Kansas State QB Skylar Thompson finds impressive alternative to spring football in KC
News provided by Wichita Eagle
APRIL 01, 2020 05:00 AM
Skylar Thompson would trade just about anything to be in Manhattan right now gearing up for another day of spring football practice.When he closes his eyes, the Kansas State quarterback imagines himself throwing deep balls to Malik Knowles and building a bond with his new offensive line. He also hears K-State coach Chris Klieman barking out instructions each morning and linebacker Justin Hughes talking trash between plays.“Man,” Thompson said. “I wish we could be doing that right now.”
College football, like just about everything else in the country, is on pause because of the coronavirus pandemic. Traditional spring practices have been canceled across the Big 12, which means K-State football players like Thompson are away from each other at their homes instead of together on campus.What kind of impact will missing out on those 15 spring practices have on the Wildcats? That remains unclear.“I would be lying to you if I said it didn’t have an affect on us,” Thompson said during a phone interview this week. “It will have an affect, considering we have a bunch of new guys up front, a new defensive coordinator and a new linebackers coach. There’s all kinds of stuff that is new for us. But everybody in the country is facing the same deal. I’m not really concerned about it. It’s all about adapting to it and working through it the best we can.”
Quarantine life is an adjustment for everyone, but it can be particularly difficult on quarterbacks that yearn for an offense to lead and for at least one receiver to practice throwing with. Fortunately, Thompson thinks he is better off than many of his peers.
If he can’t be with his teammates at K-State, he’s found an acceptable replacement with a few other lonely quarterbacks at Shawnee Mission East High School. That’s where he meets up with Denver Broncos quarterback Drew Lock, Wisconsin passer Graham Mertz and a few others three times a week to hone his craft under Justin Hoover, who coaches at SME and tutors quarterbacks during the offseason.
Each workout is limited to three participants so they can safely spread out across the football field. There are rarely any receivers on hand, so Thompson mostly works on his form and throws at targets.
That is fine for now. Thompson, a Fort Osage High School product, says he was planning to focus on “little detail things” that would help him improve as a quarterback during spring practice. His arm is in good shape, so he is focusing on those “little detail things” now.
They include: keeping two hands on the ball when he scrambles, maintaining a tighter throwing motion on the run that generates more torque on his passes and improving his pocket awareness so he will have more time to go through his progressions and make big plays next season.
Thompson made impressive progress during his first season with Klieman last season, as he completed 177 of 297 passes for 2,315 yards, 12 touchdowns and five interceptions while also rushing for 405 yards and 11 touchdowns. He led K-State to eight victories. But he was tentative at times when he didn’t need to be.
He wants to be a more aggressive quarterback.
“Having the awareness to step up and make a throw rather than just tuck and run is something I am really working hard at,” Thompson said. “Last year, there were times I felt like I would get through my first two reads, feel pressure and scramble and just try to get something when I could have side stepped and stepped up and gotten to my fourth read and had a deep ball.“
Thompson, a fifth-year senior with four seasons of starting experience, is also doing his best to lead while in isolation. If there’s a silver lining to all this, it’s that K-State has seasoned veterans on both sides of the ball to lean on right now.
He is doing his best to stay in contact with his teammates and coaches on video calls. He also has group texts set up with all of K-State’s receivers and his offensive linemen. He likes to remind them of a message offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham sent them a while back: Stay in attack mode.
“There is a fine line between being more aggressive and taking care of the ball,” Thompson said. “But we all need to be trying to score every time we touch the ball. Let’s put an emphasis on catching an eight-yard hitch route, making a guy miss and getting 20 yards.”
So far, it seems like K-State players are on the same page.
“Everybody is handling this pretty well,” Thompson said. “Granted, I’m not there to see what they are doing every single day, but I trust them and feel like we are a pretty mature football team. We know we can’t take three months off or just try to maintain what we had going. We are a team that is trying to get better every single day.”
The most frustrating thing about this situation for Thompson is that he could sense the Wildcats were coming together before they left town for spring break. He was genuinely looking forward to throwing touchdowns to Joshua Youngblood, Wykeen Gill and Knowles. He has been practicing with new center Noah Johnson and even studying K-State’s defense so he could burn them in scrimmages.
Many have doubts about K-State’s front five, which lost five seniors. But Thompson is high on Kaitori Leveston, Josh Rivas, Cooper Beebe and Johnson.
“We have a lot of talent up there,” Thompson said. “They just don’t have experience.”
They could have gained some this spring.
The most intense moments you will find all year at K-State football practices occur during the spring when Klieman asks K-State’s starters to face off against each other. Much is revealed about players in those moments.
Thompson is trying his best to re-create them on his own.
“I was looking forward to getting out there and playing football again,” Thompson said. “Spring is a unique session where you can really focus on things, get competitive and have some fun. It’s too bad it didn’t happen. But the only thing we can do right now is try and get better with what we’ve got.”
News provided by Wichita Eagle