ESPN, while the organization also rated him the third-best pocket passer in the class and the top overall prospect in the state of Iowa, were he played as a senior due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He was regarded as the 12th-best pro-style quarterback in the Class of 2021 by Rivals, while 247Sports rated him No. 22 after he threw for 3,892 yards and 39 touchdowns to go along with 269 rushing yards and seven scores during his career at Highlands Ranch High School.

Rubley was named to the 2020 Sports Illustrated All-America preseason watch list after he earned honorable mention all-state honors as a junior. He also competed in track.

When the state of Colorado shut down high school sports last year, Rubley’s dad moved him to Des Moines, Iowa, in a last-ditch effort to get his son on the field for his senior year.

Jake played two games as a senior at Valley High School in Des Moines, under head coach Gary Swenson, and threw for 356 yards and a touchdown on 33-of-57 aim for the Tigers.

After those two games, though, the state of Iowa ruled him ineligible and ended his prep career prematurely. Rubley enrolled early at K-State and arrived in time for spring practices.

(You can read more about that Iowa nonsense in this somewhat snarky and judgy column.)

Rubley picked K-State over a truly impressive set of Power 5 scholarship offers from Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida State, Iowa, LSU, Michigan, Michigan State, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Northwestern, Penn State (where he was recruited by none other than former Ron Prince assistant Ricky Rahne!), South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin.

He also had Group of 5 offers from Colorado State, Idaho, as well as interest from Air Force, Clemson and Notre Dame.

Rubley’s primary recruiters were his new position coach, quarterbacks coach Collin Klein, and his offensive coordinator, Courtney Messingham. That’s two pretty good sets of eyes...

Plus, as head coach Chris Klieman explained, his commitment energized the entire class:

... He absolutely did a great job of trying to help out and reach out, and kids reached out to him. When you land someone of Jake’s caliber, people take notice, and it definitely helped us.”

His father, T.J., ranks fourth in Tulsa history in passing yards, total offense and passing touchdowns for a career, and was inducted into the Tulsa Athletic Hall of Fame in 2015.

T.J. Rubley also played in 10 career games with seven starts in two NFL seasons with the Rams and Green Bay Packers.

Jake’s older brother, Ryan, also played football at Tulsa and later at Augustana College.