Kansas State football lost a lot of big names through the transfer portal a few months ago.
And they're still getting lauded as big-time players to this day. The latest outlet to highlight the star power of the former Wildcats was The Athletic, pinning linebacker Austin Romaine as one of the country's best linebackers.
The article wrote:
"Romaine has been one of the Big 12’s top linebackers for two years running, earning second-team all-conference honors in 2024 and 2025 (despite missing the final three games of the 2025 season). He’s not quite the athlete that Jacob Rodriguez was for Texas Tech, but he has a way of getting to the football similarly. With 26 starts and more than 1,600 snaps under his belt, Romaine should be a seamless fit into an already talented linebacker group that returns Ben Roberts and John Curry."
This cuts even deeper considering that Romaine went to Texas Tech, Kansas State's conference rival, and the favorite to win the Big 12 next season. Last season, Romaine had 66 total tackles, seven of which were for losses, with one interception and three pass deflections.
Romaine was the heart of the defense, holding down the middle of the unit as the primary linebacker. He got injured toward the end of the season, but the Wildcats still finished with six wins and bowl eligibility. Replacing his production won't be easy, but Kansas State coach Collin Klein is confident in the unit he has had since spring ball.
"I think the linebackers and how hard they’ve played collectively as a unit have been really impressive," Klein said in his spring ball press conference. "I think we got a lot of competition there with Rex Van Wyhe, Gabe Powers, Darien Whitaker, and Mekhi [Mason]. All of those guys are going at it every day; they’re flying around every day. I think that’s a little bit of a snapshot of what we’re trying to do at every position. It’s about getting every single one of those guys better and competing with each other."
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