The night before Wednesday's press conference with Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman, it was released that linebacker Branden Jennings was leaving Manhattan and had entered the transfer portal.

For many, it came as a surprise. The Wildcats had defeated a large amount of other Power Five suitors for his services when he chose to attend K-State after he entered the transfer portal the first time upon leaving Maryland.

Klieman was asked about that move and addressed it by simply stating that it just didn't work out and they wish him the best.

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That is how Klieman referred to the battle at running back behind Deuce Vaughn and how the offensive line would take shape for the 2022 season.

The search for an alternative option in the backfield remains ongoing. After the departures of Joe Ervin and Jacardia Wright, they don't have an immediate answer. The transfer portal will continue to be scoured, as well as the junior college ranks, and that may be where they have to lean.

However, they afforded opportunities to DJ Giddens, Jordan Schippers, Jax Dineen and others throughout the Spring. But it appears that nobody separated enough to claim the back-up role just yet.

In terms of the offensive line, they are in good shape in terms of finding enough talent to field a starting five to their liking, but they are still maneuvering guys around to find where all the pieces of the puzzle fit together.

KT Leveston has had a good Spring, as has Andrew Leingang, who is just a redshirt freshman. And because of Leingang's ascent, they played him more at tackle and Cooper Beebe inside to facilitate some development and versatility.

Taylor Poitier will be a starter once he's fully recovered and Hayden Gillum may have assumed the duties at center, though they likely allow that battle to wane on into fall camp with Hadley Panzer.

Three received heavy praise from Klieman on Wednesday and that was young defenders Omar Daniels and Krew Jackson and the consistently-lauded Tampa wideout, RJ Garcia.

Daniels is going to be asked to play a significant role for the Wildcats in just his second season after Josh Hayes moved to safety. That means he's the primary reserve behind Ekow Boye-Doe and Julius Brents.

And that comes on the heels of an injury that kept him sidelined for the majority of his first year in Manhattan. But he showed glimpses and flashes before injury that had the coaches excited about his future.

Jackson is someone that Klieman always jokes that he gets taller every day. He's a long, slender body that makes plays on the defensive side of the ball in practice on a normal basis, but he has to fill in the gaps between those to be more consistent and reliable.

However, he has the frame and athleticism to leave enough of a mark to see time in the 2022 season, and they're just working out how to carve a role for him and what it will be, but they also need to make sure he keeps weight on to endure physicality and keep and maintain strength.

Garcia has been the star of the Spring if the buzz in pressers is any indication. Klieman has singled him out multiple times, as has his teammates, offensive coordinator Collin Klein and receiver coach Thad Ward.

He's understanding the offense more and more, improving his technique and the little things, playing fast and attacking the ball in the air. His head coach believes he's really taken to the coaching of Ward.

Wednesday's best news probably was on the Adrian Martinez front. Kansas State's starting quarterback continues to be ahead of schedule on his recovery from offseason shoulder surgery that he underwent while in Nebraska in November.

He's already throwing the football. It may just be under the close supervision of the training staff, but his sessions now have him extending out to where he is tossing the ball up to 55 yards in length.

The expectation is that the will be throwing the ball to his teammates and in live 7-on-7 practice beginning as soon as next month. For now, he's still limited to just snaps that don't involve him throwing the ball during live practice reps.

A large surprise in the Spring has been a willingness or at least a lack of hesitation to reveal that the Wildcats are changing the offense a respectable amount to reflect a bit more of a modern pace.

Heck, there's even been some discussions on how no-huddle concepts are being incorporated quite a bit. I've been stunned to an extent that Klieman is open to that offense, and even more so that he's allowing to to be discussed in media settings.

It went a step further when he answered a question from the Kansas City Star's Kellis Robinett about it on Wednesday. Klieman even embraced the conversation and said, specifically, it could look like a scenario in which they run 70 offensive plays in a game instead of 57.

While Klein did come to him with a plan when vying for the offensive coordinator gig, Klieman pointed out that he wanted to change the offense in that way as well because they needed to create more opportunities for the offensive weapons in the room.

And he even acknowledged that they would be going no-huddle at least some of the time on the offensive side, but that doesn't always have to mean that they'll snap it in a hurry, he warned.