#1 Ta’Quan Roberson — Super senior transfer quarterback Ta’Quan Roberson (1) should provide a steady, veteran, mobile presence at the backup position behind first-year starter and superstar Avery Johnson. | Photo by Bryan Lynn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

In which BracketCat counts down the fifth day until the 2024 kickoff with a profile of Kansas State quarterback Ta’Quan Roberson.

NOTE: Kansas State has elected to advance players’ classification even though the 2020 season did not affect eligibility. Those who wish to take advantage of this extra year will be listed as a (“super”) senior again after their original eligibility would have been exhausted.

Goal No. 5: BE TOUGH. Mentally and physically.

#5 Ta’Quan Roberson

Redshirt Super Senior | 6-0 | 201 lbs. | Orange, New Jersey

Position: Quarterback
Previous Colleges: Pennsylvania State University; University of Connecticut
Projection: Co-Second-String
Status: On Scholarship

Ta’Quan Roberson (b. Feb. 14, 2000) is an experienced, veteran quarterback who joined the team following spring practices and has already worked his way into the likely No. 2 spot.

Roberson has seen time in 18 career games with 11 starts over parts of five seasons at both Penn State and UConn, where he won the starting quarterback job in 2022 before a season-ending injury in the first game, while he started his final 10 games under center in 2023.

He initially saw action in 2019 against Rutgers as he retained his redshirt at Penn State, then he played in the 2020 season finale against Illinois but did not record any statistics (though he did earn Academic All-Big Ten honors following the pandemic-shortened season).

Roberson only played in four games in 2021, throwing for 85 yards and a touchdown on 11-of-28 aim while rushing for 24 yards on 12 carries. He had season highs in passing yards (34) and rushing yards (24) at Iowa, and recorded a 23-yard touchdown pass against Ball State.

Seeking more playing time in his fourth season, he transferred to UConn, won the starting quarterback job out of training camp in 2022 and started the first game at Utah State before suffering a season-ending injury in the second series of that game, Jesse Ertz-style.

For what it’s worth, Roberson did tally a 3-yard touchdown run on the first drive of the year.

He bounced back in a big way last season, though, playing in 11 games with 10 starts, throwing for 2,075 yards and 12 touchdowns on 197-of-338 (58.3%) aim, and rushing for 120 yards and two touchdowns on 46 carries.

Roberson threw for a career-high 255 yards with two touchdowns against Utah State.

He also had two-touchdown games against Georgia State and Rice, tallied a career-best four touchdown passes against Sacred Heart, set career highs in completions (24) and pass attempts (40) at Tennessee, and hosted his own summer skills camp for younger kids.

Roberson had a career-high 36 rushing yards in the 2023 season finale at UMass, which bettered his previous high of 30 yards the previous week against Sacred Heart.

He registered a career-long run of 24 yards against South Florida, and recorded rushing touchdowns against Duke and South Florida, before electing to transfer out once again.

Roberson prepped under head coach John McKenna at DePaul Catholic High School in Wayne, New Jersey, where he was regarded as the 200th-best overall prospect — regardless of position — for the Class of 2019 by ESPN, while the organization rated him the 10th-best quarterback in the class.

He also was rated the ninth-best quarterback by Rivals and No. 15 among quarterbacks by 247Sports after earning second-team all-state honors as a junior and third-team honors as a senior, following a season in which he threw for 2,432 yards and 29 touchdowns.

Roberson led the Spartans to a 9-3 overall record and a state championship during his junior campaign as he threw for 2,466 yards and 30 touchdowns.

He also rushed for 887 yards and seven touchdowns during his prep career.

All in all, Roberson seems like a good complement to Avery Johnson’s skill set and should be able to fill in capably for him, if needed. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, at least in terms of injuries, but if Johnson is everything promised, his backup will see a lot of mop-up.

Roberson signed with K-State as a graduate transfer over interest from Northwestern.

Penn State (his lead recruiters were former K-State assistants James Franklin and Ricky Rahne) over offers from Boston College, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio State, Rutgers, Syracuse, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, plus interest from Michigan and Temple.

“Ta’Quan Roberson has been a really good acquisition for us as a mature guy who’s an older guy who’s learning our offense,” said head coach Chris Klieman at the start of fall camp.