#12 Ty Zimmerman — People may not expect much from freshman walk-on safety Mikey Bergeron, but look what fellow walk-on Ty Zimmerman (12) turned into at the same position after switching from quarterback. | Scott Sewell-USA TODAY Sports

In which BracketCat counts down the 17th day until the 2024 kickoff with a profile of Kansas State safety Mikey Bergeron.

#17 Mikey Bergeron

Redshirt Freshman | 6-2 | 198 lbs. | Shawnee, Kansas

Position: Safety
Previous College: None
Projection: Scout Team
Status: Preferred Walk-On

Michael Bergeron (b. April 17, 2005) is a athletic young walk-on safety out of Mill Valley High School in Shawnee, Kansas, who is majoring in business administration.

Bergeron, who redshirted and did not play in 2023, prepped under head coach Joel Applebee at Mill Valley, where he was part of a program that earned four straight Kansas Class 5A state championships.

A two-time first team all-state performer by Sports in Kansas and The Wichita Eagle, he also was named the Kansas Class 5A Defensive Player of the Year in 2022 by Sports in Kansas, a Top 11 player by the Eagle and a KSHSAA Covered Class 5A Football Player to Watch in 2022.

Bergeron, a 2023 Kansas Shrine Bowl participant, totaled 161 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, three interceptions, eight passes defended and two forced fumbles during his final two prep seasons for the Jaguars.

He was named a 2022-23 National Football Foundation (NFF) Coach Bill Snyder Family/Sunflower Chapter Scholar-Athlete Scholarship winner. (Watch his highlights here.)

Bergeron walked on at K-State over a competing preferred walk-on offer from Kansas.

Head coach Chris Klieman seems high on his potential and has mentioned him a few times:

Wesley Fair, Mike Bergeron, Jordan Riley — those guys have really stepped up and have made us a lot better and deeper in the secondary.