To add insult to injury, K-State somehow gave up 57 yards a game on kickoff returns. There's reason for hope in 2024 though. For one, there's a player named Lockett on the depth chart. Redshirt sophomore Sterling may not be Tyler's equal here (and that's almost an impossibly high bar anyway), but he's getting plenty of practice reps now along with junior Keagan Johnson. We should expect to see wide receiver Jayce Brown and prodigal son Dylan Edwards in the return game too. As always, and as Chris Klieman has emphasized in the past, players from all over the two-deep should show up on special teams and especially as a wall of blockers on kickoff and punt returns.The KickersSenior Chris Tennant, now the elder statesman and leader of the special teams unit, took over placekicking duties last season after superhero Ty Zentner graduated. Sometimes inconsistent, Tennant still finished the season 11-of-14 on field goals and nearly perfect on extra points (56/57). He also handled kickoff duties for the first time in his career and averaged 60.6 yards on 85 kickoffs. On the punting side, two redshirt freshmen, Simon McClannan and Teagan Cobb are taking over for the recently graduated Jake Blumer. https://www.tigerssportsshop.com  They're both listed on the depth chart and could both see the field throughout the season. Randen Plattner, who was on the team for what felt like 50 years, has finally graduated, so long snapper duties will now be handled by junior Mason Olguin, with Wisconsin transfer Keane Bessert as his backup. Most Read Slate: Good enough! The Wildcats were not perfect, but a win is still a great start to the season. Cats move up to #17 in AP Poll Three teams above the Cats lost and plummeted, but two got huge boosts to leapfrog the good guys. FINAL: (18) K-State Wildcats 41, UT-Martin 6 There are still questions to be answered, but the Cats got the job done to open 2024.