3 breakout candidates for Kansas State football in 2024

1. Avery Johnson, QB

Surprised to see Avery Johnson here? Well, you might be the only person in the world who is even slightly shocked by this. He's going to be the top breakout candidate for Kansas State seven days a week and twice on Sundays. Johnson is that special of a player.

As a high school recruit, Johnson was ranked in the top 100 and he was the ninth-best quarterback in the 2023 class. The hype surrounding him was immeasurable.

Fans wanted to see him early and often despite Will Howard manning the offense and he still got a chance to play in eight games, passing for 479 yards and five touchdowns with a 56 percent completion rate while also rushing for 296 yards and seven more scores. He accounted for 12 touchdowns as a true freshman backup quarterback. Wild stuff.

Now that Howard is gone, the former blue-chip prospect is taking over and the sky seems to be the limit for him at quarterback. He's going to be one of the top breakout candidates in the country.

While he might go through some growing pains early on, I would not be shocked to see him as one of the top 2-3 quarterbacks in the conference by the end of the season and a legit first-team All-Big 12 candidate. I'm excited to watch this dude play.