Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Back in January, Jug of Snyder compared Meshak Williams to a poor man’s Terrell Suggs. It looks like he’ll get the opportunity to show just how well he measures up to the sack machine this summer as Williams is headed to Baltimore as one of the Ravens’ undrafted free agent acquisitions.

Williams, expected by several prognosticators to be drafted over the weekend, was surprisingly still available on Monday. That evening the first team all-Big 12 selection signed a free agent contract with Baltimore to pursue a gig with the defending Super Bowl champions.

The Ravens are an excellent landing spot for Williams. Although he played the defensive end position in college, his size and speed lend themselves to playing outside linebacker in a 3-4 defense in the NFL (he’s not quite big enough to remain on the line). His tenaciousness and passion also give him a leg up on securing a roster spot.

Even if Williams doesn’t make the Ravens’ roster, he will be with another NFL squad this fall – he was simply too productive at K-State not to warrant a job at the next level. And if he does end up elsewhere (Pittsburgh seems like a viable option at the moment), he will still benefit from going through training camp under the tutelage of the best defensive coaches and players in the NFL. Best of luck to Williams and the rest of K-State’s outgoing senior class.

Drafted

LB Arthur Brown; Baltimore Ravens – Brown was selected in the second round when Baltimore traded up to get its replacement for retiring future Hall of Famer Ray Lewis.

WR Chris Harper; Seattle Seahawks – Seattle selected Harper in the fourth round to bring toughness to a unit lacking an identity last year.

FB Braden Wilson; Kansas City Chiefs – Wilson was selected in the sixth round by Kansas City. The Chiefs were without a true fullback last year, and Wilson has an excellent shot at filling this spot on the roster.

Undrafted Free Agents

CB Nigel Malone; Indianapolis Colts: Malone was accused of being burned at times but was also expected to play aggressively against the best quarterback league in the nation the past two years while hauling in interception after interception. You can never have too many cornerbacks in the NFL, and with the Colts looking to upgrade last year’s lackluster defense, this could be an excellent fit.

QB(?) Collin Klein; Houston Texans: Numerous speculations around the league considered the prospect of a team ignoring Klein’s demands to be taken seriously as a quarterback and pick him up in the fourth round as the next breakout tight end. Instead, Klein fell out of the draft and will get his chance to prove himself as the signal caller to back up Matt Schaub.

RB Angelo Pease; Green Bay Packers: Pease was clearly the back up last year in receiving 60 carries while John Hubert ran the ball 180 times and Collin Klein 207 (he also had five receptions to Hubert’s 18). However, he still displayed the strength and speed to warrant a healthy look in the league and could easily land on someone’s practice squad in August.

LB Justin Tuggle; Houston Texans: Joining Klein in Houston will be Tuggle, the converted junior college quarterback to linebacker who became a household name across the state after helping demoralize and demolish Landry Jones and the Oklahoma Sooners’ passing attack last fall. He will be given a look at inside linebacker for the Texans.

CB Allen Chapman; Indianapolis Colts: While teammates on Saturday afternoon, Malone may be one of Chapman’s biggest competitors this summer as both vie for a spot on the Colts’ secondary. Chapman brings the same acumen to the table as Malone (strong, aggressive, risk-taker), indicating the Colts believe their defense was too passive last year and desire at least one of these players to enhance the physicality of the team.

K Anthony Cantele; Indianapolis Colts: Marking the third Wildcat making the drive north to Indiana, Cantele will be given a shot to replace Adam Vinatieri – one of the greatest kickers in NFL over the past 20 years. Vinatieri has been with the Colts since 2006, but at age 40 the team may be looking to acquire a fresher kicking leg.

TE Travis Tannahill; Cleveland Browns: Cleveland maintained four tight ends on the roster last year, which is absurd in its own right. They combined for 79 of the team’s 328 receptions and were led by Ben Watson, who accounted for 49 catches. The 6’4″ Tannahill was a beast over the middle last year and seemed to catch everything Klein threw his way, no matter how hard he was hit by opposing linebackers. It will be difficult to make Cleveland’s roster given the  depth already present, but expect to see his name on someone’s roster this fall.

LB Jarrell Childs; Oakland Raiders: The third piece of the three-headed monster known as K-State’s linebacker corps this year, Childs has been given the opportunity to give Kansas residents one reason to roots for the Raiders. Personally, the Jug will be rooting for Childs to make the team and record 14 sacks – one for every loss the team suffers. Nobody roots for the Raiders.

P Ryan Doerr; Denver Broncos: Doerr will be in Denver this summer to compete against the brother of Chiefs’ punter Dustin Colquitt – Britton Colquitt. Britton ranked third in the NFL last year with a net average of 42.1 yards/punt (although the thin Denver atmosphere gives the ball a slight boost). Denver’s intentions for Colquitt are unknown – they have discussed signing him to a multi-year deal before training camp in July, but also lowballed him with a low right of first refusal that allowed teams to bid on Colquitt without surrendering a draft pick should they make a better offer to him. At the end of the day, Doerr is in a tough spot here and the extremely talented punter will likely be forced to look elsewhere for a spot in the league.

The big name missing from this list of course is DE Meshak Williams. Although his name was not widely circulated following draft workouts, I half-expected him to go in the first seven rounds and certainly didn’t expect 12 Wildcats to be brought in without his name on the list. Obviously my expectations in January have since been tempered, but there’s no way he goes without an invitation from someone before the week is up.

Editor’s note: as of Monday Meshak Williams has joined Brown in Baltimore. More on that story here.

April 2012 only saw one player from K-State find a home through the NFL draft – and even that was a stretch, as Bryce Brown saw little playing time and quit the team his first year after transferring to Manhattan before conference play started. 2013 should be a much more profitable year for departing Wildcat players. Over the next two weeks, Jug of Snyder will be assessing the players entering 2012 with draft hopes and how they finished their careers with K-State. For our sixth installment we go to to the anchor one of the Big 12′s best defenses, defensive end Meshak Williams. 

OLB Terrell Suggs of the Baltimore Ravens is a sack machine, and one of the best known pass rushers in the NFL. Meshak Williams is a poor man’s Terrell Suggs, and will be a force if the right team that plays a 3-4 scheme is smart enough to draft him. Suggest this to your friends that didn’t follow K-State this year, and they’ll simply shake their heads at the idea that an undersized defensive end for the Wildcats could be mentioned in the same breath. So safe your breath instead, and when Williams anchors a defense to the playoffs in 2016, point those disbelieving fans over to JugOfSnyder.com, where we will calmly be waiting.

K-State fans remember Suggs from the 2002 Holiday Bowl against Arizona State, when he harassed Ell Roberson all night long and won the defensive MVP award despite the Sun Devils yielding 34 points to the Wildcats in a loss. The measurements are similar: both Suggs and Williams stand at six foot, three inches. Williams currently plays at 245, and would likely add another 15 pounds at the next level, putting his playing weight at 260 lbs. Suggs plays at 260. Despite being drafted 10th overall, Suggs faced several questions about his ‘tweener’ size – too big and slow to play linebacker, but not nearly big enough to line up at defensive end. Williams faces the same questions.

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Jug doesn’t merely project Meshak Williams to be the second coming of Suggs merely because they’re the same height and Suggs was a questionable pick at number ten before transforming into a consistent Pro Bowler. Williams has a quicker 40 time (4.74) than Suggs (4.84), which allays any concerns about speed. His on-field production spoke for itself. He was bright spot for the defense during K-State’s loss in the Fiesta Bowl, recording one sack to go along with nine tackles. He finished first in the conference with 10.5 sacks overall while forcing three fumbles. His domination led to being selected to the All-Big 12 first team, and was selected as the league’s defensive lineman of the year. He also recorded a blocked field goal during his senior season.

Williams has not received a significant amount of attention from the media regarding his potential on the next level.  CBSSports.com ranked him No. 400 overall and the 37th-best defensive end in November (approximately 250 players are selected over the course of the draft’s seven rounds). However, there is no doubt Williams will have his named called to the podium in April. NFLdraftscout.com has since listed him as the number 15 OLB after he closed the season as strongly as he started. The OLB ranking as recognizes the potential for his position switch. However, Williams is very quick and will perform better than his peers at the three cone drill and other combine exercises. Although the national media outlets have a difficult time feting this out on tape during the regular season, his tangibles will allow Williams’ stock to rise when measured against the rest of the draft class.

First of all, this is the only preview you need. Why? Because there’s no way Oklahoma State’s defense does anything to slow down Collin Klein and company. They just won’t. The Cowboys have been improving recently, but Klein has demonstrated accuracy that caught even the biggest Wildcat homers off-guard. Pease and Hubert are unstoppable. Minus Dwayne Bowe, there may be more receiving talent on the K-State sideline than in Kansas City. Plus, K-State will pin Oklahoma State deep on special teams while connecting on field goals and getting good return yardage.

Offense and special teams out of the way, the K-State defense/Oklahoma State offense match up offers a bit of intrigue. The first problem facing the Wildcats is that the Cowboys may be the most balanced team they’ve faced this year. Landry Jones (Oklahoma), Geno Smith (West Virginia), and Seth Doege (Texas Tech) have all had their names written in the same sentence as ‘Heisman,’ and K-State made each look much more pretender than contender. However, these teams rank sixth, ninth, and eighth, respectively, in rushing yards per game. And while you don’t see a ton of nickel packages from Kansas State, it certainly makes things easier when you’re not as concerned about the run and can focus attention on the passing attack.

Okie State, on the other hand, is the one Big 12 team that averages more rushing yards per game than K-State. Although their quarterback situation has been shaky (season starter Wes Lunt went down with an injury and freshman J.W. Walsh was forced to step in, only to go down with an injury of his own that forced Wes Lunt back onto the field), the running game has been solid. Joseph Randle has carried most of the burden and is averaging 5.6 yards per carry for 891 yards and nine touchdowns on the season.

Remember, this is the Oklahoma State team that took so much heat for opening their season with an 84-0 win over Savannah State. And while their 20-14 win over KU is embarrassing, they’ve scored over 30 points in every other game this year and average 44.3 points per game. That’s good enough for second in the conference, behind only K-State (44.4). And despite the turmoil at quarterback, the Cowboys are fourth in yards passing per game with 347 (as nice as Klein’s looked in the pocket, K-State only averages 205). So yeah, this is a balanced team.

So what’s the solution? Meshak Williams, all day. As much as any other game this year, the Wildcats need Williams to both shut down his end of the line on runs and apply enough pressure that K-State doesn’t have to rely on a lot of blitz packages. The key to beating West Virginia is trusting the front four to apply enough pressure to hurry throws, allowing the other seven defenders to roam the field and swarm to the ball. Unfortunately, this same strategy doesn’t entirely translate, because backing off the line will give RB Walsh unnecessary yardage all night long. Ty Zimmerman needs another signature play in the third quarter to kill a potentially momentum-swinging drive and let the offense do its thing. The Cowboys will score points Saturday, but there will be no reason to panic. Expect Oklahoma State to be playing behind in the fourth quarter and needing a crucial fourth down conversion. The Cowboys are only 37.5 percent on fourth down conversions this year – only KU is worse. So when Bill Snyder Family Stadium gets loud and the pressure’s on, you can be rest assured K-State walks away 9-0 on the season with another double-digit victory under its belt.

Jordy Nelson. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-US PRESSWIRE

Small towns: most people have been through one–especially in Kansas–but rarely ponder how they might contribute to the success of a college football program. At K-State, our football team wouldn’t be what it is today without those tiniest of towns, some little more than the proverbial “spot in the road.”

(more…)

How should we feel? Frustration with the offensive ineptitude? Anger with the turnovers and penalties? Incredulous at the lack of star-quality performances from potential stars Collin Klein and Bryce Brown? Satisfaction with the stout play of Jordan Voelker, Arthur Brown, Nigel Malone and the defense in general? Relief at the fact that K-State is 1-0 after pulling out a narrow victory against a far inferior, FCS (or, if you prefer, Division 1-AA) opponent?

“I would have felt terrible losing to this team. It would have been like a tragedy. I don’t want to use that word, but that’s kind of what it would have been had we lost.” -Junior Wide Receiver Chris Harper

(more…)