#56 Andrew Leingang

Redshirt Sophomore | 6-6 | 306 lbs. | Bismarck, North Dakota

Courtesy Kansas State Athletics

• Position: Offensive Line
• Previous College: None
• Projection: Second-String
• Status: On Scholarship

Andrew “Tuffy” Leingang (b. Nov. 14, 2002) is a smart, academically gifted mauler of an offensive lineman who is majoring in chemical engineering and is the first K-State player from North Dakota since at least 1949.

In the summer of 2021, he received a national academic award from the National Football Foundation after earning a 4.13 grade-point average in high school.

Leingang saw time as a reserve offensive lineman against West Virginia in 2021 as he still retained his redshirt. He was a first-team Academic All-Big 12 performer in the 2022 season.

Leingang saw action in nine games in 2022 as a reserve offensive lineman, and he also contributed over the final five games as an extra offensive lineman and part-time fullback.

He helped K-State to rank 15th nationally in rushing yards per game (208.3), the Wildcats’ best national ranking since 2003 (ninth) and best mark since 2016 (231.8).

Leingang also was part of a unit that saw K-State rank third in school history in rushing yards per carry (5.12), fourth in total rushing yards (2,916) and 10th in rush touchdowns (32).

The Cats also ranked second in school history in total offensive yards (5,863) and ninth in offensive yards per play (6.12). Now he’s apparently challenging for a possible starting role.

This road grader prepped under head coach Ron Wingenbach at Century High School in Bismarck, N.D., where he was rated the top prospect in the state for the Class of 2021 by both ESPN and 247Sports, while the latter viewed him as the 10th-best center in the nation.

Leingang was named the Powerade State Senior Athlete of the Year for Class AAA Football in North Dakota, in addition to being named the MidcoSD Class AAA Player of the Year.

He earned first-team all-state honors as both a junior and a senior after he helped lead the Patriots to consecutive undefeated seasons and state championships in his final two years.

Named the top high school player in the state of North Dakota prior to the 2020 season by MaxPreps, Leingang also competed in track and field — finishing eighth in the state in shot put as a sophomore — and played basketball.

His older brother, Mason, signed to play football at Minnesota State-Moorhead in 2019.

Leingang chose K-State over offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Central Michigan, Colorado State, Dartmouth, Minnesota, Montana State, North Dakota, North Dakota State, Northern Iowa, Oregon State, South Dakota, Stanford, Western Kentucky, Wyoming and Yale, as well as interest from Indiana. His primary recruiter was his offensive line coach, Conor Riley.

You can learn a lot more about Mr. Leingang in Drew Schneider’s excellent profile here.

Here’s what Chris Klieman had to say about his improvement during spring practices:

On the offensive line, Cooper Beebe, Christian Duffie along with Kaitori (KT) Leveston. Those guys are mainstays and they’ve played around here for a good minute. But Andrew Leingang is a young guy who’s been really impressive to me. I don’t get a chance to see offensive linemen much but I’ve been impressed with those (four).