Strength and conditioning has been a popular point of discussion throughout fall camp and Kansas State feels like they have learned the best way to keep players fresh and healthy for the season.

One immediate result is making it to game week with only one player sidelined, and that is linebacker Will Honas. It is a new injury and not the one he arrived in Manhattan with from last year.

Chris Klieman shared that it was not a season-ender.

The Wildcats did receive good news on the injury front though, as Khalid Duke will play and be available in week one. It has not been determined how much he will play this year, though.

K-State wants to rotate a lot of bodies in the season opener. With 39 new players in the program, the goal is for them to become acclimated to playing for the Wildcats as soon as possible, whether it be on offense, defense or special teams.

That was noted when each position was asked about on Tuesday. Klieman pointed out that as many as eight different offense linemen could see the field, including both Hadley Panzer and Hayden Gillum at center.

We'll see many at the safety spot, too.

They don't have a target number of players they'd like to throw out there for snaps on Saturday against South Dakota, but they'd like as many as possible to get their feet wet versus the Coyotes.

It is also beneficial for the coaching staff. They can use it as a method to help pare the roster down for when they have to form the travel rosters during conference action.

Probably the biggest winner of the offseason for Kansas State was KT Leveston. He is in the best shape of his collegiate career and has dropped eight percent body fat from last season.

His teammates and coaches have taken notice.

That praise continued on Tuesday afternoon when Leveston was listed as the starting left tackle, per the first depth chart. He received a lot of reps during fall camp while Andrew Leingang was injured and volunteered to take those reps, regardless of his exhaustion level.

Klieman praised the amount of work he has put in during his K-State career from a growth and maturity standpoint and went as far as to say he thinks the Wildcats new starting left tackle is a potential All-Big 12 player this season.

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Will Howard is the back-up quarterback again for Kansas State. And, once again, he still has his redshirt available. He and the coaches will take that into account when making decisions on his playing time this year.

He nearly redshirted last year, but it was burnt when he started and played versus Texas in the finale.

If Adrian Martinez's helmet was to come off and a quarterback had to rush on the field for a snap, it would be Jake Rubley that his number called. That is to preserve Howard's eligibility.

He has three years left, plus a redshirt.