In which BracketCat counts down the 87th day until the 2024 kickoff with a profile of Kansas State tight end Brayden Loftin.

#87 Brayden Loftin

Redshirt Sophomore | 6-5 | 232 lbs. | Omaha, Nebraska

Position: Tight End
Previous College: None
Projection: Third-String
Status: On Scholarship

Brayden Loftin (b. Feb. 12, 2004) is a reliable, play-making tight end from Nebraska who redshirted and did not play in 2022 but projects to be primarily a reserve tight end in 2024.

He saw action in nine games in 2023 as a reserve tight end, and as a member of the kickoff return and field goal protection units, and he earned first-team Academic All-Big 12 honors.

Loftin, who is majoring in kinesiology, prepped under head coach Justin Kammrad at Lewis Central High School in Council Bluffs, Iowa, where he was viewed as the 35th-best tight end and the 10th-best player overall in the state of Iowa for the Class of 2022 by ESPN.

He helped the Titans to win a state championship as a senior after he hauled in a touchdown pass in overtime and his team won, 32-24, in three overtimes.

Loftin, who also competed in track and field, earned all-district and all-state honors from the Iowa Print Sports Writers Association during his final campaign.

He finished his career ranking in the top 10 in Lewis Central school history for career receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns.

Loftin, rated a three-star player by most recruiting services, chose K-State over offers from Air Force, Army, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, Dartmouth, Eastern Michigan, Harvard, Jacksonville State, Liberty, Miami (Ohio), Northern Illinois, Northern Iowa, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Yale, as well as interest from Central Michigan, Iowa State, Nebraska, North Dakota State, Oklahoma and Wyoming.

His primary recruiters were former offensive coaches Courtney Messingham and Jason Ray.

Here’s what current tight ends coach Brian Lepak said in 2022 of Loftin and Garrett Oakley:

Our two incoming freshmen … have performed really well. They’re continuing to learn and as young guys they have a way to go. Tight end for us is a developmental position and they’re really coming along and picking it up and learning how to play hard and that’s the great thing about how we practice. They get a lot of reps because we split the field. They’re coming along well.

And this is what Chris Klieman had to say about his “other” tight end signee back in 2021:

He’s a really rangy guy that you can flex out and put on the ball, play in space, he can really run well. They won a state championship this year. He was really instrumental there. We’re excited about Brayden as we continue to enhance the tight end room with big athletic guys that can run.