Whether in a crowd or walking to his car in a grocery store parking lot, Avery Johnson is hard to miss.
The Kansas State quarterback has worn his signature curly golden locks since kindergarten. On the field, the long strands spill from the bottom of his helmet, drawing colorful mentions from TV commentators even when the swift-footed passer isn’t launching deep balls down the sideline or shedding defenders on a long run.
Last fall, he drew plenty of eyes in Manhattan, Kansas, behind the wheel of a flashy lavender Corvette tied to a lucrative NIL deal with a local dealership. He’s since swapped it for a black Mercedes GT 63S AMG with a less gaudy finish
“It was a little more attention than I wanted to draw to myself,” he told CBS Sports.
Even among other highly-ranked quarterbacks, Johnson finds a way to stand out. Because unlike most of the top signal callers from his class, Johnson chose to stay home.
Seven of the top 10 quarterbacks in the 2023 recruiting class have already transferred. More than 65% of the 26 blue-chip quarterbacks (four stars or higher) didn’t stick with their original school. Johnson is one of the few who did.
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Beefing up the roster
He got plenty of calls, especially after breaking Kansas State’s single-season passing touchdowns record (25) last season. But instead of entertaining offers, he sat down with head coach Chris Klieman to talk roster-building.
Who could they pull? What did they need? How could they win a Big 12 title?
“I never had to sit down and say, ‘Man, we need you to stay,'” Klieman told CBS Sports. “I trusted him and he trusted us, and we knew what was going on.”
Now he has more help. Kansas State added five-star tight end Linkon Cure, Purdue transfer Jaron Tibbs, and retained a deep tight end room that combined for 13 touchdowns — the most in the nation last season. Add in home-run threat Dylan Edwards, and this might be the most talent to surround a Wildcats quarterback in a decade.
Johnson even played recruiter, chauffeuring prospects around Manhattan in that lavender Corvette and selling them on purple confetti in December.
“He was telling me last year how the season was underwhelming and what he really needed were some explosive receivers,” Tibbs said this week. “That’s exactly what I was looking for, too. This thing could definitely work out.”
“Being able to throw to a guy like Tibbs makes my life 10 times easier,” Johnson said earlier this month. “He’s a big target, smooth, strong hands. I can be off a little bit, and he can make up for it. Having a forgiving receiver to throw to definitely excites me for the season.”
No. 17 Kansas State will find out quickly if those moves pay off. The Wildcats open in Week 0 against No. 22 Iowa State in Dublin, Ireland, on Saturday — where the Wildcats are 3-point favorites according to DraftKings. The winner gets an early leg up in the ultra-competitive Big 12, where Iowa State emerged from a four-team pile last year before losing to Arizona State in the conference title game.
The Wildcats weren’t short on offense in 2024, finishing top-15 nationally in four major categories and averaging a school-record 6.1 yards per carry. But turnovers cost them as they dropped three of their last four, and too often Johnson had to play catch-up. Four of Kansas State’s nine wins came with fourth-quarter comebacks, second-most in the country.
On paper, the new weapons should smooth out those bumps.
“We’ve also got some of those guys who are a little bit new and improved,” offensive coordinator Matt Wells said. “It’s a newer version of them. I’m excited to go out and watch them all together.”
“We probably have more depth, more raw size, probably as much or more talent than we’ve ever had at the wide receiver spot since I’ve been here,” Klieman said.
Edwards, who admitted he struggled to digest the playbook last year, steps in as full-time running back after the departure of DJ Giddens. A Kansas native, Edwards broke the school’s bowl record with 196 yards rushing in December and finished with 1,117 all-purpose yards on the year.
“I failed last year in what I wanted to do as a player,” Edwards said. “As a team, we won a lot of games, but as a player, I feel like I failed myself. This year, I’m trying to get back to how happy I can be performing.”
Offseason progress
Johnson bulked up this offseason, adding 10 pounds of muscle to reach 200 on a 6-foot-2 frame. He also clocked a personal-best 23 mph in conditioning drills. Edwards topped him at 23.2 mph.
“I got a lot stronger this offseason and put on more muscle,” Johnson said. “People think adding weight makes you slower. No, it translates to force on the ground. I’m a big believer that as long as you don’t lose mobility, you can put on as much muscle as you want.”
Wells says his junior quarterback is more comfortable in his own skin. In the past, Johnson might have paid too much attention to outside noise.
“I don’t have to be this certain type of player, I don’t need to listen to the media or somebody ask me about being a certain prototypical blank kind of quarterback,” Wells said. “I think he is further along in coverage recognition, further along in his ability to dissect what a defense is doing to him a little quicker. That takes time. That takes live reps.”
Iowa State figures to be a contender in the Big 12, making the international opener even more important. The Cyclones have beaten Kansas State in back-to-back years, both in one-score games.
Travel won’t make it easier. The six-hour time difference will drain both teams.
But that’s part of the fun. The Big 12 will be a knife fight. And Johnson already made the biggest decision: to stay, to build, to lead.
“If we have to run the ball 60 times a game, we’re going to run the ball 60 times,” Johnson said. “We just have to be really selfless this year because we have all the pieces. We have the coaching staff, we have the players, we have the support system. We just have to win those one-score games. Sometimes you’re in a dog fight. Who’s going to come out on top? It has to be us this year.”
Johnson did everything he could in the offseason to prepare for this moment. Now comes the test: whether his choice to stay, build and lead changes everything.
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