#73 Christian Duffie — Veteran stalwart Christian Duffie (73) has taken his talents to the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Carolina Panthers. I am projecting his jersey number to be inherited by incoming freshman offensive lineman Gus Hawkins. | Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

In which BracketCat counts down the 73rd day until the 2024 kickoff with a profile of Kansas State offensive lineman Gus Hawkins.

Gus Hawkins

True Freshman | 6-7 | 270 lbs. | Shawnee, Kansas

Position: Offensive Line
Previous College: None
Projection: Redshirt
Status: On Scholarship

Gus Hawkins (May 21, 2005) is a physically imposing offensive tackle prospect who plans on majoring in engineering. Although he is already sufficiently sized to play in the Big 12 Conference, I suspect he will redshirt in 2024 while others who have waited their turn play.

Hawkins played his final two prep seasons under head coach Joel Applebee at Mill Valley High School, while he spent his first two years in high school at Scott City.

He was regarded as the 52nd-best overall player in the Class of 2024 by On3, while the organization rated him as the sixth-best offensive tackle in the nation and top overall prospect in the state of Kansas.

Hawkins also ranked No. 244 nationally and No. 24 among offensive tackles by 247Sports.

He was voted to the Top 11 team among all classes in the state of Kansas, and was an all-state honoree by the Kansas Football Coaches Association and KSHSAA Covered. He also was on the Top 11 team and a first-team all-state honoree in 2023 by The Wichita Eagle.

Hawkins was named the 2023 Sports in Kansas Offensive Lineman of the Year among big classes, in addition to being voted as a Top 11 player and a first-team all-state honoree by the organization, and was the 2023 Kansas Sports Central Offensive Lineman of the Year.

He earned first-team all-state honors as a junior from the Eagle after winning two state championships with the Jaguars, part of the school’s five straight titles.

At Mill Valley, Hawkins prepped with four current K-State players: safety Mikey Bergeron, defensive end Truman Griffith, offensive lineman Sam Hecht and kicker Chris Tennant.

He also competed in basketball and track for the Jaguars, and was the first member of K-State’s 2024 class, committing all the way back in December 2022.

Hawkins picked K-State over a competing offer from Ole Miss, as well as interest from Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and North Dakota State. His primary recruiter was his new position coach, Conor Riley.