Five Days To K-State Football: Robert Rose & Jonathan Coleman

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

We’re forging ahead with our ongoing countdown, and you can now use the digits on one hand to count the days left until kick-off against North Dakota State (well, unless you lost your digits in a misguided thresher cleaning attempt, at which point you’re gonna have to wait to count down using your fingers). So with five days left our focus shifts to jersey #5, which the roster says belongs to Robert Rose and Jonathan Coleman.

Robert Rose

We need a good nickname for Rose, first and foremost. The senior running back from Miami, Florida is just 5’4″ and 176 pounds, and may be the shiftiest back to tackle in the Big 12. K-State fans that follow the program strictly during the season may not be familiar with his name, as Rose saw time in one game as a freshman, four as a sophomore, and in three games as a junior (he finished 2012 with nine yards on four carries). However, fans that follow the team year-round may recognize the name from the Spring Game, which he has started each of the past two years.

Rose hasn’t started the game because he’s number one on the depth chart – John Hubert was held out due to injury this year – but he’s still up there. He finished the game with 141 yards on 17 carries – good for an average of 8.3 yards, to go along with a touchdown. Charles Jones was the only other running back to receive more than six carries, and Jones did all of his work for the second squad. This tells me that the coaching staff wanted a good, long look at Rose to see how he performed with so many opportunities. Cut from the mold of K-State’s long line of small, elusive running backs, it looks like he’s ready to help spell John Hubert just fine.

Jonathan Coleman

Coleman is a junior defensive back from Mesquite, Texas whose claim to fame in high school was recording 300 rushing yards in a single game off of 16 carries (over 18 yards per rush). However, the 6’1″, 205 pounder is strictly limited to the secondary and special teams for K-State. He saw the field in five games last year – principally on special teams – and had three tackles on the season. He was featured on the second squad during the spring game, with two tackles and a broken up pass on the afternoon after making a nice play on a Jake Waters pass to Tramaine Thompson.

Coleman isn’t expected to climb very far up the depth chart this year, and he essentially wasn’t seen once conference play started in 2012. He should still see some special teams work over the course of the year, but we shouldn’t see him assume the safety position during many games unless the score is a bit out of hand.

To work backwards in the countdown, visit six days and our preview of players Tate Snyder and Deante Burton.