17 Days To K-State Football: QB Jesse Ertz & DB Weston Hiebert

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Good news readers – sometime this afternoon I staggered back into my apartment after a beautiful vacation in the Finger Lakes, rejuvenated and ready to take on the upcoming college football season. Getting back into the swing of things we have another double header with previews of quarterback Jesse Ertz and safety Weston Hiebert (pictured above).

Jesse Ertz

Ertz is a traditional pocket passer out of Mediapolis, IA. ESPN ranked him as the 58 best quarterback in the nation, although it will be a couple years before we know how much talent Ertz truly brings to the table. He attended a small program (Mediapolis High School has about 300 students and plays in Iowa’s 2A division), and may need time to adjust to a faster tempo. He spent his high school career torching secondaries around the State and displayed tremendous accuracy throwing to the talent he was provided, but wasn’t forced to throw against elite competition. His stats included a state record for most career touchdowns (98) and rank fifth in state history in career passing yardage (7,317).

A knee injury kept the 6’2”, 171 pound Ertz out of the state championship game his senior year, but he should be healthy and ready to play his freshman year at K-State (although with the presence of Daniel Sams and Jake Waters, Ertz is extremely likely to don a redshirt his first year on campus). Named the Iowa Gatorade Player of the Year his senior season, he was an All-American honorable mention selection by Parade (as well as a first-team all-state player, obviously).

While Ertz was primarily a passer in high school, he’s got some speed and was on the school’s state championship 4×100 team. He turned in about 2,000 rushing yards in high school, scoring 32 touchdowns on the ground and averaging a 7 yards/attempt. He’s clearly demonstrated the ability to take off if need be (or run the program’s option attack). While he’ll be watching from the sidelines the next couple years with Jake Waters and Daniel Sams dominating the quarterback position, he certainly looks like he could be the quarterback of the future for K-State.

Weston Hiebert

Hiebert is a redshirt junior from Goessel, Kansas. The safety should wear the #17 jersey with Ertz projected to redshirt this year. Hiebert walked on to the team in 2010 and did play in 2011. However, he became a contributor on special teams last year with five tackles while playing in 12 games. He played varsity four years for Goessel High School growing up, and was a two-time all-state linebacker. He set the school’s career record for tackles with 389 in addition to creating 27 turnovers (18 forced fumbles and nine interceptions).

Hiebert earned a bit of recognition during last year’s spring game when he intercepted Collin Klein towards the end of the game when Klein was driving for a game-winning score. While he didn’t do anything quite as exciting this year, he did card four tackles from the White (second) Squad and break up a pass. K-State isn’t as deep at safety as in 2012, but Hiebert is likely to remain a special teams contributor.

To work backwards in our countdown, visit 18 days and the season preview of Andre McDonald.