We were able to see Kansas State action recently when the first part of Thursday's practice was open to the media. And the first thing that instantly stood out to us was the involvement of true freshman running back DJ Giddens.

The Junction City native was grabbing some reps with the older plays and was playing up on the side of the meaningful contributors rather than the side that consists of the developmental players.

That probably shouldn't surprise many. He's one of the true freshmen that has received some buzz lately.

Some notable players that were injured and not practicing on Thursday were Talor Warner, Taylor Poitier, Konner Fox, Jaylen Pickle, Robert Hentz and Ben Sinnott. We do have details to share in terms of what we're hearing on all of them.