With all of Kansas State football's significant departures, anyone within the central core is left on the table, possibly to retreat as well.
Including quarterback Avery Johnson. It's crazy to ponder this outcome, but considering Jayce Brown, Austin Romaine, and several other stars are leaving, it symbolizes more than just the natural direction of the transfer portal season. It symbolizes a change coming in Manhattan, KS. For better or worse, Chris Klieman's retirement may have shifted the mindsets of several primary players. Stars come and go every season, especially major ones, but this many early on illustrates a wholesale change.
And with that said, Johnson could be on the move. He had another decent but disappointing season, throwing for just 2,385 yards, 18 touchdowns, and six interceptions, while rushing for 477 yards and eight touchdowns. He protected the ball for the most part, but his late-game turnovers and inability to push the ball down the field failed to elevate his passing attack. Part of the blame can be placed on offensive coordinator Matt Wells, but there were several times when Johnson seemed to settle for short passes or not use his legs.
The team may want a change at quarterback, and Johnson may want to take his talents elsewhere. In his season-ending press conference, he expressed his desire to stay with the team and continue playing for then-coach Chris Klieman, while keeping options open.
"Just being a Kansas kid, coming to K-State and playing for Coach Klieman has been great up to this point," Johnson said. "There’s gonna be question marks and things that are gonna be taken into account. But there’s no doubt in my mind that I wanna play for Coach Klieman, and this is the place that I wanna be. There are things I gotta talk to my family about and pray about. But I’m committed to this place, and I love this place more than anything in the world."
Klein, who helped usher in Johnson, seems adamant on retaining the junior signal-caller as well. His dual-threat play style opens up the Kansas State style of offense that Klein and many others have thrived in for years.
"I think we've had a couple of conversations already," Klein said back on Dec. 4. "It's funny that when you put us in a room, we're both football guys, and all of a sudden, after 10 minutes of pleasantries, we're talking about new schemes, what we've been working on, and new things we've been putting tweaks on. I love him to death. It's why I recruited so hard to get him here. He's dear to me."