In which BracketCat counts down the 56th day until the 2024 kickoff with a profile of Kansas State offensive lineman Andrew Leingang.

#56 Andrew Leingang

Redshirt Junior | 6-6 | 306 lbs. | Bismarck, North Dakota

Position: Offensive Line
Previous College: None
Projection: Co-Starter
Status: On Scholarship

Andrew “Tuffy” Leingang (b. Nov. 14, 2002) is a smart, academically gifted mauler of an offensive lineman who is majoring in chemical engineering and is the first K-State player from North Dakota since at least 1949.

This year, I predict Leingang to line up as a starter at left guard whenever Hadley Panzer snaps the ball, and to back up Panzer when he slides back to guard in favor of Sam Hecht.

In the summer of 2021, he received a national academic award from the National Football Foundation after earning a 4.13 grade-point average in high school.

As a true freshman, Leingang saw time as a reserve offensive lineman against West Virginia in 2021 but he still retained his redshirt.

Leingang then saw action in nine games in 2022 as a reserve offensive lineman, and he also contributed over the final five games as an extra offensive lineman and part-time fullback.

He helped K-State to rank 15th nationally in rushing yards per game (208.3), the Wildcats’ best national ranking since 2003 (ninth) and best mark since 2016 (231.8).

Leingang also was part of a unit that saw K-State rank third in school history in rushing yards per carry (5.12), fourth in total rushing yards (2,916) and 10th in rush touchdowns (32).

The Cats also ranked second in school history in total offensive yards (5,863) and ninth in offensive yards per play (6.12). And he was a first-team Academic All-Big 12 performer.

Last season, Leingang only played in four games as a reserve offensive lineman due to the sheer number of returning sixth-year players, seeing action against Southeast Missouri State, Troy, Houston and Baylor. He again earned first-team Academic All-Big 12 honors.

This road grader prepped under head coach Ron Wingenbach at Century High School in Bismarck, N.D., where he was rated the top prospect in the state for the Class of 2021 by both ESPN and 247Sports, while the latter viewed him as the 10th-best center in the nation.

Leingang was named the Powerade State Senior Athlete of the Year for Class AAA Football in North Dakota, in addition to being named the MidcoSD Class AAA Player of the Year.

He earned first-team all-state honors as both a junior and a senior after he helped lead the Patriots to consecutive undefeated seasons and state championships in his final two years.

Named the top high school player in the state of North Dakota prior to the 2020 season by MaxPreps, Leingang also competed in track and field — finishing eighth in the state in shot put as a sophomore — and played basketball.

His older brother, Mason, signed to play football at Minnesota State-Moorhead in 2019.

Leingang chose K-State over offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Central Michigan, Colorado State, Dartmouth, Minnesota, Montana State, North Dakota, North Dakota State, Northern Iowa, Oregon State, South Dakota, Stanford, Western Kentucky, Wyoming and Yale, as well as interest from Indiana. His primary recruiter was his offensive line coach, Conor Riley.

You can learn a lot more about Mr. Leingang in Drew Schneider’s excellent profile here.

Here’s what Chris Klieman had to say about his improvement during 2023 spring practices:

…Andrew Leingang is a young guy who’s been really impressive to me. I don’t get a chance to see offensive linemen much but I’ve been impressed with those (four).

We have that potential to have some really good players there from a leadership standpoint, but we have a lot of young guys. Sam Hecht comes to mind, Andrew Leingang and John Pastore — we have some really good players who’ve been in the program for quite a while but haven’t had the opportunity to play yet.

Andrew Leingang has done a really good job gaining extra reps.