Editor’s note: This story was updated at 11:30 a.m. on July 30 to include new awards announced for players on the 2020 K-State football roster.
A number of Kansas State football stars were given preseason honors leading up to the 2020 season.
Senior quarterback Skylar Thompson, junior defensive end Wyatt Hubert, and senior kicker Blake Lynch are just a few of the K-State athletes being recognized in the lead up to the fall season.
Thompson was put on three award watchlists: the Maxwell Award, which is given to the college football player of the year, the Wuerffel Trophy, which honors a player deemed to have done tremendous work both on the field and in the community and the Manning award which is given to the top quarterback in college football, not just during the regular season, but during bowl season as well.
Each of these awards has had history with K-State football as this is the fourth straight season the Wildcats have had a nominee for the Maxwell Award, including running backs James Gilbert and Alex Barnes in the last two years.
Former Wildcat and current Broncos offensive lineman Dalton Risner was a 2018 finalist for the Wuerffel Trophy.
Quarterbacks coach Collin Klein was also a finalist for the Manning award in 2012, while Jake Waters was a preseason candidate in 2014.
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Thompson, who will be a senior in the fall, ranks in the Top 10 in K-State history in 10 different categories. The 6-foot-2 quarterback threw for over 2,300 yards last season and ran the ball for over 400 yards.
Lynch also finds himself on a preseason watch list. Lynch has been named to the Lou Groza Award preseason watch list for the second straight year. Lynch made 19 field goals on 21 attempts last season, the 90.5 percent success rate marked him eighth in the country last year and third in school history.
Hubert is perhaps the K-Stater drawing the most attention leading up to the 2020 season. Hubert was given a spot on the Nagurski Trophy watch list and is on the Bednarik Award watch list. Both awards are meant to honor college football’s best defensive players.
Hubert will enter his junior year ranked 12th and 13th nationally in career sacks per game and career tackles for loss per game, respectively, of any active player.
Hubert is also one of three K-State football players to be named to the 2020 preseason All-Big 12 team. Junior tight end Nick Lenners and sophomore wide receiver Joshua Youngblood are the other two given this honor.
