Four Days To K-State Football: Dorrian Roberts Player Preview

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

I don’t know if you heard, dear reader, but there are only four days left until K-State football and there’s so much buzz in the air, we’re doing a second installment of the countdown today (earlier we published the argument for starting Daniel Sams against North Dakota State, and four hours later Bill Snyder announced it would be Jake Waters, so just goes to show how much I know!). So strap in and join us for the preview of defensive back Dorrian Roberts, a redshirt senior looking to contribute in the secondary after a year on the sidelines.

Roberts is originally from Wichita, and played at Wichita Heights High Schools before attending Hutchinson Community College. He was named to the All-State team in 2008 while setting career records at Wichita Heights for return yards, interceptions, and pass break ups. At Hutch he was an honorable mention All-American his second year while posting 55 tackles – 3.5 for loss – three interceptions, three pass break ups, a fumble recovery, and blocked kick. He also saw time in nine games his freshman year with 26 tackles, an interception, five pass break ups, and a fumble recovery.

Roberts came to K-State in 2011 and redshirted, and didn’t see any playing time his redshirt junior year behind cornerbacks Allen Chapman and Nigel Malone. At 5’10” and 168 pounds, he’s going to be among the smallest guys on the field, relying on the ability to lock down on receivers to make his name. Roberts was considered to be a formidable presence coming into the season, but his name has fallen by the wayside recently and there were no stats recorded during the spring game. Because of the inexperience of the secondary, there’s not a lot known about how the current composition will work and Roberts may be called upon to plug any holes the defensive backfield displays. However, it looks like he’ll need a hole to open up to find meaningful playing time this year.