Four K-State players named to All-Big 12 team

Led by a trio of juniors, Kansas State had four football players named to the Preseason All-Big 12 team as chosen by media representatives who cover the league, the conference office announced.

Winston Dimel (fullback), Dalton Risner (offensive line) and D.J. Reed (defensive back) were joined by sophomore Reggie Walker (defensive line) to give the Wildcats the third-most players on the list behind Texas and defending champion Oklahoma.

Dimel was named to the preseason team for a second-straight year, while the other three are first-time honorees.

Dimel, Risner and Reed each earned 2016 First Team All-Big 12 honors from the league’s coaches, while Walker was the Defensive Freshman of the Year, as they led K-State to a 9-4 record and a victory in the Texas Bowl.

A product of Manhattan, Dimel has started all 26 career games and has 18 career rushing touchdowns, five shy of entering the school’s top-10 list. He is coming off a season in which he registered 12 rushing touchdowns, which tied for third in the Big 12.

Risner started all 13 games at right tackle in 2016 after starting every game at center the year prior. Both he and Dimel were an integral part to K-State’s rushing attack, which set the school record for rushing yards per carry (5.27) and ranked in the top 10 in three other categories.

Reed, a community-college transfer prior to last year, was the 2016 Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year after ranking fifth nationally and tying for third in school history with a Big 12-leading 19 passes defended. A member of the 2017 Bednarik Award watch list, Reed tied for second on the team with 75 tackles to go along with three interceptions.

A native of Ponchatoula, Louisiana, Walker collected 11.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks to earn Freshman All-America honors from the Football Writers Association of America. He finished seventh in the Big 12 in sacks and eighth in TFLs but was tops among freshmen in both categories, while he ranked fourth nationally among freshmen in sacks.

Risner and Reed, along with other team captains Jesse Ertz, Trent Tanking and Dayton Valentine in addition to head coach Bill Snyder, were expected to represent K-State at 2017 Big 12 Football Media Day at The Star in Frisco, Texas. 

Kansas State begins is 2017 season and seven-game home schedule with the ninth-annual K-State Family Reunion on Saturday, Sept. 2, against Central Arkansas.