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The Topeka Capital Journal
What are Kansas State football's plans for Linkon Cure?
- Story byThe Topeka Capital Journal
- What are Kansas State football's plans for Linkon Cure?
MANHATTAN — It didn't take Linkon Cure long to make it known that he wanted to stay at Kansas State and play for Collin Klein.
Shortly after Chris Klieman announced his retirement and that Klein would replace him in December, immediate thoughts went to the better players on the Wildcats' roster and if they would stay to play for a new coach.
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On Cure's Instagram, he quickly posted a photo of himself as a youngster standing next to Klein at one of his football camps. The five-star tight end, the highest-rated prospect in school history, was staying home.
It will now be up to Klein to get Cure to reach his full potential.
"He's a worker; he attacks everything that he does," Klein said. "He's attacked some of the nuances and some of the different things that we're doing."
Cure returns for his sophomore season after an up-and-down true freshman season. He started the year late, joining the team after the spring semester, and then had a preseason injury that set him back. He played in nine games, made a pair of starts and recorded six catches for 37 yards.
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At the same time, injuries to Kansas State 's wide receivers led Cure to play predominantly at wide receiver. He took 120 snaps split out wide, 13 out of the slot and just six from the line.
That's about to change. The 6-foot-5, 245-pounder out of Goodland will mostly play tight end moving forward, according to Klein, but his versatility will still be used all over the place.
"Collectively, what he gives you in that position is the flexibility to line him up all over the field," Klein said. "We'll still use him in two-tight-end sets, but we'll still use him in (others). He gives you a lot of flexibility."
Kansas State has three tight ends listed on its spring roster, though more will join in the summer. Garrett Oakley returns for a senior season after leading the team with six touchdown receptions last year. Will Anciaux is the other, having caught three touchdown passes in 2024 and one in 2025. Lawson McGraw will join later.
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Cure will be used as a Swiss Army knife of sorts, serving as a Y-receiver in some personnel groups and an F-receiver in others. There will be times when he and Oakley will line up on the offensive line together.
His work ethic has been five-star in the eyes of his coach so far. The No. 30 prospect in the 2025 class and the class's top tight end has had the highest muscle-mass gain and most fat loss of any player on the Wildcats' roster since offseason workouts began.
It's only a matter of months before Cure will get to showcase it on the field.
"To be able to put that together is really impressive, right?" Klein said. "(He's) already a very elite athlete, so it's a credit to his work ethic."
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Wyatt D. Wheeler covers Kansas State athletics for the USA TODAY Network and Topeka Capital-Journal. You can follow him on X at @WyattWheeler_ , contact him at 417-371-6987 or email him at wwheeler@usatodayco.com
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Linkon Cure outlook at Kansas State football under Collin Klein
