Now that we’ve done the offense preview, we flip the field to the unit that wins championships, the defense.

K-State’s 3-3-5 defense under defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman has continued to wreak havoc against opposing offenses since they switched formations in 2021.

Last season, they held every one of their conference opponents under their season scoring average going into their game versus K-State.

K-State didn’t allow a touchdown in four of their games last season (South Dakota, Iowa State Oklahoma State and Baylor). The Wildcats also didn’t allow a touchdown until :01 left in the game against Missouri.

Speculation as to who the starters will be is no longer necessary, for the most part, as we have a depth chart for their first game of the season against Southeast Missouri State this upcoming Saturday.

Starting with the defensive line, defensive tackle has been a stable position for the Cats over the years. Eli Huggins graduated, so it will be senior Uso Seumalo taking over the role. However, he is out for at least the first game of the season due to an injury sustained in fall camp.

The second spot reps will be between sophomore Damian Ilalio and Mississippi State junior transfer Jevon Banks.

The depth chart shows the infamous “or”, coined by former head coach Bill Snyder, as to who will start between the two.

Ilalio played in five games last year, including the Big 12 Championship game against TCU. He was on the line on their 4th and Goal stop in overtime.

Banks played three seasons with the Bulldogs with last year being a career-high in games played with ten appearances. He totaled a career-high 17 tackles with two tackles for loss, a half sack and a pass breakup.

K-State is in great shape with their defensive end position even with the departure of first-round draft pick by the Kansas City Chiefs, Felix Anudike-Uzomah no longer on the team.

The two starters that Klieman is going with are seniors Khalid Duke and Brendon Mott.

Duke stepped up to the defensive line after playing linebacker for his first three years at K-State, and he proved that he could play the position very well.

The Atlanta native is first on the team in quarterback hurries of the returning players (4). He had a total of 44 tackles, five tackles for loss, three sacks and a pass breakup.

On the other side, Mott replaced an injured Nate Matlack and he arguably played better than he did last year. His most memorable moment from 2022 was when he got three sacks against West Virginia and was voted Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week.

He played in every game and started ten games with 31 tackles, seven tackles for loss, six sacks (sixth in the conference), a pass breakup and a fumble recovery.

Mott was thrust into the thick of it last year as going into last season he hadn’t played a regular season game since 2020.

As for Matlack, he will hope for a bounce-back season after a disappointing 2022 season. He was considered one of the best freshmen in 2021, but he was unable to live up to expectations. Last year he had just seven tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks, a pass breakup and a fumble recovery.

Junior Cody Stufflebean played in every game last year after being a tight end to start his career at K-State. He matched Matlack’s tackle total despite significantly less playing time. K-State coaches have been talking him up quite a bit this offseason so expect an increase in playing time for the upperclassman from McPherson.

Behind the guys who made the two-deep depth chart are a trio of freshmen who have a great future at K-State on the way.

Donovan Rieman redshirted last year after spending his previous four years at Enid High School. In his fourth year there, he amassed 88 tackles with 15 being for loss and an additional 10 sacks. He was named the district player of the year and also earned a regional championship in the shot put.

In the Class of 2022 by Rivals, he was rated as the 38th-best strongside defensive end. We will likely get a glimpse of what he can do this season, especially in junk time this upcoming Saturday.

We could also see true freshmen Jordan Allen from Olathe and Chiddi Obiazor from Minnesota.

On3 ranked Allen as the third-best player in the state and the 31st-best weakside defensive end in the country. In his senior year at Olathe South, he made First Team All-State from multiple outlets.

Obiazor is another guy that Klieman talked about in his most recent press conference. He was ranked the sixth-best edge defender in Minnesota for the Class of 2023 by On3 and the 79th-ranked edge in the country. He’s also the largest DE on the team standing at 6-foot-5 and weighing 250 pounds.

Leading the linebackers will be super senior Daniel Green at MIKE, who will be entering his sixth year as a Wildcat. He has played in 49 games and gotten 27 starts. The biggest question mark for him is his health, not his talent. This year will be his last shot at proving to NFL scouts that he is worthy of being selected in the draft next spring.

In 2022, he was fifth on the team with 58 tackles with 3.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, two interceptions and four pass deflections. He was an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention for the second consecutive season.

Senior Austin Moore proved a lot of people wrong last season at WILL, including myself. All he did was lead the team with 87 tackles with ten of them being for loss with five pass deflections and two forced fumbles. He was an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention (in my opinion he should have been at least Second Team).

K-State’s starting SAM will be sophomore Desmond Purnell. In his first season, he played in every game with a start against Oklahoma State.

The Hayden alum got 21 tackles last season with two pass breakups and a fumble recovery. He also blocked a punt versus South Dakota that was returned for a touchdown.

Behind Purnell at SAM is the much-hyped redshirt freshman Tobi Osunsanmi, who is likely to do what Purnell did last year and play in every game with a possible start or two. He played the maximum amount of games you can play and still redshirt (4).

Osunsanmi was a huge recruit victory for K-State when they got him in the 2022 offseason. The Wichita East grad was the second-ranked player in the state and the 18th-best linebacker in the country, according to 247 Sports.

Behind Green at WILL is sophomore Jake Clifton, who played in 11 games in his true freshman season. Klanderman relied on him a lot with the Owasso, OK native getting at least 20 snaps in each of the last seven games.

Seeing huge improvements in year two would bode well for the linebacker position in the near future.

True freshman Austin Romaine from Hillsboro, MO is just behind Clifton on the depth chart. He was a stud last year with 117 tackles and seven sacks which gave him the title of the league's most valuable player. Romaine also earned All-State honors in his senior and junior seasons.

Another true freshman, Asa Newsom, is just behind Austin Moore at the MIKE position. Newsom was another huge recruiting victory for Klieman and company. He was ranked 131st among all prospects in the Class of 2023, according to On3.

He was ranked as the 10th-best linebacker and the third-best prospect in the state of Iowa. There is a very real chance of him not using his redshirt this season and playing in most games this year.

However, if junior Beau Palmer, who is right there with him on the depth chart, balls out this season, Newsom could use his redshirt.

Palmer played in six games last year at both linebacker and on special teams. He was unable to finish the season due to an injury.

K-State also adds a pair of JUCO stars in junior Hutchinson Community College transfer Terry Kirksey Jr. and sophomore Iowa Central Community College Rex Van Whye, who might get some playing time as well this year.

K-State secondaries have had quick turnarounds every year since Coach Klieman was hired in 2019 with this year’s secondary being no exception.

Starting at cornerback is Jacob Parrish, who played in all 14 games last year as a true freshman. He stepped up his play in the Big 12 Championship game when Ekow Boye-Doe went down with an injury.

Perhaps arguably the biggest get during this past offseason on the defensive side of the ball is Iowa Western Community College sophomore transfer Will Lee III.

He was a First Team All-American last year and was the 2nd-best JUCO safety prospect, according to ESPN. Multiple sources said that Alabama made a late hard push to get him, but he ultimately chose the Wildcats.

Redshirt junior Justice James is right behind Lee on the depth chart. In his final year at Tyler JC in 2021, he had 51 tackles, two tackles for loss, three interceptions and eight pass deflections. He earned conference honors as an Honorable Mention.

Behind Parrish is senior Keenan Garber, who was a wide receiver for all 12 regular season games, until the Big 12 Championship game when he was switched to an emergency cornerback. He played 21 defensive snaps and recorded a tackle in the overtime win. With a full offseason, Garber will have time to adjust to his new role on the team.

There are some notable names not listed on the depth chart that might contribute this season including junior Tyler Nelome, who transfers in from Southeast Missouri State. It’s likely, though, that he won’t be healthy enough to play against his former team.

Sophomore Darell Jones didn’t see any action last season, but the Coffeyville native is incredibly explosive and has a ridiculous vert. He was the fourth-ranked prospect in the state in the Class of 2021, according to ESPN.

The Wildcats get just one returning safety, senior Kobe Savage. He enters his second year at K-State after starting ten games last year. Savage’s junior year was cut short due to an injury, but his shortened performance was still good enough to land him on the All-Big 12 Second Team.

He will be the unquestioned leader after getting 58 total tackles, three interceptions, three tackles for loss and a forced fumble in 2022.

Another name K-State fans will recognize is sophomore VJ Payne, who played in every game last year and even got four starts with the Wildcats sustaining a high number of injuries in the safety room.

He became the first true freshman to start at safety for K-State since Jeron Mestrud in 2006, which puts him in some good company. His season-high came against Alabama in the Sugar Bowl where he got ten tackles.

The final starter at safety is North Dakota State transfer Marques Sigle, who enters his junior season. Last year he tallied 27 tackles, a sack, two interceptions and deflected five passes. Sigle was great in kickoff coverage for the Bison, leading the team with 11 special teams tackles.

True freshman Jack Fabris will see the field some this year. Coach Klieman has raved about his progress throughout the offseason. He was named region defensive player of the year as a senior at North Oconee High School in Bogart, GA. He accrued 173 tackles and helped lead his team to his school’s best season in history with a 13-1 record.

Nickendre Stiger was on the team last season, but he was redshirted.  The Wichita native transferred from Butler Community College before last season and could get some playing time in his redshirt junior season.

Redshirt junior Jordan Wright will be getting a good workload this season as Sigle’s backup. The last time he played was his sophomore year at Fullerton College in 2021.

Junior Matthew Maschmeier has done his time on special teams, tying for the second-most tackles in the unit. He is listed to be right behind Savage at strong safety.

Sophomore Trey Krause from Olathe and redshirt freshman Colby McCalister are also listed on the depth chart.

We might get a glimpse of true freshmen Kam Sallis and Wesley Fair this season as well, but with so much depth at safety, they might end up sitting out this season.

It’s difficult to speculate redshirts with the main indicator of who is redshirted and who isn’t being injured to those above them in the depth chart. Klieman learned this last year with the plan being to redshirt Will Howard, but they needed him to burn his redshirt due to Adrian Martinez’s injuries.

K-State has done a tremendous job of reloading guys into the defense with the transfer portal, and I would expect more of the same this season. There’s solid depth at all phases of the defense at all positions without much weakness besides the sheer unknown of who is on the team and what those players bring to the table.

Klieman and Klanderman know and there should be 100% confidence that whoever goes out there every week will be prepared and ready to eat ‘em up this season.